A Christian Blog About Religion, God, Jesus, & the Bible Articles and Answers about God, the Bible, Jesus, Religion, & Theology

Sponsored Links

In a recent post, a person asked the question of fellowship at the church and I responded with some of my views. This did spark an interesting conversation, and my friend Eruesso made a great comment. So I thought I would share that, and also add a little more to my views:

This is a brief comment on your recent post entitled “Should We All Belong to A Church for Fellowship?”

The following is a very progressive and partially controversial line you mentioned on the need for church. And I not only love it, but feel this needs to be talked about more among Christians.

“Being in the technology realm, church is getting sorta outdated anyway.”

Church as our parents and grandparents knew it IS getting outdated, the form, but not necessarily the practice. Church is more of a community than a building and if you ask just about any Christian they would agree. The sense of community can be helpful to establishing the borders of Christian belief and behavior but does not necessarily limit one to these constraining borders.

What we may be describing is more of a Digital Church in a digital world. We can worship and evangelize globally from the comfort of our homes. But as our human need for a community of fellow believers may change it will never fade away. The controversy is the need to intensely defend our borders to those inside and out by separating these spheres: us vs. them, friend vs. foe, Christian vs. everyone else.

The feeling of community is more of a spiritual label instead of an actual membership. Christian membership has declined in just about every denomination in the U.S. and more people have chosen not to declare a religion. So as this new Community of Nones (or the Spiritual but not religious) grows we may see new communities expressing themselves in vastly different ways.  Digital Christians as ourselves have found new and exciting ways, through the help of technology, to share our beliefs to the point that we may yet be “attending” church as you have expressed “with people on forums”. We are now part of a global, and increasingly digital, body of believers.

But without defending our borders that which is not like us may enter, infect, change and possibly splinter the community. This is what I believe Jeff is attempting to get across (even though I personally believe we should transcend our borders, both internal and external). Without borders how can we establish what it is to call oneself a Christian? Most, if not all, say that this can be done by following God and his Holy Word, but misinterpretation and mistranslation is a major cause of division.

With the vast myriad of possible interpretations how do we really know that we’re NOT the ones misinterpreting scripture? If everyone feels the Spirit of God speaking to them through the word in different ways how do we determine the borders of Christianity? These questions are not meant to challenge your views (which I agree with ALOT of them), Ben, but to help stir up questions within ourselves and in our digital Church.

Peace and Blessing be upon you and yours,

Eruesso

Which is Better: Digital Church or Physical Church?

First off, it was great to hear from you Eruesso! You really brought up some interesting points to consider. I have to say that I agree with a lot of what you said.

I have really taken some deep thoughts on this since reading your comment, and I have to say, I think that digital church by far will win this. That isn’t to say that local churches will vanish, but I certainly think there will be (and should be) more of a reduction and combining of churches into larger units (as opposed to literally hundreds within one city!).

Just thinking of the differences between digital and physical churches, it is almost overwhelming the benefits of digital. Here are some reasons why digital fellowship is better (in my opinion, than physical):

