“That fiftieth year shall be a Jubilee for you…”

Leviticus 25:11a

Let’s make this year an Internet Jubilee. Let’s reset the whole thing.

Let me explain…

In the 1970’s, the internet really came into existence. It started small, with various universities and research facilities communicating with each other. Fast forward 50 years, and most of us have access to virtually all the world’s knowledge carried around in our pockets. Wow. That escalated quickly.

50 years? That’s a Jubilee year!

The Old Testament designates every 50th year as a special year called Jubilee. During the Jubilee year, some pretty significant things would take place:

• Debts would be forgiven
• Land sold for debts would be returned
• Israelite slaves would be freed
• The land would be allowed to lie fallow.
• And generally, it would be a nation-wide celebration of their common humanity.

It’s an extraordinary concept, a complete reset, designed to rebalance the social order. Can you imagine the world embracing such a thing on the web? Here’s how I think it could work:

• Every stupid purchase you ever made online could be returned.
• Every hateful comment written on a message board would be purged.
• For one whole year, clickbait would be forbidden.
• People would be limited to one hour online, per day.
• And generally, it would be a world-wide celebration of our common humanity.

What do you think? A year to clear our heads, regain some common sense, and rediscover the world without a screen. A year to remember what a gift of communication the internet is, and to repent for how we’ve misused it.

We’re several decades into this whole online thing, and maybe the ancient Israelites were onto something: a need to step back and reflect on the common good. A chance to rededicate ourselves to core truths more foundational than Wikipedia itself. We might not even all agree about what those truths are, but we’d likely have more of an opportunity to talk about it face to face without our social media echo-chambers getting in the way.

Could we reset the internet? I think God would like that, but I don’t think it’s a feat even Al Gore could pull off. Still, I wonder. If we did, would it grow back the same? Would we learn from our misuse of communication and information, or are we just destined to conspiracy theories, anonymous vitriol, and ceaseless scrolling? Maybe the internet is destined to bring out the best and the worst of humanity, but I still feel called to try.

Riding a giant wave of internet altruism sounds fantastic,

but at the very least, you and I can

surf it responsibly.

Have a great week,

Mitch