For centuries the Church shared the Gospel message using the the method of communication that the rest of the world used. It was preached , taught in churches, it was quoted and spoken about through the printed materials and talked about at social gatherings! It was engrained in an American culture that had essentially remained the same morally and ethically from the time of our founding fathers, until around the turn of the 20th century!
ALOT HAS CHANGED…..
A lot changed in the last century, especially the way the world communicates! While Church was very successful advancing the message of the Gospel over the last several centuries (the Gospel was the single greatest contributing factor to the age of enlightenment, spurring on the industrial revolution ), it's influence on this generation has dissipated to the degree that majority of today's youth say the Bible and Jesus are not relevant to their life.
Today's television programing and even the commercials are so anti-Biblical that it is difficult to find any program that does not intentionally purpose to offend the Word of God in some way or another. The secular movement has re-define d the institution of marriage and the destruction of the Biblical family and they have used every form of mass media to do it! Many believe the secularization of our nation could not have advanced with the force and speed that it has, without the power of the press, the radio and television! It has and continues to reshape and redefine our ideology, culture and our religious convictions!
We are now in a period of communication explosion that is unprecedented in human history!!!! If you has told me 30 years ago that television would become the secondary means of communication around the world I would have told you you were crazy!!!! But in fact more individual get their news and information on a daily basis from the internet than any other news source and governments around the world are becoming increasingly aware of its power and influence!!!!
Not wanting to minimize the power of the Gospel or its ability to transform lives and even nations, there is a clear disparity in just a few short generations. Here are a few things we need to ask ourselves? Has the power and effectiveness of the church on our culture and society has greatly declined, while new methods of reaching enormous numbers of people were being adopted and transformed by the secular world? If God gave us dominion over the earth and in the affairs of men and the responsibility to exercise our authority, then why would we leave such important form of communication in the hands of those who are diametrically opposed to God and His Word?"
The Medium Is the Message
Close to 2,247,000,000 people use social media worldwide. Is it any surprise that we there is a real and growing need for a greaater presence to be felt and our voice to be heard in the new world of social media! Nations that do not allow missionaries have the internet. The freedom of the internet is the freedom to share God's word , His truth, His message !
With all of the media available to today's culture is it possible that the medium we use to say something is important? Preaching the Gospel will always be, in some way, affected by the method in which we choose to convey it, and the internet is no exception. While there is a clear advantage for reaching mass amounts of people all over the world ,there are also clear draw backs.
THE DRAW BACKS….
A basic rule in communication says the wider the audience the less substantive the message simply because it must appeal to a wider general audience. The more people you want to reach, the less of a message you will have, which means keep it simple when it comes to a general audience so the majority of people can understand it. This is the drawback of instant and mass online communication.
There is a concern by many who feel that those sharing the Gospel will have to sacrifice a depth and quality to the message for the price of instant access to a mass audience. In other words, we are telling people what to do without much follow up and no accountability. This kind of ministry is time consuming, slow, and as far as accountability goes, virtually impossible to do. It is definitely not an adequate replacement for discipleship which is meant for a personal level. Mass communication is not personal. Some issues can be overcome to some extent through a personal following or audience (As we shared in "The Power of One Person" article. Personal messages can resonate with others if they feel a connection to you,which many social media sites actually represent.) Your circle of influence could be seen as a fair reflection of a small online community. After all, society is nothing but a collection of smaller groups.
A DISJOINTED COMMUNITY….
Does presenting the Gospel in it's simplest form and structure, distract from the depth of relationship that Christ wants to have with His Church and the Church with one another? Does it just become religious or theological information without the governmental structure or daily accountability that the local church provides? Does it draw others to Christ and lead them to a local church or does it begin and end with the internet? To what extent are we to blame? These are all valid and important questions we have to ask moving forward! We do know that after all has been said, posted, shared and like on social media,that there still remains a side of the gospel that must be experienced or encountered with real people.
The Rise of the Online Church and Community...
