Along with MySpace, Facebook I-pods, I-Tunes and Twitter, YouTube is one of those modern-day, technological phenomena that has captured the interest and imagination of many. For those who don’t know, YouTube is an internet site onto which contributors post video clips of all varieties. The tag line for the site is simply, “Broadcast yourself,” and that’s exactly what they mean.
Men, women and children of all shapes and sizes, all neighborhoods and nationalities are welcome to upload videos of themselves or of others or of anything in the whole wide world of interest to them. There are instructions for styling hair, attempts at showing off musical talents, practical jokes, funny home videos, high speed police chases, sporting events, video tributes to deceased golden retrievers, music videos, scenes from that television show you missed last night or even clips from an episode of a soap opera from 25 years ago.
And, once these videos are posted on the site, any of the rest of us, can view them at our leisure. Web surfers can search for particular topics, for particular characters, or for particular ‘genres’ of postings. (I searched for the word “mayonnaise,” for the sake of this, and couldn’t believe the host of music videos, recipes and more that popped up as possibilities for my enjoyment.) From what I can tell, though, most of us are familiar with the YouTube videos we receive in e-mails, sent by friends and family. They’re often funny, inspirational or, if nothing else, good for a break from whatever it is we were doing when we felt compelled to view them.
My goal this summer is to have a little fun during worship by using YouTube videos as illustrations for my sermons from week to week. Admittedly, the birth of this idea wasn’t about much more than the fun we could have with it, but there is something theologically provocative about the endeavor from my perspective.
“Broadcast yourself,” appeals to some need humans have – or have developed in this age of 24-hour news, reality T.V. and internet accessibility – to be seen and/or to be heard by our fellow travelers on the planet. And, while there’s so much on YouTube that’s wasting bandwidth and business hours for so many, there is a lot of good, meaningful, fun stuff there to connect us with the presence of God in our midst.
Keep an eye out for clips I might use and send them to pastormark@crossofgrace.org. Look for God around you, not just online, but in the eyes and lives of the people in your world. Join us for worship, as ever, expecting to be inspired by whatever God is up to in your midst. And tell a friend – broadcast yourself – sharing grace and good news in the name of the God who made you.
See you soon,
+Mark
