This weekend I will be giving a presentation for the Ecclesia and Ethics Online Conference titled “Status Anxiety, Social Media, and Discipleship”. In an ironic twist, I will be borrowing ideas from Alan de Botton—an atheist philosopher who happily adopts and adapts many Christian practices for the benefit of the irreligious—to help Christians think about their own discipleship and spirituality. If this tells me anything it tells me this: often we religious folk spend a lot of energy trying to show the world how little religious impacts our day-to-day lives so that we can come across as approachable and relevant. Meanwhile, while people may not want to be Christians, our religious practices don’t necessarily bother them all that much and the religious and irreligious alike can benefit from these disciplines. Maybe we Christians need to revisit our own traditions?
If you have the time listen to this 2012 TED Talk by de Botton. You may learn a lot about Christianity! And if you have the chance to attend the Ecclesia and Ethics Online Conference these next two Saturdays it would be wonderful to see you there….or should I say see your user name?
the archives near Emmaus 