A fascinating and insightful submission from the fascinating and insightful Hawley Schneider:
This article popped up in my gmail the other day, about a young bank intern named Kevin Colvin, who got busted by his boss for lying about a family emergency in order to miss work. He took advantage of his co-workers’ compassion in order to attend a Halloween party. And it worked. That is, until the photos of him in his fairy costume showed up on Facebook the next day (see left). His boss saw the photos, and Kevin was caught, obviously and publicly.
I think we often get away with “smaller” sins without even realizing ourselves that we commit them – not to mention hiding others and gradually moving on to more “advanced” wrongdoing. For example, the other day I bought a few items of clothing and left the store. The alarm went off, but they waved me on… It wasn’t until later that I realized there was a pair of pants in the bunch that was not on my receipt. I had stolen without even realizing it.
Sin is such a part of our human nature that we cannot live without seeing evidence of it around us. The author of this article seems to put herself on the same level as Colvin, saying “Who among us has never called in sick to attend an awesome kegger? Colvin’s biggest fail[ure], it seems, was allowing himself to get busted.” She acknowledges that in the end, we are all silly humans. She quotes the humorously named Shirky, who says, “colleges and job recruiters are going to figure out that if they disqualify applicants ‘for having an adolescence,’ they’re seriously limiting their talent pool.” In other words, we’re all in the same boat.
So here are the top three major concepts as I see them:
1. Privacy: A good hacker could access your email, perhaps even steal your identity, and spam people from your facebook/myspace/email. Just try google-ing your own name and see what you could learn about yourself. I fluctuate between loving Facebook for the ability to connect with friends near and far, old and new –and hating it, for the narcissistic elements, comparative and judgmental attributes, and well, the whole “knowing everybody’s beeswax” deal. How do we make sense of passages like Thessalonians 4:11 in our modern age of “crackberries” and bluetooths?!
2. “Non-Christian-ese”: People understand Facebook. Okay, so maybe not Grandma Jean but certainly Facebook has become familiar to most, being referenced frequently in the media and filling plenty of email inboxes… The story functions as a great illustration that ultimately, you and I are no better than the next guy. What it comes down to is who gets caught (and has the evidence plastered all over the internet!). I’d dare to say that the author has a deeper understanding of the need for Grace and the universality of sin than many of us. She certainly seems to argue for a Theology of Grace over a Theology of Glory in those first few paragraphs, doesn’t she?
3. Punishment: How do we address thoughtless, selfish, and irresponsible behavior? The author’s stance seems to shift later in the article when she suggests that punishment might somehow rid us of this foolishness. But can we really ever get rid of our sinful nature? If so, how? Romans 3:23 springs to mind…
A final quote: “Some of us manage to draw the connection between the social dangers of doing stupid stunts in real life and having it documented on the Internet — for eternity. Meanwhile, if someone developed a device that released a mildly poisonous spider every time you went to upload an embarrassing an image, a lot more kids would get in a lot less trouble. Well, after those first few died off, anyway.”
Would they really get into less trouble? Or would we all die off? Perhaps that’s the real story behind Spiderman’s strength…
COMMENTS
5 responses to “Caught! On Facebook…”
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What a great post, Hawley! I liked what YOU had to say a whole lot.
I was less taken with what the author of the piece said. I mean, I loved it that she wrote a story about this. But I think we should be surprised — just because true understanding of Law and Gospel is so very rare (even Luther said he was bad at it) — that nearly any writer will capture that understanding in anything he or she writes. (Sola Mockingbird excepted OF COURSE!)
So I don’t see really that she’s advocating a Theology of Grace. She is saying that almost all of us have been guilty of being drunk or flirty or naked. So here she is starting to take some steps toward a Cross-centered understanding of sin (though not yet a Cross/Grace solution).
Unfortunately she also believes along with her quoted experts that this is something we grow out of as we get older. She also thinks that some kinds of ubiquitous sin are excusable (silly adolescent hijinx that involve embarrassing photos, smoking a joint, lying to your boss to attend parties) — but others (sexually oppressing cardboard cutouts of Hilary Clinton) are not excusable.
I also just don’t see much of a GRACE solution. What she seems to say is some very sound common sense worldly prudence: hey, we all are guilty of some embarrassing shit, so if you’re smart you’ll do some intentional sober planning on how not to get exposed. That is certainly sound worldly advice. And frankly I need to take it!
But there’s no grace in it. Even her advice to employers, to the people in the place of judgment, has a cool self-interested worldly ring to it: hey, if you want to maximize your human resource investment, don’t be too demanding about youthful hijinx. There’s nothing in it about a sacrificial love of the Bad Man just for the sake of Love — only practical advice on how to ahead in business.
Much food for thought here Hawley. I read an article a few months ago on the AAR website about whether or not having a blog could be an asset for those of us seeking academic jobs. The consensus was ‘perhaps, but please take down the personal stuff’ for just this reason.
