Internet Churches
Was checking out my friend Antoine’s site (Mobile Ministry Magaine) and he had a very interesting article written up about evangelism & the Internet. Lately we had been discussing the idea of an Internet/Web church and how we could possibly make it work. One of the biggest factors is discovering the “need” for the ministry as it would be pointless to have such a ministry without purposely trying to meet the need of the people. Here’s a link to his article with a little snippet.
http://mobileministrymagazine.com/2005/10/net-and-christianity.html
I did a search in Google for “internet churches” and was astounded on how little info there was out there. I was just as miffed at the different Internet churches that are out there, or had been out there and are no longer. I understand that the net is a different paradigm than any communication and social medium that came before it. I just dont understand why Christians have been so unsuccessful in taking Christ to the net-connected world…
Internet ministry is one thing – and God is certainly using it; I know He’s used it to minister to me. But an internet church? How does it relate to Acts 2:42 & Heb 10:25? And fellowship? It beats nothing, but it seems to me it’s *fellowship* and *presence* ant *touch* that build people up in their faith. You can’t lay hands on to pray for, join hands in prayer, or give someone a hug. I found this through a search on Pastor N8ioN, so I saw you’ve had some struggles in the past. Do you think you would have fallen when you did, if you’d been in services regularly? Or hadn’t stayed out for a while? I’ve been there, too. The more people joined together in the spirit, the stronger the Anointing comes, the more the saints are built up. A Christian who isn’t getting in-person fellowship is like an amputated body part; s/he’s gonna die – maybe not quite as fast as natural body parts, but just as surely.
I’ll refrain from commenting about my struggles as I’ve already laid them out in previous entries. We all fall and have down times in our walk, and even if I had been in church regularly during those times, there’s no indication that those same events/feelings would not have occurred. As far as that is concerned, it’s more about a relationship with GOD, and not necessarily church people, that are going to build you up in your faith.
And how does it relate to those two passages you gave? They relate 100%. Just because people are not gathering in one physical location, that does not mean that the Spirit cannot move and that people cannot grow. Paul was still having fellowship with the churches via his letters to them. Those people still gained a great deal from those letters, just as we are today; people who never met these writers.
Fellowship can indeed happen over the Internet. I can attest to the fact that I’ve had more meaningful relationships with Christians over the Internet than I have with those in the church that I physically attend on Sundays. I’ve built relationships with people and now we regularly chat over the phone and correspond with one another; but we would have never had such fellowship had we not had the Internet.
Now, as far as the Internet Church goes, it’s a very plausible means of spreading the gospel and providing fellowship. An example of this is in China where it is illegal to own a Bible or to assemble and have church. Chinese would be able to come online, interact with other Christians all over the world, and have fellowship that they otherwise wouldn’t be able to have in a physical nature. Antoine & I have done a lot of research on this in the past week or so and we have found a multitude of articles that have shown that there is indeed a need for such a place on the Internet. Many have tried before, but have failed for whatever reason. We’re studying now so that we can do it right, if it is to be done at all.
I personally was a member of an internet church a few years ago while I was in college and it was very instrumental in keeping me grounded until I had found a church home in that area. And the fellowship was unsurpassed.
Plus, the whole deal of an Internet church is not meant to be an end all for Christians, but instead to be a tool. No one said that people would leave their physical church to join an Internet church; it would be a dual membership. It’s more of a resource for those who cannot get to a physical church.
I’d recommend doing a search on Internet churches and you’ll find a great deal of information as to how they can accomodate the body of Christ. One of these days, I pray that I can make it a reality, and if not, at least lay down the ground work for it.
I didn’t mean to imply that relationships – even deep friendships – don’t develop through email and other electronic means. Some of the best friends I’ve got are people I’ve met online, some of them whom I’ve never met in person and probably never will – including people on other continents. And such friendships certainly can help sustain a Christian life – if the prayer life is a strong one.
WRT the Chinese, I think you may be underestimating the amount of control the government already has over the internet portals AND the content there, and that they are quite aware there are leaks, which they continually work to plug – leaks that generally take individuals who are persistent and have strong geek skills to find.
While some of the smartest people I’ve known are ethnic Chinese, the percentage – even among those who have the economic means and the basic skills – is likely to remain low. Probably for both the near and mid-term unless/until God does a miracle like the fall of the USSR, the future of the Chinese church is in house churches, just as it has been since WW II.
I have friends – professional linguists – who have and do work in a number of places that are officially closed to the west in general and Christians in particular, both in communist and Muslim (let’s leave it at that) countries, because those linguists create alphabets and teach literacy to ethnic minorities whose languages are previously unwritten; the governments see the need for their people to become literate, and the price of those highly skilled professionals is right (free, or very cheap). I also have friends in other relatively difficult places that it is not advisable to discuss in public, lest it put them at unnecessary risk.
It was not my intent to denigrate ANY evangelization work whatsoever! I’m sorry if it seemed that way to you. I simply feel that electronic means represent an adjunct, not the main event.
Please drop in to an internet church with a twist. http://padreandrews.tripod.com
In the Masters name
Jim Andrews
“It was not my intent to denigrate ANY evangelization work whatsoever! I’m sorry if it seemed that way to you. I simply feel that electronic means represent an adjunct, not the main event.”
I dont feel that you did any diservice to the post, but you did raise an excellent point, quoted above.
In no means do I think that a net church should be a main thing, it should suppliment what has already been happening in house churches. You are also right in the comment about availability. There are simply not enough people that would be online that would make a net church the main means of interaction.
Having said all of that, the net church is one of many “thoughts” about Christians and the net that LJ and I have spoken about. Unfortunately as nice as a net church may seem, the fact of the matter isnt that it isnt “main event” enough to be successful, but that the church as a whole has not figured out a means to capture the best of the net, and present Christ as Lord of this arena as well. Whether that means making net churches, or just training on MS Word, churches are really in the back of a slow boat on the road to being technologically literate. And for being such a young and mobile platform, the net is perfect for chu’ch to happen (just not in the way we’ve been doing it for the last 20 or so generations).
I dont know what is needed [yet] but I do feel that more than any media platform, this is one that Christians should be able to see submitted to our Lord, and fruity-looped into a sweet fellowhsip building and informational arena for the world to know the Word.