Mark Matlock - Technology

technorati tags
mark matlock, shift conference, technology, youth ministry

as americans we love tech, we form bonds & relationships about/around tech. we have come to depend on tech devices.
have we been using tech to address the right problems?

launched planetwisdom.com 12 years ago.

can't just give us a list of the latest tools, websites, etc. b/c they change at such a rapid rate. but wants to get to the heart of the use of tech. cultural exegesis of tech. tech is not morally neutral b/c culture is not culturally neutral.
**connection interrupted**

employers of 50 frustrated w/ employees under 30. when 5 o'clock hits, they're off. vp's choosing daughter's recital over a late-night last minute session.

PS3 vs. Nintendo Wii - bigger better system and graphics; but nintendo has brought other generations into the gaming, brought physical activity into it.

Mac vs. PC - people don't care about computers, they care about living their life and sharing it.

5 Values
1) shift in IDENTITY - w/ mass production, Wal-Martization, there has been a push against it, against cookie-cutterness. people want to create things. it's beyond doilies, now there are microchips and servers. use of YouTube to share who they are and what they create.
kids looking for a place to be who they are w/out having to wear a mask, who they are on the inside; they aren't finding it in the church. mark likes to see it, loves how MySpace brings out the real student, wants to take part in their struggles. if only they could be as real in church as they are on MySpace.
2) shift in CONNECTION - believes connections no longer have to be physical. real connections can be made online. adults use internet to maintain existing relationships, where as kids do that AND use it to form new relationships. story of a 4-year online relationship w/an atheist youth in the UK who came to believe, when he traveled here and they met, it was not as if meeting for the first time.
25% of born-again kids say they've had an experience online that is worship to them.
3) shift in understanding of RISK - an outdated concept, if you are teaching kids the danger of strangers. b/c once they've met once, they're no longer strangers. teach kids to look for strange behavior and alert others.
4) shift in making space for what MATTERS MOST - blew over this to get to the last one b/c of time
5) shift in WHO WE CAN CONNECT WITH - those on the margins can seek out others to connect with. online 24-hour prayer vigils. "where 2 or more can gather." thinking diff'ly about the body of X - not just the local community, it is a global body. beyond america. maybe we need the churches in the world more than they need us.
shift in mission trip thinking - from taking something to them to realizing that they have something that we need and we receive it when we meet them.

it's a DESIRE TO CONNECT, to be in relationship with others.
why shouldn't the church be the "killer app?"