Do We Have Too Much Privacy?

Mark D. Roberts: Do We Have Too Much Privacy?

I know there's great concern in our world today about privacy and the possible lack thereof. Many are afraid that we are losing our privacy to the spying eyes of the Internet, represented most ominously by social networking sites like Facebook. I share this concern to an extent. But, I must confess that I also think we have too much privacy.

Before you fire off a nasty email or add a critical comment below, let me explain what I mean and don't mean.

First, here's what I don't mean. I don't mean that I think Facebook and related sites should have the freedom to access all sorts of personal information about us, our purchases, our families, etc. . . . without our permission. Nor do I think the government should be peering into our bedrooms, our checkbooks, or our medical records. So when I say we have too much privacy, I'm not referring to that which gets most of the buzz these days.

Rather, I am considering privacy with respect to our personal relationships, especially relationships in the context of Christian community. Here is where I think most of us have too much privacy. Privacy enables us to keep our lives separate from others. It means we can hide our pains and struggles, our joys and victories. It means we're alone in precisely those areas of life where we need other people.

The biblical picture of the Christian life stands in contrast to our privacy-obsessed way of living. As we saw in yesterday's blog post, the New Testament envisions the Christian life as something that is to be shared. Christians are to "rejoice with those who rejoice" and "weep with those who weep" (Romans 12:15). Our sexual experiences, though done in private, nevertheless lie within the moral purview of the Christian community. How we parent our children is not our personal business, but something for which we are to be accountable to our Christian community. And when we mess up in our personal lives, we are to confess our sins to each other (James 5:16).

I believe that most Christians have way too much privacy in their lives, privacy that keeps them disconnected from the encouragement, prayers, counsel, and accountability of Christian fellowship. During my years as a parish pastor, I listened as hundreds of people shared with me their moral failings. …