The gospel must be embodied and not simply read about or talked about. This was the gist of Paul's exhortation to the Corinthians:
" You are a letter of Christ . . . written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone, but on tablets of human hearts" (2 Cor. 3:3-4).
We might as well say written not electronically on the plasma screen with pixels, but in flesh and blood and in one-to-one encounters with friends, family, and neighbors. Media, as good as it is, cannot substitute for personal experience of God and fellowship with others. This brings the idea of an online community, church or school, which is currently gaining popularity, into question. There is no doubt that people communicate effectively this way, even on Facebook, and they can learn through this medium just like any traditional means, but there is a doubt as to how truly valuable and transformative one's learning or one's community will be if there is no personal encounter. Can a New Testament Church experience and the important spiritual bond and relationships that form and grow as a result of it also form and grow through electronic means? That is something that we have to not only take a serious look at but we also need to become vocal about!
While social
media is excellent at giving you a wide audience just like TV and radio and
even meeting new people, but it is not a replacement for face-to-face
contact. Media technology may best be seen as an excellent supplement to
relationships and community, but not a replacement. It can be used to stay in
touch and keep people connected, but in cannot ultimately replace our
community and social network of actual people.
Social media can facilitate friendship, but it
cannot replace it. We are warm-blooded creatures and need other warm-blooded
people to have community, something a computer screen cannot provide. Social
media serves as a supplement to community, not a substitute!
WHY WE SHOULD ENGAGE
So then why do we engage? I read an article recently entitled,"Re-Wired" by Brandon Cox that addressed the issue of why He believes the Church should engage in the interest and have a viable presence in social media!Here is an except from that article:
"As we develop a driving philosophy of why to take up the mantle of social media engagement, it’s important to understand that the purposes for engaging the culture this way are the same purposes that led the church to engage with the world before the Internet ever existed.
1. We engage because the world needs Jesus: Paul declared he would “try to find common ground with everyone, doing everything I can to save some” (1 Cor. 9:22). The world needs Jesus, and the very people we want to reach with the gospel are involved in social media—especially those in the youngest generations. They’re tweeting. They’re Facebooking. They’re Instagramming. We can’t expect a lost world to come to our turf on our terms to hear our message. We must actively engage them with the hope that is in us. If we hope to share Jesus with them, we need to go where they already are.
2. We engage because the conversation happens with or without us: Right now, people are talking about big issues. Dialogue is ongoing when it comes to politics, economics, science, medicine, sports, technology and religion. In most areas of life, someone is leading the conversation that’s happening, and it isn’t waiting for us to catch up. The conversation is happening whether we’re a part of it or not. Within the last half-century, our tendency has been to retreat into our Christian bubbles where everything feels comfortable to us. If we’re honest, we’d rather spend time talking to other Christians about the Christian life than risk engaging in conversations with people who disagree with us or have tough questions we can’t answer. It takes courage to engage, but engage we must if we are to lead the conversation about Jesus forward.
3. We engage because God should be glorified in every space:
In every space where people are talking, the glory of God should be evident. His light should be shined into the darkest corners of society. It stands to reason that if the role of Twitter and other social networks is to empower everyday people with a voice, then we should certainly take advantage of the opportunity to use that voice to point people to the glory of God.
4. We engage because it’s the mission of the Church:
It is impossible to fulfill the Great Commission as Jesus gave it without engaging the culture around us. The members of the earliest church in the city of Jerusalem would confirm this. Jesus had plainly commissioned them to not only share the gospel with their surrounding community, but also to do so to the uttermost parts of the earth. They did well locally, but they failed to leave their city. So persecution came. What happened next? The Bible says that “the believers who were scattered preached the Good News about Jesus wherever they went” (Acts 8:4). They had to learn the lesson the hard way that God is serious about us going to every piece of the planet with the good news.
