"You don't even know me!"

The phrase made popular by vociferous guests on Jerry Springer has lost weight in recent years, Bertinilli-style. Now while many before me have already mounted the soapbox of critiquing today's social mediums and foreboding personality atrophy, I'm hoping to offer you something new. With the amount of social broadcasting we have today declaring "Me" to the world, can participants of such really resort to this kind of comment today? Think about it:

"You know what? I don't like you."
"Ugh trick, you don't even know me!"
"Uh, actually I do. Let's see, you're from San Diego, Mt. Carmel High class of '05, and you have 2 sisters. You read Twilight and listen to Death Cab for Cutie. You like wasabi, but you don't like sushi and 'yeah, [you're] just weird like that.' You supported Jesse Cheng for ASUCI Executive VP, and you're a fan of Jennifer Chung. Your favorite quotes are that one by Dr. Seuss about 'those who mind don't matter,' and that one from Coach Carter. You also had chicken last night, which you thought was "yummerz XD." Oh, and how did your family reunion go by the way?"

If men are books whose proverbial covers are not be judged, then Facebook now offers us CliffsNotes. By choosing his default picture, he displays what he thinks of his looks. By choosing his interests, he displays what's important to him. By controlling his wall comments, he displays who his friends are and what they say about him. By choosing his status, he displays what he gets excited for and what he complains about.

Originally the idea of being able to say a little bit about yourself, and offer your two cents to anybody looking for change, was a good thing. And it still is (I'm certainly not trying to bite the hand that garners me more readers than my Blogger does), but in moderation. With the ability to simply "be yourself" comes the danger that the uninhibited, idealized you, unfiltered by friends and environment, isn't the "you" that you really want to be.

Steve Carter (Rock Harbor) a few weeks ago was talking about how back in earlier centuries your identity was your community. It's a great way to think of the church. In a community you're taught to help one another achieve a collective goal, while realizing your place and self in the process. Likewise, the church isn't a building, it's a community of believers and even non-believers, who congregate to know God's truth for their lives, and share that with each other. The church doesn't just teach the Bible, it applies the Bible in unique and irreplaceable ways.

The church is not for the righteous. Like any community, the church isn't perfect. It's imperfect, made of imperfect people, who meet together that they might grow out of their imperfections, because "as iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another (Proverbs 27:17)." It's been said that the church is a "hospital for sinners, not a museum of saints."

Indeed, it's a hospital for those sick of who they are, seeking to know who they're meant to be. And the medicine? The Gospel.