Six Questions Churches Must Ask To Use the Internet
Six Questions Churches Must Ask to
Use the Internet as a Tool of the Gospel
By Dr. Mark Flattery
Network211 President
"Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,” (Matthew 28:18-20, NIV).
We have more power and opportunity available to us today that entire generations who have gone before us. "Go and make disciples of all nations" is no longer an audacious goal but it a reality that is within our grasp. In fact, it is being fulfilled!
The opening line of Charles Dicken's book, "A Tale of Two Cities," begins with, "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times …" Truly, this paradox encapsulates our current times. In our season of rebooting our lives due to COVID-19, churches are turning "the worst of times" into the "best of times" as they are embracing the Internet as a tool of the Gospel.
Due to the need to "flatten the curve," the terms, "social distancing" and "stay at home" are relevant phrases in our daily conversation. This forced the Church to leverage technology to interact with its members and to share the Good News. The results are significant and, hopefully, altering the life story of Churches across the globe.
What we are learning in this season of the pandemic is that the Church can function online and that Pastors and church leaders can have input into the personal lives of believers each day of the week. Churches are no longer limited to sharing God's Word and ministering to believers when they are physically in the church building or attend a church event such as a home group. Local churches can now speak God's Truth daily into the lives of their people. The added feature to believers is that they can access content according to their personal schedules.
The starting point to developing our use of the Internet as a tool of the Gospel is to address the big picture. Let's start by addressing some key questions:
1. Do we "do church" in our building or online?
We must have a "both/and" attitude. Some Pastors have questioned the validity of "doing church" online since people are not in their church building. Others are excited that their number of listeners increased from 100 people to 2,400 and that was due to online viewers. As local churches prepare to reach people moving forward, they must realize that they must combine the physical local church with the virtual church to reach the most people possible. Neglecting ministry in either the physical world or the virtual world will cause us to fall short in reaching our fullest potential.
2. What is our ultimate outcome for online ministry?
We must be Kingdom-minded. As many of us have discovered, the Internet is no respecter of geography, politics, or economic status. When you go online, immediately you have a global footprint in the virtual world. People come to your church website from nations that you did not know you could reach.
This presents two questions. First, are you willing to invest your resources for online ministry to people who may never attend your church in the physical world? Not all local churches are not willing to do this. Second, when someone views your church's online content are you willing and prepared to direct them to a local church in their city or nation? You can resist the temptation to reduce your online activity to either building your local church or the Church because you can do both; a "both/and" attitude.
3. Who is our target audience?
We must know who our viewers are. The viewers to online church services generally comprise the following categories: (1) Christians who are church attenders, (2) Christians who are church shopping online, (3) people who are nominal in their faith, (4) unbelievers who are curious, (5) unbelievers who are searching online desperately for answers to life's dilemmas and (5) "the forgotten millions."
The "forgotten millions" are the people whose only opportunity to worship is the online church. They cannot attend a local church in person due to physical or mental limitations, governmental restrictions, family prohibitions, or due to their religious beliefs that do not allow them to attend. Yet, "the forgotten millions" will go online due to the anonymity and security of the Internet and search for Truth.
Recent events have awakened us to the fact that over one-half of the world's population uses the Internet regularly and the vast majority of them do so on a hand-held device. You cannot function fully in first-world nations without Internet access. When you walk the streets in third-world nations, it is not uncommon to see people on cell phones and interacting in the virtual world. The Internet is here to stay and people around the world are using it.
4. How do we turn viewers into followers?
I will suggest two actions we must take to turn viewers into followers. First, we must realize the amazing opportunity we have to speak Truth into the lives of individuals. As the vast majority of Internet viewing is on hand-held devices, viewing is done by individuals. We can present the Gospel as a video, live broadcast, podcast, or article into the palms of individuals around the world and even do so in their languages. Therefore, we must deliver the message as if we are speaking to the one individual instead of speaking to an auditorium full of people.
When we speak Truth into the heart and mind of individuals, the Holy Spirit takes over and breaks through their facades, worldviews, and even heartaches. He ministers for He is the Spirit of Truth. When people have a genuinely spiritual encounter, they will want to continue a relationship with you.
