In a New York Times article titled "Faking Cultural Literacy," Karl Greenfield argues that today's social media lets us pretend to know something about almost everything—even if that "knowledge" is deplorably shallow. Greenfield writes:
We pick topical, relevant bits from Facebook, Twitter or emailed news alerts, and then regurgitate them. Instead of watching "Mad Men" or the Super Bowl or the Oscars or a presidential debate, you can simply scroll through someone else's live-tweeting of it, or read the recaps the next day. [What's really important] is becoming determined by whatever gets the most clicks.
As an example of our superficiality, Greenfield mentions a survey by the American Press Institute that revealed nearly six in 10 Americans acknowledge that they do nothing more than read news headlines. Greenfield adds:
[We all feel] the constant pressure to know enough, at all times, lest we be revealed as culturally illiterate. So that we can survive an elevator pitch, a business meeting, a visit to the office kitchenette … so that we can post, tweet, chat, comment, text as if we have seen, read, watched, listened. What matters to us, awash in [information], is not necessarily having actually consumed this content firsthand but simply knowing that it exists—and having a position on it, being able to engage in the chatter about it.
Possible Preaching Angles: (1) Bible Reading; Scripture; Meditation—Do we approach Scripture the same way? Do we feel that what matters is not having actually consumed the content first hand but simply knowing it exists? (2) Discipleship; Spiritual formation—In the same way, do we try to know just enough about Jesus so that we can chatter about him without really encountering him first-hand?