5. We engage because people need us to engage: Because the world’s leading thinkers understand the Internet is a virtually limitless source of knowledge updated in real time. Living conditions can be improved by giving people access to knowledge about anything from better architecture to advanced medical training to new farming methods and more.
In the conclusion of his article he adds this,"There’s the fact that in every country in the world, there is a church. It may be small and underground, but churches exist virtually everywhere. The Internet affords churches access to this massive infrastructure for helping mankind. Even in impoverished nations, church leaders tend to gather to discuss the needs of their respective congregations. Some places have no hospitals or grocery stores, but there are churches. These churches, with the aid of the Internet, can help to serve and lead their communities. Imagine the results we could see if we really used social media to meet the needs of people, not only in places where the Internet is just now becoming available, but also in our own backyards. People have real needs that can be met via social media. Therefore, social media is a tool that cannot be ignored as a viable means of extending the Great Commission and helping others heal with the message of Jesus. There’s a purpose for everything under heaven. This means that there’s a purpose for the Internet, and there also ought to be purpose in the way that we use it."
MY CONCLUSION
I shared with my readers, in a previous article entitled ,"The Power of One Person" (you can find that article on the side bar of this page), the tremendous power in the personal message and how powerfully it can and does resonate with others! It has become the fastest way consensus is formed, through trending thoughts and ideas! It is the way groups, whether good or bad (like the Jihadists) are creating converts and dispatching recruits! As long as there are individuals out in the cyber world who are looking for purpose and meaning in their life there will be those who are vulnerable and can easily be influenced to follow a powerful message that resonates with them including extremist movements and philosophies!
So, why do we engage? Because in a world that desperately needs Jesus Christ and the liberty, freedom and life changing power of the Gospel, we are called to be the voice that cries out in the wilderness! We are commanded to be the light the pierces the darkness! We are the custodians of Gods great and precious promises! Finally, we are Kingdom ambassadors charged to bring that message to all who have ears! That include the internet, social media, the cloud, and all of cyber space!
The internet cannot and should not ever take the place of the local church assembly, but imagine the possibilities that lay ahead for the Church if she, through spiritual, wisdom and as an outflow of the local church, grasps ahold of the power and influence of this new world of communication and claims it for God's Kingdom, power and glory!!!!
I think it is very revealing that as the power of the internet and social media grows, so does the secular cry for regulation and "fairness"! ( Of course we all know that means we want you to engage on the internet,"as long as you agree with us").
Selah!!!
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FORGING YOUR FAITH
To 'Forge' something, is to mold and shape something for suitable use. We believe that our lives are constantly being shaped and molded by the hand of God for His divine purpose! This publication strives to encourage believers who are beginning this process and those who are well into it! We also believe a truly successful life is a Christ-Centered Life! We hope you will join us and become a regular reader!
Thank You and God Bless,Marianne Mauti
'Forging Your Faith' is the online Christian publication of 'Christ the King Church' in Bellevue, Pa.
About Marianne Mauti: Marianne is a writer and blogger as well as a Pastor at "Christ the King Church" in Bellevue, Pa. She is currently the Dean and Chief Operating Officer of "Christ the King Seminary" a full time Bible Institute. For more information about us please contact us at: crowncntr@aol.com
FORGING YOUR FAITH
To 'Forge' something, is to mold and shape something for suitable use. We believe that our lives are constantly being shaped and molded by the hand of God for His divine purpose! This publication strives to encourage believers who are beginning this process and those who are well into it! We also believe a truly successful life is a Christ-Centered Life! We hope you will join us and become a regular reader!
Thank You and God Bless,Marianne Mauti
Founder and CAO
About Marianne Mauti: Marianne is a writer and blogger as well as a Pastor at "Christ the King Church" in Bellevue, Pa. She is currently the Dean and Chief Operating Officer of "Christ the King Seminary" a full time Bible Institute. For more information about us please contact us at: crowncntr@aol.com ***********************************************************
ARTICLE RESOURCES
ARTICLE RESOURCES
*The Bible
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