May the mumbling commence!
Second John and Third John are two of the shortest books of the Bible. Each is only a brief chapter long (thirteen verses and fourteen verses respectively). It makes me think of texting. Now, I can count on my two hands the number of times I have texted; but I understand there is a character limit on texts.
OK. I admit it. I have never done well with limits.
John limited the length of these letters for good reasons. One of the hidden reasons might have been the preciousness of paper and ink. There is another reason that John explicitly states in both of these two brief letters. Read the explanation for the brevity of these two letters:
I have much to write to you, but I do not want to use paper and ink. Instead, I hope to visit you and talk with you face to face, so that our joy may be complete. (2 John 1:12)
I have much to write you, but I do not want to do so with pen and ink. I hope to see you soon, and we will talk face to face. (3 John 13-14a)
We have limited resources – character limits on texts, time constraints, and monetary constraints. We need to be creative. And creativity is not relegated only to abbreviations like LOL or BtW.
Creativity must take its form in face to face meetings. Creativity takes sacrifice. Creativity means doing things in ways we have not done them before.
Yes, we have space to be creative – as long as we remember the essence of Christian community is relationship. Face to face relationship cannot be replaced with anything else. Anything else would be a sad substitute.
We cannot have a face to face relationship with Jesus, so it makes it that much more important to have face to face relationships with our Christian brothers and sisters. Together, we will discover God in a way that we cannot do isolated with one another.
Isolation is a tool of Satan.
Let us give isolation the short stick so that we may give more time to our relationships with one another and with our wonderful Creator.
Enough mumbling for now…
Peace Out
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