15 Reasons “Church Online” Should Be Debated

Jesus Christ is on Facebook

I personally am a huge proponent of Christians leveraging the power of the Internet to advance the Kingdom and to give glory to God. I recognize that the web is changing the way people live their lives, I see it in my own family. My nigh-two year old is already comfortable with video calls and would rather look at pictures of her mother and brother on the computer than look at them in person. It is apparent to me that Internet will be a integral aspect of the lives of future generations of Christians.

As Christians around the world are exploring new expressions of faith within the virtual context of the web, people are forming strong opinions on what it means to be a church online. Though there has been some discourse on these issues, most of people’s attention is focused on making online church a reality. As a result, foundations are being laid for future generations without truly understanding what it is that is being built.

People argue that subjecting online church to examination and measurement will stifle progress and even discourage people from coming to the faith by online churches. While those are both valid concerns, I believe our generation has an obligation to study online church, subjecting our theories and practices to critical analysis and testing, and debating the issues. Here’s why:

15 reasons why “online church” should be debated:

1. We have a limited capacity to discern God’s will

Scripture tells us that we can not achieve the fullness of knowledge of God and his will. So if our desire is to build God’s church, then we must acknowledge that no individual or no group of people will be able to fully understand what or why or how we are supposed to be the church online. If we recognize this to be true then the natural response is to humble ourselves and say, “If what I know and believe is incomplete and may not be right. Then I should supplement it with counsel from diverse backgrounds and beliefs.”

2. God has revealed a lot as to what church should be

Scripture is chocked full of guidance and examples that shape our ecclesiology. The broad range of church formats and traditions that exist offline demonstrate how complex the topic is and how varied different interpretations are. Moving church online adds additional complexity and will most likely compound any errors in our thinking.

3. The stakes are high

It’s easy, especially when dealing with the context of the Internet, to dehumanize the effort of building the church. We conclude that the point is to bring people in; the point is to get God’s message to as many people as possible. We see this dehumanizing in traditional churches who focus on attendance numbers or conversions or other metrics.

At the end of the day, everything that we do around church online is about you, the person sitting at your computer reading these words right now. It is about you and about how much God loves you and what he has done and is doing so that you might be restored to him. It isn’t about making you feel better or just giving you hope when you are facing tough times. It is about saving your soul from an eternity of separation from God, your maker, your Father, your source of life and love. We must never forget that it is you that we are here to serve.

Because if God loves you so much that he would send his own Son to be tortured and killed… and if God asks me to help him in bringing you home… you better believe that I am going to take my responsibility seriously and do everything I can to make sure I am not messing up. That means engaging in critical thinking about what it is that I’m doing.

4. Satan wants us to fail

Ultimately the point of any church, online or not, is to glorify God. Satan HATES that. He hates it when God is glorified and he is working very hard in this world to do whatever he can to steal God’s glory. As we strive to build a church online that gives greater glory to God, you can bet that Satan will be against it. If the forces of this world are set against our efforts, is it not wise for us to draw together, unified as the body of Christ, as we work to build the church?

5. Opportunity to show off Christ in how we engage the process

Engaging in debate with other Christians is a tremendous opportunity to show off the beauty of Jesus Christ to the rest of the world. A willingness to listen to others (especially others that we disagree with) is so contrary to what the world’s culture expects that the world will take notice when actively and civilly engage in this manner. More importantly, through this process we have an opportunity to model what Christ called us to when he said, “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” (John 13:34-35) We can not walk away from engaging other Christians just because they disagree with us and what we’re doing. We must actively love them and the best way to do that is showing up.

6. The world IS watching

How Christians engage in this time is especially important because the rest of the world is watching. In the last four months, CNN.com has published three different articles reporting on how faith is expressed online. The most recent one from November 13th addresses this very debate. The world is watching what we do.

7. To encourage accountability

Not only is how we approach online church being observed by the secular world, but other Christians are watching too. We can preach and teach and challenge and train and disciple others all we want. But the best way for us to encourage Christians to be Christ-like is through the integrity of our own actions. Being willing to critically analyze what we’re doing as we build churches online demonstrates a willingness to be accountable to the greater church. Accountability to other Christians who are committed to building the church (whether or not they agree with the different points of online church) minimizes the risk of our motives becoming about anything other than Jesus Christ.

8. Traditional churches don’t get it “right”

While the context of the Internet does change a number of things and it definitely creates opportunities for the church that have never existed before. Much of the appeal of online church is the opportunity to start new, to do things differently than what traditional churches have done. We talk a lot about the “churched” and in many ways, the success of some modern churches comes from ministering to those who have been hurt by a church in the past. Righting the wrongs of the past, so to speak.

In the history of all churches, regardless of denomination, modern, post-modern, post-post modern… no one church has ever gotten it “right“. As we embark into uncharted territory, we do have a unique opportunity to learn from the mistakes of the past and, in doing so, create a solid foundation for the churches of the future. Not only that but it would be arrogant to assume that online churches will get it right. Refusing to engage in debate or to study what online church is, robs us of that opportunity. You know what they say: “Those who do not learn from history…”

9. The Peter Principle

The Peter principle states that people rise within organizations to the level of their own incompetence but no further. I bring this up because, despite the fact that the development of online churches is being driven by some amazing and talented leaders, men who I respect a lot, what they are able to build is limited by their own incompetence or inability or whatever limitations that may exist.

