Some points from “Face-to-Face Gospel & the Death of Distance”

About a week and a half ago, I posted on this blog about an article that I discovered at the online version of Christianity Today entitled “Face-to-Face Gospel and the Death of Distance.” You can read the article below in my previous blog post. I picked up the hard-copy of the magazine yesterday, and read it again. I thought I would post some of my thoughts on the article to help me process through what I actually took away.

One thing I am learning to do – especially because of my role here at New Life – is examine how technology has shaped the following: me, the ministry I do and how I engage people in ministry. I find this kind of examining hard to do. I usually think of technology solely in terms of its utility: it makes things easier, faster, and better. I rarely care to examine – if at all – how it fundamentally influences me as a human being or, say, how I engage people in ministry. I mean, is there value in doing this? If so, what is it?

The first part of this blog post deals with some general thoughts from the article. I hope to post “part II” of my post next week…

The Article:

One of the article’s main points is that technology brings the Christian community closer together. This is a good thing. We can now stay connected with people all over the world and on a daily basis if we so choose. We can now access material from all kinds of people, backgrounds, and perspectives from anywhere in the world and all within a few minutes. Technology shouldn’t replace face-to-face human interaction, but it should have a “layering” effect, that is, technology should compliment itself.

It is not a matter of whether or not we will engage in technology when doing ministry. The reality is we do it already. So, the real question is whether or not we are examining how it has shaped us, our message, how we will use it in the future (or not use it as the case may be) as we try to adjust to the fact that it changes continually.

Technology has the potential to enable a fundamental redesign of the lives of church leaders. Her writes,

For example, a pastor can readily access many more sources and incorporate video into a presentation. He or she can put sermons online and thus reach many more people. Discussion groups can reach across a community, even across the world. More than one author has suggested that this is “the death of distance.” If you have just returned from another part of the world, you can maintain communication with people there in a remarkable way.

We have the opportunity to access material that, say, 40 years ago only those in academia or in a particular region would be able to access. Our theological views can now be shaped by so many different thinkers. And not just in terms of knowledge, but relationship & Christian community. We can now virtually DO ministry anywhere, at anyplace, and at anytime – all without leaving our hometown. Technology is helping to shrink the world of ministry and “flatten” it. Its helping to build and keep relationships that we wouldn’t otherwise be able to do.

We shouldn’t think of the evolution of technologies (written word, radio, television, video, internet, email, etc. etc.) as replacing each other. We should think of them as layering to form an effective pattern of communication. Television, Web conferencing, and e-mail should not replace face-to-face communication, but rather complement each other.

Jesus spoke to small intimate groups, but he also spoke to large groups as well. Al Erisman argues “If he had come in the 21st century, Jesus would also have used these new tools, but not to replace the intimate or even large group discussions.”

The last point I thought was especially interesting. Sure, often asking “What Would Jesus Do?” can come across contrived, trite, superficial, and insensitive to context. Still, I find it interesting to think about…

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