Finding your identity

Do you identify yourself as a Christian?  In a very interesting interview (about technology) on Scobleizer we meet Dr. Irving Wladawsky-Berger a long time IBM researcher and Chairman Emeritus of the IBM Academy of Technology until his recent retirement.  The interview centers on the technology that Dr. Wladawsky-Berger believes will strongly influence the next generation of web interaction.  And what technology is discussed — virtual worlds and social networking.  Yes, Second Life comes up again as well as other social networks (2D variety) such as Facebook.

What does this have to do with the church?  Well – a lot more than will be discussed in this post, but for the moment allow me to highlight one of the basic issues raised in the interview.  Identity!  In virtual worlds and social networks you can be anyone.  This is a very interesting and difficult technical problem.  But the challenges of technically portable and secure identity raise a very real world issue.  Who are you?

On FaceBook you can keep a public and private profile (for friends).  Is the fact you are a Christian part of your public profile – or is it just for your church friends?  Do you keep an identity at work and a different one on Sunday.  To some degree we all tend to work the system when introducing ourselves and participating in various friendship and business circles.  But what is your true identity?   What is your church’s identity?

No, this is not a typical reflection of the use of technology to assist the church in reaching people for Christ but it is an important technical journey that reveals something of ourselves.  One of the reasons technical identity is hard to establish may be because we don’t want to be the same person all the time.  So, as the web evolves and interactions become increasingly personal how will you represent Christ, represent yourself?  What’s your identity?