“[Jesus said],’You can be sure that wherever in the whole world the Message is preached, what she has…done is going to be remembered” (Matthew 14:9).
Recently I received a call from a reporter at The London Times. She explained that she was preparing an article describing naming ceremonies in Mongolia. She turned to the Internet to research the topic – and soon discovered a reference to our little Newsletter. Six years ago, it turns out, I wrote an article concerning this very topic; now it appeared in London, in a curious reporter’s search window.
I had been “googled.”
On the one hand, the experience rather awed me. It is not every day that I receive a call from The London Times requesting an interview regarding Mongolian naming ceremonies. The experience rather sobered me, too. Just what sort of information circulates here and there around the world…about me?
Google is the world’s most popular search engine, by far. The service indexes more than 3 billion web pages – enough for multiple paragraphs of information for every man, woman and child on the planet. A simple search for “Mongolia” produces more than 5 million references. Apparently some few make cross-reference to me.
I became curious and performed a few searches myself. I entered my own name in the search window, and clicked. More than 39,000 references turned up. It happens that there are many “Lindquist” families in the world, however – most of which are unrelated to me. I would have to narrow the search. I entered “missionary,” “Lutheran,” and a few other obvious combinations.
But why stop there? What if I entered “servant heart,” “disciple of Christ,” “selfless leader,” or simply “Biblical”? How about “sincere friend,” “loving spouse,” “patient father,” or “good Samaritan”? Again I en-tered a few combinations, and clicked. A handful of apparently random connections were made. But the results were not very compelling.
I could be “googled” from London because of a brief and somewhat unsubstantial article on Mongolian names – just the sort of obscure connection that Google is famous for ferreting out. But more important connections – the basic themes and Biblical descriptors that I would like to characterize my life – were much less apparent. Try the experiment yourself. Visit www.google.com. Enter your name – and, let’s say, “Ambas-sador for Jesus Christ.” What do you find?
The experiment, I realize, doesn’t reveal much. Google measures Internet references. The service cannot possibly notice your personal care for the lost, your unspoken prayers for the world, your commitment to the missionary cause of Jesus, or your words and actions of witness.
But someone does.
If heaven runs a “google” service, I want to be connected to faith, surrender, and happy obedience. I want “Ambassador” to turn up a million connections. I want “Child of God” to appear at the top of every page. This is the sort of connection I want to build.
And how about you?