With all of the on-line worship experiences available today, one of the places that I have been stretched is in the verse
Let us not give up meeting together… Hebrews 10:25
Can you really experience all that God has for you as a believer in an on-line environment? Do you have to truly “gather” with other believers to fulfill this command? Can you serve in ministry on-line? Can you grow in your faith on-line? Can you minister to others on-line? Can you experience relationships on-line?
It’s amazing how rapidly that the church is changing. My first thought: on-line is a certainly a place to begin. We’ve already seen people begin their journey on-line. We’ve seen people challenged to grow spiritually and convicted by the Holy Spirit on-line.
Honestly, we can’t contain God. God’s power, God’s presence and God’s work cannot be stopped by a computer. Whether I am completely comfortable or not, God’s bigger than what I really believe. Sometimes I just wish that He would part the sky and speak about issues that are tough! Any thoughts out there?
“God is Spirit and his worshipers must worship in spirit and truth.” Jn 4:24 This is not a location. We do not need the internet or a building to worship or grow our relationship with God and people. Jesus himself lived outside the current “religious institution”, he even spoke out against it. He lived a perfect that never included “going to church” regularly and did not observe the Sabbath laws on several occasions. In fact, there is no record of him doing many of the things that our current “religious institution” imposes on its members. We also cannot live our lives alone and grow closer to God. Jesus let us know that the 2 greatest commandments were close to the same – to love God and love people. You cannot love people without “meeting together”.
“Honestly, we can’t contain God.”
I’m glad that’s where you landed. The argument that happening over whether or not there is real community online is getting old and becoming a gigantic distraction from what God is ALREADY doing in the lives of people who participate in online ministries.
What I find interesting about the online church argument of whether it’s “real” or not, is that it is mainly taking place though web platforms like blogs, podcasts, or twitter. Does that invalidate the conversation? No.
FP is blessed with leadership that understands the importance of fulfilling the great commission through any means necessary.