Three speakers from the Colorado Springs-based Axis organization spoke at Tuesday’s Gathering about what it means to be human in a digital world.
Stephanie, Josh and Matt are members of AXIS, based in Colorado Springs, and have traveled across the United States and Canada to have positive conversation about media, culture and world views.
They weaved through the crowd, getting on the students’ level, pressing everyone to think about how to live amongst the people of our culture.
“God has a very good design for the world but it’s lost in translation because of things happening in our culture,” they said.
The group from AXIS asked the students for comments, other thoughts and pushback. They wanted to start a dialogue instead of just speaking at the students.
The phrases “be authentic,” “follow your heart,” and “be true to yourself” were used to ignite conversation in the crowd.
“Look back at the beginning of this story,” they said. “God created something from nothing. He created man and woman in his image to help earth flourish. Adam means humanity and Eve means life.”
The group continued by saying that Christians should strive to recreate positivity but sin always enters the picture. According to AXIS, communities live in a self-centered society, completely to the level of narcissism.
“Let’s define freedom right now,” they said. “Is it to make a choice or have no boundaries? Whatever it is, we’re living in a unique cultural moment. We see 3,000 ads per day. Selling us ideas, products, what the good, happy life looks like.”
These advertisements are focused on the consumer, and because of this, they become self-centered. According to AXIS, society lives in a world of limitless choice. Food, music, movies, anything. People can choose between 56 different gender options on Facebook now. The hard part is deciding which choice is going to lead to freedom.
According to AXIS, a big issue is between wrestling with what people believe and why they believe it.
“Society has a different kind of viewing style called binging,” they said. “We have an insatiable need for the now.”
The AXIS team presented studies that showed nine hours a day on average was allotted to media; approximately 53% of the millennial generation would give up their sense of smell rather than their smart phones.
According to AXIS, the current generation has entered a new time period called “Social Media 2.0.”
The team led students through the reasons people tend to be afraid of conversation.
“We are expecting more from technology and less from each other,” they said. “We’re afraid of intimacy. With social media and entertainment options, we will never have to be alone.”
The AXIS team ended the presentation by saying that instead of pursuing personal satisfaction and happiness, a lot of the issues that plague society could be fixed in conjunction with the bigger narrative, the kingdom of God coming to earth.
Photo by Anna Rogers