The conversation continues…
There have been two (or three, depending on how you look at it) posts of recent that take a look at the Church Online from different perspectives: Bob Hyatt’s manifesto against the “Virtual Church” (Part 1 here / Part 2 here) and then Tony Steward’s responses to “Concerns About Church Online” over at CatalystSpace.
I think both points are valid and I can respect both equally (just as much as I respect the fact that you may like chocolate icecream while I think vanilla is far superior). Different yet valid and equal in their own merit.
I also think some of the resulting comments and commentary is also worth a read too.
At times it seems that we stand as a body and Church divided where those that espouse the amazing opportunity of online communication platforms are rubbed hard against those that say it’s theological and biblical nonsense.
And that, my friends, makes me sad.
Although most readers here are familiar with my position (one post about it here) let me be clear that I’m not dogmatic about it; there is much conversation (and education) still to be had surrounding what [C]hurch is in the context of online as well as the obvious and potential dangers of engaging online at all (go read some of John Dyer’s thoughts here).
If I am to be dogmatic about anything though it would probably be this: Christ came and died for people, not for the ways and protocols in which that message was shared and communicated. I’m suggesting an order of importance here, perhaps things we hold in “closed fists” and that which may be held in “open hands.”
Also, I think everything has its context and it’s ok to not understand the other parties’ perspective. It becomes dangerous when out of that misunderstanding and ignorance births vitriolic banter and accusatory remarks.
For example, I used to make extremely derogatory remarks about Apple, their products, and their fans and customers; that was before I realized how amazing their hardware architecture was for motion graphics, video, and multimedia and how it was actually superior to the Windows-based machines. Contextually I was a graphic artist and developer; this spoke to me directly and it all made sense. I had a personal encounter, a personal experience.
What happened? I changed, and it was due to being educated, learning, and understanding that which I was heavily criticizing.
I wish we’d give more opportunity to have those personal encounters and experiences with the varying perspectives, especially those that we don’t automatically agree with or understand; we could save ourselves a lot of regret (and time).
Finally, don’t give the Church a bigger black eye online than it already has just because you feel like blogging about it. The world’s watching (and reading), have you forgotten?
[Image from CTRL-F5]