Life-Prints: Digital and Otherwise

In Colossians chapter 3, spelled out for us is the relationship between the degree to which we allow the Word of God to dwell in our hearts and the potential behavior that is displayed in our lives:16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. 17 And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.   We can only "do all in the name of the Lord Jesus" as we are not only knowledgeable about God's Word, but also abiding in God's Word - and allowing the Scriptures to abide in us.   If we are allowing our beliefs and attitudes to be shaped by Scripture, then our choices will reflect our reliance on Christ.   Our beliefs ultimately determine our behavior, and the narrative of our lives is governed by what's in our hearts.  A goal for us as Christians is to allow our life-print to be written by Him.

In John chapter 5, Jesus reinforces the notion that He is One with the Father, and without the life of the father, He, the Son, could do nothing:
19 Then Jesus answered and said to them, "Most assuredly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, but what He sees the Father do; for whatever He does, the Son also does in like manner. 20 For the Father loves the Son, and shows Him all things that He Himself does; and He will show Him greater works than these, that you may marvel. 21 For as the Father raises the dead and gives life to them, even so the Son gives life to whom He will.

A new Cambridge University study shows that intimate personal attributes can be predicted with high levels of accuracy from ‘traces’ left by seemingly innocuous digital behavior - in this case, Facebook Likes.  This research, published today in the journal PNAS, shows that surprisingly accurate estimates of Facebook users’ race, age, IQ, sexuality, personality, substance use and political views can be inferred from automated analysis of only their Facebook Likes - information currently publicly available by default.

They analyzed a dataset of over 58,000 U.S. Facebook users, who volunteered their Likes, demographic profiles and psychometric testing results through the myPersonality application.  Models were constructed, which proved 88% accurate for determining male sexuality, 95% accurate distinguishing African-American from Caucasian American and 85% accurate differentiating Republican from Democrat. Christians and Muslims were correctly classified in 82% of cases, and good prediction accuracy was achieved for relationship status and substance abuse – between 65 and 73%.

And, there was an attempt in the study to determine the level of intelligence of respondents based on some of the items which were "Liked".  According to the Wired website, if you like thunderstorms, The Colbert Report or curly fries on Facebook, you’re a genius. If you like Sephora, Harley-Davidson or the country-western band Lady Antebellum, you’re not.

The researchers described Facebook Likes as “a generic class of digital record that could be used to extract sensitive information.”

So, a word to the wise about online privacy - your activity online tells a story, and if you don't want people to see your personal patterns and choices, then don't post them online.

But, there's an even more reliable indicator of our personal belief system, and that is found in our behavior.   The choices we make reflect what's in our souls, and how we act is governed by the thoughts and intents of the heart.  Even the words we speak, according to Jesus, flow out of the abundance of our hearts.

So, while those digital traces tell a story, our very lives tell an even more accurate story of who we really are.  An important question is this: Are we allowing our lives to be regenerated by the power of the living God?   Do our choices reflect a reliance on Christ?   Our life-print, the story of our lives, ultimately becomes a compelling indicator of the degree of our dependence on Him.   And, if we recognize that we fall short, we can change the trajectory and alter the narrative, so that it reflects more of God's story in us.