On November 16, 2010, popular television personality Bill Nye “the science guy” was walking onto a stage at USC to give a lecture. En route to the podium, Nye collapsed and was out for at least 10 seconds. While this was certainly a difficult medical situation for Mr. Nye, it was also a fascinating study in sociology in the digital age. What do I mean?
According to Alastair Fairbanks (a USC student in attendance – as reported by the LA Times) what happened next was surprising: “Nobody went to his aid at the very beginning when he first collapsed — that just perplexed me beyond reason, Instead, I saw students texting and updating their Twitter statuses. It was just all a very bizarre evening.”
Did you catch that? the first response of USC students to a medical emergency was to tweet it to the world, instead of to run to his assistance. What a strange world we are now living in!
Before we are too hard on the students of USC, or write this off as a product of the “millenial” generation, we need to remember that this behavior is not new. As a matter of fact, people have been offering the wrong first response to life or death issues for at least 2,000 years now. Don’t believe me? Look at Matthew 11:20-30.
In these verses we see Jesus Christ, the Son of God . . . the Savior of the world, show up on the scene. When He does so, He demonstrates His identity through authoritative teaching and powerful miracles of great compassion. The historical theater in which Jesus performed these miracles was the region of Galilee. Jesus walked onto this stage and offered eternal life, but instead of running to Him and receiving this message, it seems the people of Capernaum, Chorazin, and Bethsaida (some of the cities Jesus visited) simply “tweeted out to their friends” that a new “show” was in town. Instead of personally responding, they simply remained indifferent.
Sadly, today billions of people, when presented with the life giving Person of Jesus Christ, still sit idly by and watch, instead of running to Him and receiving Him as Savior and Lord.
This Sunday at Wildwood Community Church, we will be continuing our series on Matthew 11-12 called “First Responders” by looking at the response of the region of Galilee and Jesus offer of rest in Matthew 11:20-30. We will also be celebrating the Lord’s Supper together. Hope you can join us at 8:30, 9:45, or 11:00!