Truth in Texting

I awoke this morning to find a text from a friend of mine (a friend who obviously gets up much earlier than I do). The text simply read, "1 Corinthians 2-3". As my wife and I took our dog out to do her thing, I sat on the steps that lead to our apartment, opened my trusty KJV Iphone App, and read the texts my friend, Matt, had texted.

Paul's discourse of the Spirit quickly led into Paul's rebuke of our Corinthian brothers and sisters being divided. It is a good text. As Matt pointed out, "Paul points out spiritual maturity too. Not with knowledge about God, but how well they discern God and His Spirit." Our dialogue of the text was not long, but it was fruitful for me. Especially considering that I have had a full day and it is still solid in my mind.

I am thankful for Matt's text this morning. We were able to experience the Word together, which is always good. Moreover, Matt redemptively used technology, which can often be very unredeeming.

I have a friend who works at a restaurant and he started receiving verses through texts. He actually thought it was my wife who was sending them to him (he wasn't sure because the number was not saved in his phone). One day a verse spoke greatly to him and he decided to call (who he thought would be my wife) to thank the person for the texts. He was embarassed and surprised when he found out it was a girl he worked with. I know this story because he has told it to me several times. It surely meant something to him.

There is no new concept that I am arriving at in this blog. People have used texting for some time to share truth. With blogging, facebook, twitter, and other social networking sites, sharing the good news through technological mediums is nothing new. Mostly, I just wanted to remark that I am thankful that Matt and I did not have to wait until 6pm when he got off work, or wake up at 5am to meet before he went to work to share in a reading of the Text (I would not replace those meetings with texts though, there is nothing like face to face communication).

On the other hand, I think about the fact that Matt texted me the passage (I am unsure if it was a mass text), and that positioned me in a place where I was more likely to read the passage and respond. It was a less vague way of putting information out; less vague than say like twitter or facebook. I say this because Matt talked to me, not the general public, but he addressed me initiating me to read a passage I would not have read to day, dialogue I would not have had today, and (I Hope) understanding I would not have gained today, when he read the passage and thought, "McCauley would enjoy this". Leading him to text me personally (as far as I know and believe because a convo we had yesterday concerning the themes from 1 cor 2-3).

I might have responded if I saw him say something on facebook or twitter for "everyone" to see (everyone in his friends list), but I doubt it. Usually, I begin to reply to people but then think myself out of it (for a number of reasons, all which are steeped in some form of pride). However, since I received the text, personally, I felt the need and desire to read and respond (for several reasons). All this is to say, I am glad to have woken up to the text my friend sent me.