Technology has cut the distance that has separated us during the pandemic times when we could not meet in person.

Even though technology is able to bring us closer, it does not guarantee that we are truly connected and intertwined with one another. Physical and virtual closeness, even when we can see each other, does not mean that we are connected to one another.

For example, when we take a busy city bus, the distance between passengers is no more than 50 cm. Sometimes we even touch each other, but that does not mean we are connected to each other. The reality is that each person is still a stranger to the other.

That can happen anywhere, even in a family, so that family members get together but are not connected together. We can live in very dense housing, but we are not necessarily connected. It maybe that we even build a high wall that separates our neighbouring houses.

The walls or barriers that we build can be about economics, ethnicity or race, politics, ideology, sexual orientation and so on.

Don’t say it is not in the church! In the church, we can meet, shake hands, sing and hear the Word together, but being together physically or virtually is still no guarantee of deep fellowship.

As followers of Jesus, we must follow across all these barriers to build deep connections.

—Pastor Danang Kristiawan, GITJ Jepara (Gereja Inijili di Tanah Jawa), Jepara, Indonesia

This testimony is part of the Anabaptist World Fellowship Sunday worship resource for 2021.

Click here to view