What's the Purpose of Conversation?

Quotes from the book Reclaiming Conversation:
We’re talking all the time. We text and post and chat. We may even begin to feel more at home in the world of our screens. Among family and friends, among colleagues and lovers, we turn to our phones instead of each other. We readily admit we would rather send an electronic message or mail than commit to a face-to-face meeting or a telephone call. This new mediated life has gotten us into trouble.
Face-to-face conversation is the most human—and humanizing—thing we do. Fully present to one another, we learn to listen. It’s where we develop the capacity for empathy. It’s where we experience the joy of being heard, of being understood. And conversation advances self-reflection, the conversations with ourselves that are the cornerstone of early development and continue throughout life.
But these days we find ways around conversation. We hide from each other even as we’re constantly connected to each other. Anything having to do with the voice feels like an interruption. Time in simulation gets children ready for more time in simulation. Time with people teaches children how to be in a relationship, beginning with the ability to have a conversation. Conversation is on the path toward the experience of intimacy, community, and communion. Reclaiming conversation is a step toward reclaiming our most fundamental human values.

• What’s a “mediated life”?
• Why is it appealing?
• How do you see it happening? How do you practice it?
• Sit with this sentence: “Face-to-face conversation is the most human—and humanizing—thing we do.”
• What do you think?
• What is the purpose of face-to-face conversation?

Read 1 Samuel 18-20
As soon as David had finished talking with Saul, Jonathan’s life became bound up with David’s life, and Jonathan loved David as much as himself. From that point forward, Saul kept David in his service and wouldn’t allow him to return to his father’s household. And Jonathan and David made a covenant together because Jonathan loved David as much as himself. Jonathan took off the robe he was wearing and gave it to David, along with his armor, as well as his sword, his bow, and his belt. . . .


Saul ordered his son Jonathan and all his servants to kill David, but Jonathan, Saul’s son, liked David very much. So Jonathan warned David, “My father Saul is trying to kill you. Be on guard tomorrow morning. Stay somewhere safe and hide. I’ll go out and stand by my father in the field where you’ll be. I’ll talk to my father about you, and I’ll tell you whatever I find out.”

So Jonathan spoke highly about David to his father Saul, telling him, “The king shouldn’t do anything wrong to his servant David, because he hasn’t wronged you. In fact, his actions have helped you greatly. He risked his own life when he killed that Philistine, and the Lord won a great victory for all Israel. You saw it and were happy about it. Why then would you do something wrong to an innocent person by killing David for no reason?”
Saul listened to Jonathan and then swore, “As surely as the Lord lives, David won’t be executed.” So Jonathan summoned David and told him everything they had talked about. Then Jonathan brought David back to Saul, and David served Saul as he had previously.
. . . .David came to Jonathan and asked, “What have I done? What is my crime? How have I wronged your father that he wants me dead?”
Jonathan said to him, “No! You are not going to die! Listen: My father doesn’t do anything big or small without telling me first. Why would my father hide this from me? It isn’t true!”
But David solemnly promised in response, “Your father knows full well that you like me. He probably said, ‘Jonathan must not learn about this or he’ll be upset.’ But I promise you—on the Lord’s life and yours!—that I am this close to death!”
“What do you want me to do?” Jonathan said to David. “I’ll do it.”
. . . “Come on,” Jonathan said to David. “Let’s go into the field.” So both of them went out into the field. Then Jonathan told David, “I pledge by the Lord God of Israel that I will question my father by this time tomorrow or on the third day. If he seems favorable toward David, I will definitely send word and make sure you know. But if my father intends to harm you, then may the Lord deal harshly with me, Jonathan, and worse still if I don’t tell you right away so that you can escape safely. May the Lord be with you as he once was with my father. If I remain alive, be loyal to me. But if I die, don’t ever stop being loyal to my household.
So Jonathan again made a pledge to David because he loved David as much as himself. 
. . . David came out from behind the mound and fell down, face on the ground, bowing low three times. The friends kissed each other, and cried with each other, but David cried hardest. Then Jonathan said to David, “Go in peace because the two of us made a solemn pledge in the Lord’s name when we said, ‘The Lord is witness between us and between our descendants forever.’” Then David got up and left, but Jonathan went back to town.
Apply our conversation above to this relationship
What was the benefit of face to face conversations?

Judging by this story, how the relationships and consequences play out, what difference could face-to-face conversation make to the church?