1. We can fellowship at any time. There is no need to do it on Sunday only. We can do it every day, or only a few days. It is completely up to us.
2. Less Traffic/Time Wasted–In a world where gas and traffic is getting unbearable, it is much easier to connect to the entire world from your PC. It saves gas, it ensures you won’t get in a wreck on rainy/snowy days, and so forth. Also, rather than wasting 10-45 minutes driving, you can use that time for something more productive (studying scripture, praying, etc).
3. Objectivity–It ensures a more objective approach to scriptures and doctrine. Rather than only hearing 1 perspective, you can literally tap into a wealth of resources on any given topic. This is great because how would you ever know if you were in a cult or not, unless you could objectively look at all scriptures and compare the different denominational views?
4. Super Efficient Evangelism–When we go to church what happens? Usually we sit there and hear a sermon about being saved (hint: we already are). So the same members get preached week after week about repentance, and so forth and so forth. This can be great to keep us in line or help new believers, but for others it gets redundant. Also, the message is limited to only those who attend church. On the other hand, when I write a blog post, it may be viewed hundreds, thousands, or even millions of times over the course of my life. WOW! Spending 1-2 hours writing a post and having it viewed by millions is certainly more efficient than spending the same amount of time talking to a few hundred people (most of which aren’t paying attention because they already heard the sermon countless times).
5. Less Corruption–People can still accept money online if they were to use it for ministry related actions. If they do accept money (by using a paypal.com donate button for example), then they have a clear paper trail of all funds they have received. This holds people accountable! I often wonder how many pastors, treasury members, etc. perhaps stick some cash into their pockets from the collection plate and fail to record the money on the books or use it for Godly purposes! Even Judas did this in the bible. So by raising funds with a paper trail, it reduces potential fraud and ensures accounting and financial integrity.
6. Almost No Overhead Expenses—Think of how much of the collection plate offerings go to pay that hefty mortgage! Instead, with an online site or community, the costs are next to nothing! We are talking maybe $8 per month or less for the average site (and you can start blogs for free, or visit forums for free).  That is HUGE when you consider some mortgages may be hundreds or thousands of dollars per month for churches. That money can instead go straight to Godly causes. Again, this is especially true for the churches that sit empty 6 days per week (and perhaps not so much for the ones that actually do something 7 days per week like shelter the homeless).
7. Deeper Spiritual  Dialogue–Who really wants to ask their pastor personal questions such as “should married couples use birth control?” and questions like that? Yet how many Christians need guidance for those things? The great thing about an online community is that not only can you ask this and get an answer, but you can hear multiple views on it. You can then weigh the scripture, pray, and so forth and arrive at a decision. So it removes the “embarrassing factor” and allows for a deeper understanding of God and biblical views without inhibitions that may interfere in a face-to-face situation. Especially when you consider some pastors can actually get defensive or upset if you question doctrine or something.
8. Deeper Spiritual Enlightenment & Education–Churches often preach to avoid the “other crazy Christian denominations on the other side of town.” But what I have found is that while some certainly have some wild views, they often have interesting and deeper understandings on some issues. I don’t agree with any 1 denomination 100%, but at the same time, every denomination has at least 1 thing I do agree with (in most cases)! Furthermore, I believe that by remaining objective and non-denominational, you have the opportunity to hear all views, weigh all scripture, reason, and then pick the doctrine with the best scriptural and logical evidence. I think this leads to a better and more accurate understanding of the scriptures. For example, I can not only jump online and look at every translation for a verse, but I can hear what every denomination views it (from their religious viewpoint). This enables me to not only to gain better insight myself, but it also allows me to debate more efficiently with members of other faiths (since I understand why they believe what they believe).
9. Less Financial/Social Pressure–Some people may be struggling and feel uncomfortable not putting enough (or anything) into an offering plate. Therefore they may neglect going to church. Or perhaps someone has done something they regret. They may fear the church people will gossip and ridicule them (and this happens often these days). This can actually backfire and force people away from God, rather than TO repentance. Instead, online communities allow people to repent in their own privacy, without fear of condemnation from others. This also weeds out gossip in a big way, and let’s face it, what church doesn’t do that?
10. Dealing with Health Problems– So many people have medical problems that make church a serious frustration and challenge. Some elderly people may be feeble, sick, or have bladder problems and cannot stand a 1-2 hour event. Others may have some other unknown or rare condition which makes it difficult for attendance. So online church bypasses this completely.
11. You Can Have Tons of Pastors–Some of my “online pastors” include Adrian Rogers (now passed), John Hagee, Joel Osteen, Billy Graham, Charles Stanley, Rick Warren, and countless other ministries or people who I have heard on Youtube, or read an article on a website. So this ensures I have a constant supply of pastorship (even if I disagree with some points, and I do). Not only that, I can type into Google 1 question, and literally read for hours. It is like my own personal pastor team on call 24/7 there to answer my religious questions with well thought up articles. This, I feel, leads to rapid and objective education in the scriptures, and also helps keep you straight.

Those are probably the “big ones.” Of course, there are lots of disadvantages to the digital church:

1. NO Access–Not everyone has or can afford Internet access.  This will prevent them altogether to being able to join the “digital church.” This is where a real church wins.
2. No face to face interaction–While the web can be great for allowing yourself to be more open and direct, it also has a downside, you cant hug someone! Support from church members can be excellent when you have a hard time in life, lose a loved one, etc. Of course, you can always meet somewhere in small groups, and things like that. But it will likely be less frequent if you focus only on a digital community.
3. Some Churches Do Good–For those few churches that actually do make good use out of their buildings, this is a huge advantage. You cannot provide a roof over a homeless person’s head with a website. You cannot cloth someone with a website. You cannot feed someone online. So a church can be great for this. Again, my only concern is that I find a very small minority of churches (at least in my area) that actually use their buildings 7 days a week for these things. Most sit empty until Sunday morning.
4. Reduces Local Community Events & Services–Face-to-face environments are also a great way to team up. You can build friendships, romantic relationships, have fun, meet people, gain career contacts, and more at a real church. You can do some of these things online, but it seems to work better in a face-to-face fellowship environment. Also, many churches provide childcare on a weekly basis and other vital services that really help a local community thrive in a Godly way.
5. Baptisms, and Religious Celebrations–I have yet to find a way to be baptised via the web, lol. Of course, local churches are great to celebrate religious holidays and celebrations. The web loses out here as well.
6. It Provides a Light of Hope–Sometimes churches can function like a lighthouse–they can steer you through rough patches in life with the support of a “real” community. It is great to have support in the online capacity, but it isn’t quite the same as the face-to-face thing.

