Spirit-Empowered Internet Evangelism in an Age of Global Individuality
We have more power available to us to fulfill the Great Commission than entire generations who have gone before us. We have the power of a relationship with God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. We have the power of the Word of God. We have the power of relationships with believers around the world who comprise God’s family, the Church. Now, we have the power of the Internet which is the greatest communication tool in the history of the world.
The Internet overcomes the normal barriers in personal interaction of geography, languages, politics, nationalities and worldviews. As long as there is Internet access, we have tremendous opportunities to leverage technology and interact with individuals on a global scale for the glory of God.
It is estimated that over 5.4 billion individuals of the world’s almost 8 billion people in population have Internet access. We have the mission, the message, and now the medium, more than anyone who preceded us, to be the generation that fulfills the Great Commission. Maximizing technology for the glory of God must go beyond being a novelty with which the Church dabbles. It must move front and center in all our endeavors as a necessity to reach everyone, everywhere with the Good News of Jesus Christ.
The platform for creating a global strategy to use the Internet as a tool of the Gospel includes the following concepts.
First, globalism is a world system that is powered by the Internet.
The uniting force of globalism is not politics or military domination but the Internet as communications impact world economies, nations, and individuals. The Internet influences business, news, entertainment, education, and social networking on a global scale.
Globalism as a world system is intensified by the Internet as “Internet Users” are not limited by geography, religion, politics, gender, or even language. Online, you are in the virtual world and can communicate with anyone on the globe. You can play video games with someone in Russia. You can Facetime family in Argentina. You can watch a video placed on Facebook by the missionary you support who is in a “sensitive nation.” You can receive emails from friends in Japan just as easily as you can from your friends in Florida. You can order online from China, South Africa, or Los Angeles and have it delivered to your front door within days. You can watch videos of church services from the International English Church in Jakarta, Indonesia, or from James River in Ozark, MO. You can follow your favorite sports team be they a professional football team in the USA or a professional futbol team in the English Premier League.
The world is just a click away. Access to everyone, everywhere is as easy as using your handheld device. In the real world, we are limited by time, space, and finances. In the virtual world, we are global citizens interacting with others as “Internet Users.” Globalism is uniting the world and bringing people together.
Globalism as a world system presents the Church with an opportunity to proclaim the Gospel. God anointed us to reach individuals around the world and thus, ministry is not limited to, or focused upon, only one people group, denomination, or nation. As people migrate from country to country, it will take input from their land of origin to help them to be understood and reached with the Gospel in their new location. People are limited no longer to receiving Truth from only what is available in their local towns or media markets. Globalism is uniting the world and bringing people together.
Second, the Internet enables innovative and dynamic opportunities to fulfill the Great Commission.
Like the agora in ancient Greece, the Internet is an assembly of people worldwide who gather for the interaction of ideas, business, news, entertainment, education, and social networking. People go online because they are actively seeking. They want answers to their questions, information for their inquiries from all aspects of life, and interaction with others, no matter where in the world they may be. The Internet provides a platform for individuals that is not available to them in the real world as a place to voice their opinions on any topic. Online, everyone has a voice. Everyone can express an opinion. Everyone can be a self-proclaimed expert. The Internet is a great equalizer for all voices can be heard and with little regard to the qualifications of those providing the content.
Many Internet Users will interact with content online, even though they would never darken the door in the physical world of those presenting that same content. This is used for evil as our enemy, the devil, prowls as a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour (I Peter 5:8). It is with the anonymity and security of the Internet that Internet Users interact with content online that leads to their demise as they are rotting spiritually from the inside out. At the same time and with the same anonymity and security of the Internet, people can search online and engage in content that leads them to spiritual transformation on the pathway to an eternity with Jesus Christ. The great opportunity for the Church is to maximize the Internet with innovative and dynamic content to feed individuals online and fulfill the Great Commission.
The Internet enables innovative opportunities that fulfill the Great Commission with tools such as websites, social media, podcasts, articles, and videos. But, tools are servants to content. We must create content that reaches people at their point of need and present a message that brings hope and transformation. We present Jesus Christ as the Answer to those seeking solutions to life issues such as anxiety, depression, insignificance, and brokenness. While the Internet is filled with information that many view as “knowledge,” we must present Jesus Christ as the very definition of wisdom and help them apply biblical truth to life’s complexities. The Church must present new and creative content online in all venues that the Internet provides to connect with individuals online who are seeking interaction and desiring input.
Also, the Internet enables dynamic opportunities to fulfill the Great Commission. The great constant in our world today is change. Stock markets rise and fall, views of social issues are altered, political positions and careers are challenged by scandal, and life seems to be in flux. One major shift in online activity is that a significant number of Internet Users are not only consumers of content, but they are also now creators of content, as well. Musicians can promote their songs on YouTube which results in tens of thousands of subscribers. You can go online and find articles, videos, and podcasts that provide detailed instructions on how to unclog a drain, change a tire, a make a chocolate croissant. As a result, untold numbers of sub-groups have developed as individuals identify with others based on similar interests, hobbies, and views.
