Living in the Wreckage 
of a Social Media World
 

Many people are coming to realize the steep toll that social media platforms are taking on our well-being as persons, as churches, and as nations. What does it mean for us to be faithful Christian communities, with all that we know about the costs of social media, in this world? What habits in particular will we need to sustain us in this world? (Intellectual humility and the discipline of cultivating our attention come to mind as a couple significant habits for our times.)

In this issue, we highlight four articles related, in some way or another, to the struggle for Christian faithfulness in the present age of social media. 

Cultivating Communities works alongside cohorts of churches that are in close-proximity to each other, providing resources and helping them discern what it might look like for their congregations and their places to flourish. Our first three cohorts (one in the mountains of East Tennessee, one on the west side of Chicago, and one in Indianapolis) are now underway.

(Learn more about our cohorts and 
the Cultivating Communities Learning Journey)

The curious joy of being wrong Intellectual humility means being open to new information and willing to change your mind. Starting with the admission that you, like everyone else, have cognitive biases and flaws that limit how much you know, intellectual humility might look like taking genuine interest in learning about your relative’s beliefs during a conversation at a family get-together, rather than waiting for them to finish so you can prove them wrong by sharing your – superior – opinion.  ( via The Conversation )

Exploring the Strange-Familiar World of Ancient Monks: An Interview with Jamie Kreiner. Historian Jamie Kreiner’s book The Wandering Mind: What Medieval Minds Tell Us About Distraction (just released in paperback) tells a captivating story about the world of Christian monks living between 300 and 900 CE. Their struggles with distraction in all its forms–family and work, bodily necessities, and even demons–feels both strange and familiar as an inhabitant of the 21st century.  (via Hypertext Magazine)