Some Other Thoughts on Digital (Online) Churches and Real Churches

I totally agree with you Eruesso! There is a need for both, and always will be. But I honestly feel that the digital church needs to expand much more, and the local churches should be combining into larger (and more non-denominational) and reducing their numbers. Or, here is another thought: having mega churches in each community, but having separations for each “denomination” to encourage Christian unity.

What is more efficient: Having an online community with all of the benefits above (which can be both local and international), and also have maybe 2-5 LARGER & Combined churches per city?

Or having almost no online community (as is often the case now), and having to rely on as many as hundreds of small churches per city? I think most Christians would agree that a reduction in the denominations and church buildings (that are left vacant) would be a GOOD thing. But only if it is enhanced with a strong online community fellowship and worship routine.

Did the Early Church Use Technology? What Should the Future of Christianity Bring?

The interesting thing to consider is that the early disciples used technology! They used letters (as we have from Paul to the Romans, etc.). Not everyone could read and write, and not everyone could deliver letters. So right there we see them really “thinking outside of the box” to spread the gospel and utilizing their technology.

They also used the latest travel means (boats) to get to other countries to spread the gospel. So they took full advantage of nearly every technology they had for both communications and travel (which sadly, wasn’t much).

And yet these men did the unthinkable: They managed to spread this in such a way that it captivated the world. Christianity rapidly spread, and all people came to know God, the Christ, and the prophets, and it continues to this day.We need to take a lesson from them!

We Christians need to be on forums. We need to be blogging. We need to be texting. We need to be on youtube. We need to be using our phones. We need to use emails. In other words, we need to really get a little more aggressive. We need our voices to be heard. Instead it seems like all I hear are the more liberal and secular views on the web and on news articles. Our voice needs to be heard too. 

Every day on forums, it seems the secular atheists out-number the believers. Not only that, but many believers are very unrehearsed in apologetics of the scriptures and doctrines. So it is somewhat a shame to me that it happens to be that way at this point in time.

And what I see is that a lot of people that are on the fence about religion, have deep questions, and are not satisfied with the explanation by their pastors. So they go online, and then get bombarded by atheists trying to convince them no God exists. What do you think becomes of this person? I tell you, I suspect many people get lost this way, and that is sad. If they had a logical explanation that was well thought out and reasonable, they would probably increase in faith, not lose it.

I hope and pray that they do eventually see the fallacy of atheism and “science only” ways of thinking and come back to see the total objective view of religion (especially when science certainly doesn’t provide all of the answers). But we need science, we just need the full objective scientific picture, and we often don’t get that from the secular side.

Conclusion: We Need to Embrace Technology, Restructure the Church

The church needs to change. They are way behind in terms of taking advantage of the technology. I think the following would really boost the Church, and increase its numbers:

1. Reduction of the number of churches. Instead, churches need to join into larger churches and have only a few per city/community. It would be interesting to see the inter-denominational thing, but it doesn’t have to be that way. I would like to drop denominations altogether and just be “Christians” with individual beliefs.
2. Focus on online evangelism & community via the web (with online sermons, questions, dialogue & support, and so forth).
3. Very strong teaching of apologetics and defense for the average  Christian. Instead of preaching for us to be saved week after week (when we already are), instead let us see more in the way of deep questions each week. Educate the entire congregation on the evidence which supports God. Answer those hard bible questions logically and effectively. Reveal weaknesses in evolution and other secular ideologies and theories.
4. Drop the denominations! With nearly 22,000 Christian denominations, it is almost embarrassing. We need to reduce this number DRAMATICALLY.  Let us join into one “church.” In the very least, I would hope that we get the number closer to the double digits!  So what if people have differing views, we always will until Jesus himself returns to set it straight. So did the disciples sometimes disagree. But they stayed together in general and worked it out. We need this desperately. More unity, less segregation. Join together in God and Christ, and focus on that! The devil is in the details anyway (as the saying goes).

Thanks again for the great comment Eruesso. I would like to hear your thoughts on the future of the church if you ever get the chance on your blog. God Bless!

Sponsored Links

Posted under bible questions, reflections