This provides Christ followers with opportunities. Believers can create content that interacts with people’s interests and also meets their needs. Believers can engage others in online groups to be a light of God’s love. The Church can maximize the opportunity by creating a wide variety of content, be willing to refresh content, and even change its entire approach. The reason is that what connects with one group may not connect with other groups and what works today may not work tomorrow.
Should the Church neglect to engage these innovative and dynamic opportunities then she will miss an amazing opportunity to fulfill the Great Commission. There are groups such as cults and false religions as well as those who are online only for their own self-interests that will answer and interact with Internet Users. The Church must be online to share the Truth and hope of Jesus Christ as the Answer.
Third, the Internet empowers individual communication on a global scale.
Years ago, students earned university degrees in “Mass Communications.” Ministry students would seek a similar degree as they attempted to use radio and television to reach thousands, if not millions, of people at one time to share the Good News. The Internet has changed the rules of interaction. Instead of being limited to the concept of reaching groups of people with mass communications, the Internet empowers individual communication on a global scale.
It has been stated that 95.9% of Internets Users access the Internet with a handheld device such as a mobile phone. This means that it is individuals who are online and not groups. Individuals are searching. Individuals are interacting. Individuals are connecting. Individuals are expecting a response almost immediately to their inquiries as interaction occurs in real-time.
A significant number of people born in the 21st century do not know what life is like without the Internet. They were raised with Internet access and now view their lives through the filter of the virtual world. Also, they believe that they are their most honest self when they are online. Online, they are free to utilize the anonymity and security of the Internet to express themselves without repercussions. Online, they are not limited to being who they are in the real world. They can be anyone they want to be; any gender, any ideology, any language, any belief system. And, tomorrow, they can be someone entirely different, if they choose to be.
The greatest benefit for individuals to express themselves is that they are in control. For many people, the real world does not provide a great number of opportunities to control their lives. They are bound by physical realities: financial, political, and even religious. But, online people are in control of who they are, how they relate to others, and all of their activities.
It will behoove the Church to address Internet Users, not with the mindset of mass communications, but with the view that individuals are to be reached, one by one, and on a global scale. This mentality is new wine for new wineskins (Luke 5:37-39).
Fourth, “Global Individuality” is a new persona.
Global Individuality is the mindset that empowers individuals in the global marketplace. The previous three stated points culminate in the creation of this new persona. When individuals go online and participate in the World Wide Web as Internet Users, they expand their worldviews, activities, and personalities to become global citizens on some level and with common affinities.
Individuals born in the United States of America can compare themselves to someone born in Japan and feel that there is no common affinity whatsoever. The external differences are significant such as language, worldview, and politics. However, there are two shared similarities. First, there is a commonality of human nature. While they seem completely different, they both want to be loved, love others, find purpose in life, and to navigate life with success. These desires may be expressed differently but, they are nonetheless shared by both groups. Second, whether you are born in the USA or Japan, the common affinity is Internet access and use of the Internet for personal advantage. When individuals participate online, they are participating as global citizens.
The word “individualism” implies that one can stand out and be unique in the context of a group. “Individuality” implies that one can be whoever one wants to be regardless of the group, and regardless of one’s physical realities.
The Global Individuality persona empowers individuals to take control of their lives by being whomever they want to be in the virtual world. Online, they have the freedom to participate in the global marketplace in areas such as the economy, politics, business, news, entertainment, education, and social networking.
The Church must consider the Global Individuality persona as an open door to share the Good News and fulfill the Great Commission. We are no longer limited by the physical realities of people we are attempting to reach. When individuals interact online as Internet Users they engage as global citizens who participate in the global marketplace. This expands their worldview and provides openings into their lives that is often not available to others in the physical world.
Let us consider these four concepts in reverse order and as building blocks. First, online activities by individuals creates a Global Individuality persona. This persona provides the Church with an opening to minister and interact with individuals on a global scale. Interaction with individuals increases through innovative and dynamic opportunities that are leveraged for the Gospel. Proclamation of the Good News is proliferated by the global system that impacts two-thirds of the world’s population who are in almost every nation and territory on the planet.
Finally, it will behoove the Church to view the Internet not only as a tool to communicate the Gospel but as a new world in which we can reach people with the Good News. As technology progresses, the insignificance of, and participation in, the virtual world will increase exponentially to the point that it will become a viable world of interaction on all levels and even preferred over the physical world. Many Internet Users believe that this is true already. Thus, the Church must be prepared to reach people online just as it does to reach people groups and people in the nations of the world. As we view the fields of the physical world are “white unto harvest” (John 4:35), we must be prepared to see people online as being in the fields of the Internet that are “white unto harvest.”
