The Internet: Does it have a place for today's Church?

It has been said that the Internet will do for the Church what the 16th centuryprinting press did for the distribution of Bibles. Hmmm..a strong statement indeed. Let'sexamine.

What is the Internet? In layman terms, it is a mass of desktop publishing containingresources, libraries, news, information ie. our paper world available online. It is allcontained on multiple computers throughout the world. Within seconds you can be readingsomething on a computer across town or in another country!

Who's there? The world. Christians, non-Christians, criminals, employers, employees,moms, dads, kids.

Why are some afraid of the Internet? Mostly, it is the unknown. While we grow from ababy to an adult, we have parents who gently teach us the world. When you enter theinternet...you're there immediately. You get all the good, bad, and ugly without anygentle coaching. It is something new. There are very few rules on the internet. The rulesare essentially the same as society. However, you have participants all over the worldwith backgrounds of different rules. You even have people violating the rules, just likethe off line society.

Is there a reason to go on the 'net? Yes, many. We all seek information andcommunication. We seek it for different reasons. We can now interact with our 'world wideneighborhood' and not just the finite number of people we see in daily life in our sphereof influence. We can give or recieve from this world wide neighborhood.

Is it a neighborhood I should stay out of? Definitely not. Would you consider juststaying in your church office and not venturing outside to minister to people? Of coursenot. The internet is people you know and people you don't know. We are commanded by Jesusto go into the world and spread the gospel. This would include the internet.

The internet is simply a mission field. Enter it. Minister there. Meet the 'good'people who need to hear about Jesus, the criminals, the workaholics, people of cultreligions, Christian brothers and sisters throughout the world, the lost, the downtrodden.