What do you think about that statement? If attention is the currency, who is rich and getting richer? Only those who can draw more attention. That means those who consistently say or do things that shock or invite your gaze. Who wants to live that way? Apparently, a large segment of our population! That’s the nearly sole mindset behind social media, and media in general, for that matter. Media doesn’t exist to just inform anymore. Its purpose is to entertain and it does so with shock language. The more drama, the higher the views. The higher the views, the more currency you have to spend on the next round.
If attention is the currency, who are the new poor? Our culture says those who don’t garner views, likes and shares are those on the edge of poverty. And we seem to agree. We feel the lack when no one notices us. We’ve trained our brains to crave attention and when we don’t get it, we automatically think something is wrong. Panic may be an overstatement, but something begins to say and then scream in our brain, “What can I do to be noticed? What do I need to change? Who do I need to be more like?” The contest against attention poverty is a never ending rat race.
If you don’t struggle with this, count yourself blessed. I would wager you also don’t have a phone or access to the internet and you probably only read this article in print each week. If that describes you, enjoy your life! Thank the Lord for your freedom and exercise it often! If you, on the other hand, can identify with the phrase “attention is currency” more than you care to admit, pay attention to what comes next.
I would argue the Bible offers us another kind of currency to spend. It’s called wisdom. It’s so much more than knowledge and is gained as life is lived. It doesn’t come from tarot card readers or fortune tellers. Wisdom’s source isn’t any of the major news networks or your favorite (of many) podcaster. The currency of wisdom is directly from God. Only He can dispense it. It’s so much more than knowledge. The person who performs well in Trivial Pursuit isn’t automatically wise. Wisdom is applied knowledge. It knows what to do in the given situation. Wisdom can see through the façade to the truth. It can pick out a fake in a minute. It can also recognize someone who is real. Wisdom doesn’t come in your sleep. It’s born out of obedience to the Lord. It finds its language in the context of the Word. It can’t be faked and it rarely gets likes. Wisdom is the secret to a long, happy life.
Our culture says the rich are those who are the most visible. If that’s the case, we must be rollin’ in the dough! We are the most visible culture the world has ever seen! There aren’t many quiet corners in the world anymore. It seems like everyone, everywhere is screaming “Hey! Look at me!” Just my opinion, but I think our culture is dead broke; like Depression era broke. I think Johnny Lee was talking about us when he sang “Lookin’ for Love in all the wrong places.” We are craving something most of us can’t own. We are chasing an image of wealth that only a few will gain. And we’re going to die trying to get there.