One of the slogans that seems to be a current favorite is that we (with the help of much technology) are creating a “global vilage.” The idea is that as technology, particularly communications technology increases, the boundaries that once separated us gradually disappear until we’re one big happy family.

But is that truly the result of the “communications revolution” as we know it? I was listening to NPR on Saturday afternoon (sorry, can’t remember the program, might have been The World?) and they interviewed a man who owns two coffee shops in Boston. The man was lamenting the fact that because his shops were “wi-fi” hot spots that many people were using them as rent free offices, sitting for hours immersed in their work, often purchasing nothing. He went on to note the change on a larger scale: people used to come to coffee shops to socialize, maybe reading a book, but often stopping for conversation.

However, as our technology has increased, many people have become increasingly isolated into their own private, electronic worlds. It’s odd that the increased ability in communications is touted for its ability to cross barriers and remove geographical boundaries, yet as it does, it also increasingly isolates its users. I am aware of this every time I embark on extended travel and pull out my iPod. As I do, I feel of regret for isolating myself, but then I go ahead and slip on those headphones!

As I’ve been meditating through 1 John, I’ve oftentimes wondered if any culture in history has prized the idea of individual privacy as much as modern Americans. It’s evident in nearly every area of American life and I’m as guilty as anyone else. We get our food through drive-through (sorry, I refuse to say “thru”) windows, we do our banking with machines, we pay at the pump for our gas, we download our music rather than going to a store, we order books, our homes no longer have large front porches and many of our churches are full of people who simply don’t know one another.

Throughout his letter, John repeats the concept that loving our brothers is not optional (1 John 2:10-11, 3:10-16, etc.). In fact, this is one of the overriding themes that occurs throughout the Scriptures (Leviticus 19:18, Romans 13:10, etc.). In fact, when asked the “greatest commandment,” Jesus responded in Mark 12:28-31:

And one of the scribes came up and heard them disputing with one another, and seeing that he answered them well, asked him, “Which commandment is the most important of all?” Jesus answered, “The most important is, ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.

Jesus summarizes the law in a two-fold manner: love of God and love of others. In fact, when we examine the “two tables” of the Ten Commandments, we recognize that the commandments command not only our love of and relationship with God but with others. It is first vertical and then horizontal. Deeper still, the two cannot be separated as John makes clear. We cannot claim to love God without loving others as well. The key is that loving people requires interacting with them and this makes many of us quite uncomfortable.

The increased technology, along with the individualist nature of our culture makes actual church “body life” sometimes quite difficult. We must not only combat the notion of cliques that have long been so prevalent in churches, we must also combat individualism, both at its concious and unconcious levels. What’s more, we are more than likely missing countless opportunities to share the gospel because of an increasingly automated lifestyle.

Jesus himself says: “By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another” (John 13:35), and we sing that “they will know we are Christians by our love,” but in reality, few of us practice such things. When was the last time you had someone over for a meal to your home? If someone wasn’t in church this past Sunday, have you called them to tell them were missed? Were they missed? Did you notice who was there? We must lovingly encourage one another to move beyond our sense of “privacy” and we must repopulate the global ghost-town.

• Read The Hospitality Commands by Alexander Strauch