Honestly, I can understand why an employer might not want their employees parading around in a fairy costume after lying to get out of work (and drinking Busch Light, gag!).
I’m a total adolescent 90% of the time, but I have no reason to expect that my employer would/should extend unlimited grace my way. I assume from the start that they do not read Capon or Forde.
As someone with a bit of business experience (practical and academic), I think we’re off our proverbial rocker if we believe that businesses exist for any other reason than to make a profit. That is the board’s responsibility to the shareholder…not to show grace, not to reduce net income by giving to charities, not to keep employees on board if they are ‘out of line’ or a drain on profits (as seen in Bloomberg’s daily headlines!). Business, as a rule, could give a rat’s you-know-what about what you and I think about law/grace…they have no interest in coddling people. That is capitalism, and the business world dances to its music.
Perhaps I’m missing the point, but nobody owes us anything just because we are justified sinners…that is not a license for entitlement. I also do not believe that we can say an employer has no grace because they have standards. Um, yeah, I want airlines to require pilots to take breathalyzer tests; hospitals to fire surgeons who fail to double-check the patient’s chart and plunge the knife in the wrong knee; and CIA-types to uphold their oath not sell secrets to our enemies. There are two legitimate uses of law, and I think these fall into category deux!
My guess is that like many of us, Kevin had to sign a contract of employment which allows employers to enforce company-specific civil law. It may not change Kevin’s heart, but I have a hunch that he’ll think twice next time.
When I walk out of my flat in the morning, I do so without expecting anyone I meet to be able to do the theological math and take the cross into consideration…especially my employer.
John,
I really appreciate and value your thoughts and insights. I think you’re right. I often impute a bit more wisdom into things like this, or even non-christians. I suppose I believe that (to a degree) God speaks and moves in everyone – even if they do not know Him or that they are being moved.
Your points are very well grounded. I think you’re right. It may be better to say that I myself thought of grace as a result of what she discussed rather than suggesting that she had some sort of unconscious awareness of the need for it.
Even being able to understand some of the universality of sin is, I think, a big step towards an understanding of so much else. Comprehending sin and its pervasiveness proceeds an understanding for the need for God. And perhaps she never even really gets that far – instead, just blowing it off as a trivial “youngster” sort of activity. As though the only ones who do stupid and despicable things are between the ages of 18-30 or something.
Mister D,
I certainly think you’re right – the ‘business’ world is another realm in some ways from everyday life and personal interactions or friendships. As you said, businesses “have no interest in coddling people” and indeed if they did, our world would be very different and I assume MORE peculiar in some ways.
I suppose to me, the interest in this article was not so much the decision made by the company or even what the woman felt as far as advice for companies decision making. I think it’s a struggle to live out grace in our daily lives – when firing someone, when seeing photo evidence of such foolishness, and when we disagree.
I guess I’ve been disappointed plenty of times by the fact that grace is rarely applied in most situations – whether or not deserved or wise. I certainly agree that surgeons should be fired if they do not follow procedure, etc. I simply wonder how we can share grace and love and well, GOD with people in these times and fallen situations.
Thank you for reading, your comments, and sharing in the discussion. I knew Mockingbird readers would have wonderful contributions to the discussion!
Blessings to all,
H
Hey Hawley, I totally agree. In fact, two of the most law-ridden experiences in my life have been in connection with a seminary (not TESM!) and a provincial advisory panel.
The way I was treated by these fellow Christians illustrates your point about being ‘disappointed plenty of times by the fact that grace is rarely applied in most situations’…I’m sure we’re not the only ones who feel this way. I also think this is why I cannot bear literature that portrays the idea of a flawless ‘hero’…that archetype does not exist in the real world. At some point every so-called hero inevitably slips on the banana peel of law when grace should have applied. However, it is only once we’re on the receiving end of that law that we have the opportunity to demonstrate grace in spades.
D,
You express that sentiment well. You’ve hit the nail on the head. In fact, I think the times I have been MOST disappointed by the lack of grace have actually been in Christian circles.
And yet… Just like you can’t bear the “flawless hero”, I think the rest of America is beginning to move in that direction as well. I think it was the Dark Knight, but there was a movie recently portraying a hero as relatively fallen – actually, I may be thinking of Hancock.
Anyway, I very much agree. Working in ministry, one of the biggest lessons I’ve learned is that when I focus on my own failings, my own sinfulness, when someone is behaving immaturely, treating me like dirt, or otherwise… Compassion comes much more naturally and I am able to feel less personally offended. I see the sin as almost a separate entity instead of negatively boxing in the other person as a sort of enemy.
Man, grace is tough. I think that’s part of why Jesus called his followers to give up everything – we hold on so quickly to power and a sense of being in control or even self-righteous…
Thanks for the dialogue!