From Bill Kinnon:
This is NT Wright’s response to my question on his opinion of blogging during Imbi Medri-Kinnon’s interview shoot with the Bishop of Durham in 2007. Portions of this interview appear in her documentary, Mind the Gap – where she looks at the challenge for church leadership in the 21st Century.
I appreciated that Wright balances the value of online interaction with a set of possible negatives (such as feeding the Gnostic dream, loss of depth without physical presence, etc.) and then determines his own actions based on a set of personal convictions. He has decided not to engage in online discussion of his ideas not necessarily due to the aforementioned negatives, but because those interactions – for all their benefits – are not as valuable a use of his time as face-to-face interactions. N.T. Wright is astoundingly prolific, pumping out books and articles, touring and teaching, and still finding time to be the bishop of Durham. It seems that his time is well spent.
I would hope that we can all follow Wright’s example of having a set of personal convictions about the Lord’s calling in our life and then follow those convictions.
(HT: Out of Ur)
I appreciate this, John. J.I. Packer made some comments about the value of blogging recently, too, athttp://www.worldmag.com/articles/16150:
I’m amazed at the amount of time people spend on the internet. I’m not against technology, but all tools should be used to their best advantage. We should be spending our time on things that have staying power, instead of on the latest thought of the latest blogger—and then moving on quickly to the next blogger. That makes us more superficial, not more thoughtful.
Michael, thanks again for you thoughts and the link to the Packer article.
John, thanks so much for posting this. Technology just sort of happens upon us and it is so important to take time to reflect on the way it is impacting our time and relationships. It isn’t neutral and this video is a great reminder/challenge.
I love your blog and cant’ wait for your book.
Sara
Sara, it’s wonderful to hear from you. You are too kind!
John,
Good post…I like what you had to say about him determining his own actions based on the negatives, and what he values. He has decided that what he gains outside of the online world is of more value to him, than what others may decide.
And way to go for showing more restraint than me on his comment about “cultural masturbation.” You are a better man than me…..
I love Wright’s work and I’m glad he has chosen his time wisely….
Rhett
John, Thanks for posting this. It’s rare to be able to read a potential counter to current thinking about social media.