Watch Yourself, Millennial! Ways You Accidentally Offend: Part 2

If you missed Part 1, be sure to check it out here.

YOU DON'T KNOW IT ALL

This one goes back to growing up along side the internet. Seriously, the Internet and I went through our toddler phase, and even awkward adolescence together (Xanga anyone?). It's no wonder we are so quick to turn to the Internet to solve all of our problems and answer our questions. And I have to admit, I am an awesome Googler. I have legitimately impressed some of my older co-workers with my lightning, fast and uber-efficient search engine skills. This super-power really makes me feel like I can find the answers to almost anything quickly. Add that on top of my disdain for loitering and inefficiency, and this can make me a total jerk at times. When there is a problem that needs to be solved, or an answer that needs to be found, I want to go right around the human experience in front of me and jump to the searchable experiences online.

What I've learned is that even though there is a lot of information on the Internet, it is still missing some things. More than that, sometimes it's just nicer to hear a story or experience out of the mouth of someone in front of you than jumping to Google. And I've got another theory that God works more through your human interactions, where you choose to love well through listening, than he does through your keystrokes in a search query. You never know how the Holy Spirit will work through an interaction that you choose to have instead of skipping out on it and choosing to be a know-it-all. Let someone else's experience speak, if it doesn't change you, it may change them.

Here's what I mean by that: You never know when that person was last offered the opportunity to add their own personal value to a situation. I think we tend to forget in the day-to-day at times that even though we are communicators and marketers, our number one call is to minister to others in our community. Sometimes that means ministering to others who offer us very little to no value. People are lonely. It's an epidemic that Satan himself created I'm sure. If God is love and love is relationship, that means that loneliness is a side-effect of God's absence. Any time we can offer someone the connection and relationship of our listening ears, we win for Heaven. Even if that means spending half an hour to find a solution to something we already know or could have taken 5 minutes to learn. Honestly, even if they are telling you that they loved Chris Hemsworth as Captain America and want to tell you all about it (even though you know it's actually Chris Evans as the Cap), you should just let them, because maybe you are the only person they are going to meaningfully connect with that week. And hey, you can find a loving way to share that it is actually Mr. Evans who plays Captain America, then you've both "discovered" something useful.

So, next time you are tempted to pull up "Let Me Google That For You," set it aside and practice your listening skills. Then meaningfully respond. Slow down for a second and love that person well!

Read Part 3 of this conversation!