I don’t say this to be mean, I say this to be realistic. On their own, based on their own vision, the online churches they lead can only go so far. We must all seek to grow in our understanding of what we are called to be as the church. One of the best ways to ensure our vision does not become stagnant is to engage different perspectives in debate.

Doing so creates additional benefits to the process as well:

10. To eliminate confirmation bias

Online church is a relatively new concept and there isn’t a lot of history or experience to draw from. Much of the vision for what an online church should be is based on individuals’ own beliefs. Human beings are subject to a quirky cognitive phenomenon known as “confirmation bias” which is “a tendency to search for or interpret new information in a way that confirms one’s preconceptions and to irrationally avoid information and interpretations which contradict prior beliefs.” (Wikipedia)

Basically we see things how we want to see them, whether we are right or not. In order to ensure that I’m not recklessly pursuing an idea just because it is mine, I need to seek the contribution of others.

11. To avoid group-think

Seeking the contribution of others is not enough. Research has identified a tendency of groups to make decisions and reach consensus on issues without critically testing the merit of that consensus. They do so in order to avoid conflict. Group-think, as it is called, results in individuals conforming to the will of the group and thus negating the benefits that the diversity of a group can create. Engaging in a greater debate on online church will bring together alternative viewpoints that allow us to test the validity of what we believe.

12. To be adaptable

The rate of growth and change of the Internet is astounding. Here are some statistics on the growth of Internet usage. And if you haven’t yet, you should watch the “Did You Know? videos.

Keeping up with all the changes in technology, content, resources and trends is taxing. It’s impossible for a single person to stay ahead of all of the change. Plus as the scale of the Internet grows, the amount of (for lack of a better word) crap that is out there grows as well, making it easy to get distracted.

In the environment of the ever changing, ever-shifting Internet, our ability to stay on task and to focus on what is truly important is diminished. By committing to critically evaluating what exactly it is that we’re trying to do through church online, we create focus for our efforts and guard ourselves against our purpose becoming overwhelmed.

13. To sustain innovation

Innovation requires continual investment in and commitment to learning. Focusing our efforts is one component for sustaining the innovation that is one of the hallmarks of online church. Additionally, we need to periodically stop and try to understand what it is that the Holy Spirit has done and is doing through our efforts at building the church online. Doing so builds a foundation of knowledge and learning that will support future efforts.

14. To facilitate learning

If we want our efforts to build church online to have a lasting impact then we must also make it easy for other churches, those who aren’t pioneering online church, to understand what we’ve done and to integrate it into their own vision for their church. If you are a proponent of online church and you believe that this is the future of Christianity, then wouldn’t you want for other churches to get your vision, to become as passionate about this as you are.

If we desire for other churches to leverage the Internet to benefit their mission and we are motivated by love for them, then we need to make it as easy as possible for them to understand what it is that we are doing. It is our responsibility to lovingly and patiently come alongside other churches and help them to move past whatever objections to online church are holding them back.

15. Ultimately none of this will matter

But at the end of it all, the most important reason to engage in debate and study of online church is because ultimately none of this will matter.

Christ will return and complete his work of redemption in this world. At that time all of the sin, challenges, context and culture of this world that defines how we are doing church online will be wiped away. All of our work to create meaningful worship online, to facilitate evangelism and mission through the web, all of it will be gone. It won’t matter how robust our infrastructure was or how cool our website was. It won’t matter how well we understood SEO or social media marketing. Our ability to create compelling and visually stunning videos that reduce thousands of people to tears  simply. won’t. matter. anymore.

I have a friend who started a company in China that makes many products, one of which are these beautiful replica Tiffany lampshades. They’re amazing.

The beauty lies not just in the end product, but in the whole story. The vision for bring Christ to the people of China, the opportunities to create a business and employ hundreds of people. Not only the way that the employees are developed to be excellent craftsmen, but also how they are lead to see themselves the way that God sees them, as beautiful and worthy. All of this is the Truth in the glass that they make.

But in the end, my friend would argue that everything that he has built is not important, despite the tremendous Kingdom impact he has had. He explains it this way:

I believe that when I die, I’ll go to heaven and I’ll sit down at a table with Peter and with Jesus and they’ll conduct what can best be described as a job interview. The point of all of which will be to determine what I should do in heaven.

I imagine Jesus starting off by saying, “Bill, it is so great to see you! I am so happy that you are here. I’ve really enjoyed what you’ve done while on earth. Why don’t you tell us a little bit about what you can do?”

So I think to myself and say, “Well, I can make these really amazing lampshades.”

And I look at Jesus, who never stops smiling, and he says, “That’s great! But… there’s just one thing… there isn’t any darkness here… So, what else can you do?“

In the end what we do as we strive to build churches online, to use the power of the Internet to reach the unreached, to love the unloved, to care for the widows and the orphans, to spread the beautiful name of Jesus Christ to all the nations, simply won’t matter.

I believe that Jesus cares less about the what and more about the why and the how. So let’s commit ourselves, in love, to work together to figure this out. Let’s engage in civil but critical discussion. Let’s let go of our own pride and our own beliefs and assumptions that we hold tightly in our clenched fists. Let’s come together, with open hands, and approach the throne of God and say “Thy Kingdom come. Thy will be done.”