I love technology, and I think that there are amazing technological solutions for tons of church problems. I’m passionate about using technology to spread the Gospel and resource the Church. Technology. Is. Awesome.
However, to parody a common phrase, “there isn’t an app for everything.”
No Substitute for the Personal Touch
This may not be a problem for you or your church, but I often get too focussed on the “how” and the “what,” losing sight of the “who” and the “why.” Technology, being an amazing “how” that can really amp almost any “what,” is my most common distraction.
Two weeks ago, I got a small wake-up call. I’d been dreaming about flipping my church, publishing some ebooks, and starting a podcast. I was deep into the Matrix, and I didn’t see any need to come up for air. That’s when I remembered an immutable law of ministry: there’s no substitute for the personal touch. Here’s what happened:
Every Good Friday, the pastors of my church meet up at 7am and go out to our town’s busiest intersections to pass out free granola bars. Every year, people are amazed that we want to give them something while refusing anything offered in return. People were legitimately amazed at what were we doing. And what were we doing? Giving away granola bars for breakfast. It wasn’t a huge display or a massive sacrifice for us. It was just a simple way to show love and friendship to our community.
The two hours spent passing out granola bars did more for our ministry in the short-term than two hours spent tech-ing out would have produced in the short or long term. Eventually, I will accomplish those projects I was dreaming about, and they most likely be effective parts of our ministry. However, if all I did was work to build my church’s digital presence, we would quickly lose our presence in the hearts and minds of those people who daily drive by our building. In the end, getting personal was just what we needed to do, just what I needed. I was quickly approached a technology burnout. A two-hour break to do some “low-fi footwork” truly rejuvenated my passion.
How much more focussed would we all be if we took time out to physically serve those we seek to serve digitally?
I don’t want to get really preachy here, but I’m reminded of the story of one of Jesus’ miracles that I think might fit here. In the opening verses of Matthew 8, a leper approaches Jesus, bows down, and says, “Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean.” Jesus, in layered display of love, touches the man and says, “I am willing. Be clean!” Instantly, the man was healed.
Max Lucado, in the third chapter of his book Just Like Jesus, takes literary license with this story and adds depth to what many might have missed in a casual reading of the Bible. Lucado places a high degree of emphasis on the fact that Jesus touched the leper, and then pronounced the healing. I’m sure you’re aware of this, but in case I’m wrong, touching a leper was forbidden in Jesus’ society out of fear that the disease would spread. Lepers were supposed to remain on the furtherest edges of society, treated as the walking dead and never touched until they were pronounced clean by a priest, if that ever happened. Knowing all of this, Jesus touched the man anyway, validating him as a person, showing the poor man love despite his condition, even as he healed his condition. Jesus could have easily healed the man and went on, but He paused to first show the man love at his lowest. Clearly, Jesus is a fan of the “personal touch.”
No Crisis Here; Just a Reminder
I don’t think this is, in anyway, a major crisis. I’m sure that most of us value face-to-face ministry above that of digital ministry. However, I do believe that technology is only going to be used more and more by churches, which is why we need to be on guard now for the potential to lose sight of the people we want to reach. Technology can solve a lot of problems and can truly help the Church maximize her reach. However, let’s not kid ourselves. People aren’t looking for another podcast to download or another blog to follow—they’re looking for meaning, for love, for something transcendent and true. We might be able to point the way to such things with our technological output, but it’s the “personal touch,” the face-to-face interactions we have with people that are often most powerful.
Have you taken any steps to keep your focus on face-to-face ministry and the “personal touch”?
[Image via Aneeye | Aneesh Subrahmanian via Compfight cc]
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