Second, we must take them from where they are to where they need to be in Christ. Receiving online viewers is great but, what can we do to ensure that they return and, better yet, join our local community of faith? One response to this question is that we must engage them in their life journey from where they are today and then help them go to where they need to be in Christ. Today, many people search online to address their heart-felt needs and to find answers to the issues of life that trouble them. We can speak truth into the individual, one-to-one, and on a global scale. We present the Truth. We answer their questions. We pray with them. We offer them Biblical verses and answers. We provide them with resources. As we minister to them, they will move from being viewers to followers.
5. What do we do with followers?
We make disciples! We must take followers to where they need to be in Christ by offering them online content that will enable them to grow in their relationship with Him. Making disciples occurs as followers consume your church's online content throughout the week and along with your weekly service. Here are three opportunities to consider. First, you must offer an online specific discipleship pathway that individuals can study on their own schedules. Give them ways to interact with you so they can get answers to their questions that arise in the study and also to partner with them in prayer.
Second, provide content that directs your followers to apply Truth to daily life. In our current society, the vast majority of our responses to a question or a need is to "Google it!" The Church must have an online interactive presence to present the Gospel and show clearly how to live God's Truth daily live. What an amazing opportunity!
Third, inject local content into your discipleship opportunities. Offer times for prayer online and take prayer requests, play recorded testimonies from people in your church, and discuss important local issues. Make time to produce videos, podcasts, and articles. Use every venue and opportunity to share God's Word so that people in your church family can be thinking and practicing what they have learned (Philippians 4:8-9).
6. Where do we go to get help?
We believe in partnerships. As we live in a global marketplace, it behooves us to connect with like-minded partners who share our passion to reach everyone, everywhere. There are online ministries that can partner with you so that you do not re-create what is in existence. This will free your resources to be focused in other areas. One example of a ministry ready to partner with you is Network211 (www.Network211.com). Network211 is an Assemblies of God World Missions ministry. As an AGWM missionary, it is my privilege to serve as Network211 President.
Since October 2008, Network211 has presented the Gospel to 39.6 million people in 242 countries and territories. Over 1.8 million making an evangelism response, and over 321.000 write to us to begin a discipleship connection.
The vision of Network211 is to proclaim Christ to all people, build a global community of believers, and work with our partners in ministry. We value evangelism, discipleship, and partnership.
The mission of Network211 is to use 21st century technology to communicate the 1st century Gospel by helping people discover and grow in their journey with God. In our evangelism outreach, we help people around the world discover Jesus. Then, we help them grow in their journey with God by providing discipleship content.
The Network211 strategy is revealed in how the Internet is used for evangelism. The strategy steps are Search, Present, Connect, Grow, and Belong. The main Network211 evangelism community is Journey Answers. This identifies thirteen life issues that are relevant in most cultures. People worldwide will search the Internet looking for answers to these life issues that trouble them. Network211 evangelism communities are found on Google as they are promoted using Google Ad Words. We present the Gospel with a short video and an article. Visitors are encouraged to connect with them by writing. Our teams are ready to respond almost immediately with a personal note, Bible verse, and word of encouragement. Visitors are directed to online content so that they can grow in their relationship with the Lord. Finally, Network211 requests Pastors who are in the visitors' cities or villages to contact them so that they can belong to a local church. Our motto is alive and well as we help people go "from searches to churches!"
The Network211 discipleship community is found at www.JourneyOnline.org. It offers a specific discipleship pathway called "The Jesus Path" (https://journeyonline.org/get-started/) and thousands of articles that assist believers to apply God's truth to daily life. Instead of going to Google and reading whatever Google leads them to see, believers can go to free sites like JourneyOnline and find answers to today's issues as well as encouragement and discipleship content.
Network211 uses the Internet as a tool of the Gospel. We partner with the amazing Assemblies of God family worldwide with our evangelism and discipleship online interactive communities. Please feel free to contact us as it will be our pleasure to partner with you, too!
Asking big picture questions is the starting point for local churches who want to develop even greater outreaches into "Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth" (Acts 1:8, ESV). The need is great. People around the world are online. The message is powerful. Local churches can partner with ministries such as Network211 to share content. This is our reality. May we do all that we can in the physical and virtual worlds to "go and make disciples of all nations."
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