"INTERNET
Blues or Blessings"
We truly are now in the INTERNET
era. The pending AOL/Time/Warner merger, which is an
INTERNET takeout of a more traditional media business,
confirms we are deeply into this new postmodern, post
industrial, post information INTERNET age. What is the
church's strategy for being part of all this?
We don't have one! To get one we
must change our reactionary attitudes toward the INTERNET
and shake loose of religious fears about technology. At a
recent seminar of international ministers in Hong Kong I was
appalled by the general reactionary opinions as we discussed
the INTERNET: "It's evil..there are all those sex chat
rooms" "It's impersonal, not at all like the healthy
interpersonal and eyeball to eyeball relationships we have
in our churches." "It will make us all vegetables, sitting
before our computers in isolation." "The devil is out there
in the wiring."
These responses will not help the
church be relevant to the most significant technological
advance since the invention of electricity. Once before in
my lifetime the churches missed out on a technological
advance &endash; television. The advent of the television
era 50 years was greeted within churches by a similar fear
and resistance. In fact, television did almost single
handedly destroy the Sunday night church service and the
Wednesday night prayer meetings in American Protestantism.
But television only expedited what was inevitable
change.
But because churchly negativity
opted out of any participation in television we ended up
with about 99.9% of all TV programming becoming
secular.
Let's not opt out of the INTERNET
era so as to guarantee that 99.9% of its usage will be
non-spiritual. Unlike TV, the INTERNET is highly democratic,
decentralized and readily accessible to Christians and
Christian interests. We can with very little capital, unlike
television, have Christian chat rooms including the
dissemination of Christian views on sexuality. We are
developing Christian web sites and www.cchk.net is a good
example. The INTERNET gives instant knowledge and
communication to Christians who are concerned with religious
persecution, other human rights violations, Christian relief
efforts in crisis situation..
More broadly, the INTERNET is the
greatest promoter of the dissemination of general knowledge
and understanding since the church promoted and exploited
the invention of the printing press. Christians should
welcome the INTERNET era and get with it. If we fight it we
only guarantee our isolation from the vast majority of
humans and how they will be obtaining their views.
I envisage Community Church in the
next decade being on the INTERNET with interactive worship
events, with Christian seminars and chat rooms in which the
participants communicate on the INTERNET. If we go with this
overwhelming advance of technology, we will, like AOL and
other internet engines, see our audiences increase manifold
times and our "stock" price move in the right direction
.
And as we are on the INTERNET as
you read this I'd welcome your comments.
Pastor Gene
Preston