I gotta confess I am a cynical optimist. I have all the hope in the people around yet very cynical about the world around me. I am even more cynical about crazes and trends. I was a huge cynic of church planting. Now before you blow up at me I attend a church plant and am very proud of the work God has done there. I am still a cynic of church plants which were part of a stat or some man’s vision. I am all for the kingdom growing and a person’s heart being broken for an area and then turning around to reach that area through a church plant. (I could go on and on complaining about church plants the strengths and weaknesses but I will blog about it some other time. ) After church planting the most recent trend is online church. There seems to be an explosion of online churches out there. Some are doing it much better than others. One of the greatest leaders at the forefront of online churches is lifechurch in Oklahoma pastored by Craig Groeschel. Newspring is also now broadcasting weekly services and many more are on the brink of joining this growing group of “church plants.” This comes with a ton of controversy but I think the biggest area of contention is fellowship. Can you really have biblical Acts 2 fellowship over a computer in your glow in the dark boxers(not that i own any)sitting at the computer? I have many friends who knock the internet church big time but instead of just knocking it I decided to try it out. I came in a total skeptic looking for flaws and I still have my fears. I have worshipped with Newspring in Anderson, SC about 5 times and with Lifechurch 3 times. I am amazed now at how much it is just like a service. There are announcements a welcome from the Webcampus pastor (yes a man is paid full time for this), a time for the offering and even an altar call. Ironically enough churches such as Lifechurch have witnessed tithing being higher on the webcampus than the brick and mortar building. It was a little awkward at first to see a big red button to accept Christ. What was even crazier was in one service to see the counter going up to over a dozen accepting Christ as their Savior in one online service. Still a skeptic I had my complaints. Either way I still just couldn’t believe that real fellowship (whatever that means) can happen online. I questions the importance of being in each other’s presence, physical touch and eye contact. All valid concerns. I am still a skeptic and semi-cynical about the online church idea but God has been humbling me in some amazing ways.
In the past month I have had over a dozen great conversations online over webcam, instant messenger (yes i still have it), and especially on facebook chat. I have had people share their homosexuality with me for the first time, question everything about christianity. I have prayed with countless students online. I have had multiple others share their struggles over sex with their girlfriends for the first time with anyone or even just share about a hard day or a surgery and the recovery. I have actually had some of the best chats in a long time over the internet. I am not sure what all this means but I have been joking that facebook should make me their chaplain. I could do it for free for now but eventually I think I could stay more than busy enough online. I mean we all know a 5 minute in person conversation takes hours online. There are of course reasons this medium is easier for sharing and opening up yet at the same time does that make it wrong. Things are being put in the light. Things are being shared with other parts of the body. We have wept together online we have rejoiced together online. God is humbling me on my cynical spirit about the internet but no matter how much I dont think the internet works for sharing life my old school thinking may one day turn me into the same idiot who said there would never be a need for more than 5 computers in all the world. Instead of digging my heals in and questioning everything for the first time I am learning to loosen up and see how God could leverage the countless areas of social networking not for hook ups and pokes rather for His Glory. So Facebook….hire me as your first chaplain back to my online ministry opportunities 
nice Thomas Watson reference =]
good point. I’ve been thinking about the internet church a little bit and an article I read today in Collide put it well (for utilizing media in general). (scratch that, I couldn’t find it. But I did find something else). “Even if you’re not in the market for a netbook…. take notice of the trend of small simple, and cheap machines optimized for web browsing. As this gadget segment grows, it could change the way we design hardware, software, websites, and live experiences.” (Collide, May/June 2009).
It’s interesting to think how technology affects society. It really is more powerful than people give it credit. It’s not necessarily a bad thing, but certainly can be. Anyway, I’m tired and not really going anywhere with this anymore. Good post =p
You know, I had some cool spiritual conversations in high school and early college on AIM, pre-Facebook messenger stuff. I gotta hand you that. Though I understand the current use of text messaging, Facebook, and Gmail chatting*, I get truly concerned with the concept of online churches.
You mean all I have to do to make a decision for Christ is click a red button now?
When someone ticks me off, gets too annoying during bible study, or confronts me with my sin, I can just close the browser and log off forever! I mean, I don’t actually have to LIVE with these people, or let them see the real me. With an online church, I can scoff at biblical fellowship! I can finally sit in my underwear during service!
Believers are called to real biblical fellowship, and the richness gained from that fellowship only comes by physically attending and serving at a local church, living the walk daily and mortifying sin with the help of other believers. If we withhold ourselves from serving at a local church, we are essentially withholding one part of the body from the rest. Online churches can never subsistute for the gathering of believers locally and is simply a result of laziness and selfishness in a very post-modern “emergent” church culture.
Scary. Scary. Scary.
* Does AIM even exist anymore?