Blog Church
- 30 December 2008
- filed under: Blog
- 8 Comments »
I’ve “reard” (read and heard) lately how Blogs are slowly going away and how people are turning to Twitter and the likes. Sure blogs may go away and so may Twitter eventually but there is something else that is really special about what is happening in these social networks that I think is here to stay.
The other day, I overheard someone taking a shot at the idea of Twitter explaining how “self absorbed” people are these days to think that others want to know that “so and so, is drinking coffee” or has now “decided to go to the bathroom.” It was kind of humorous and all but most of all a total ill informed comment about what is also happening on Twitter and Blogs. I wanted to look at him and say “dude, you obviously don’t get it.”
Twitter, Facebook, blogs and the likes are not only a kind of “play by play” of a person’s life, howbeit stale and exciting as life can be at times, but also a place where community can and is happening. In an interview with Collide Magazine, Carlos Whittaker of Ragamuffinsoul.com said:
I honestly get about two or three emails a day from people thanking me for the community–and not for anything I’m saying anymore, because now people are just talking to each other on [my blog]. It’s like they don’t even care what I have to say, they just want to get in the comments section and find out who’s saying what so they can talk to each other. It’s almost like a church.
There is more community happening in the comment section of some people’s blogs than there are in the homes of some Christians. Maybe that was a low blow, but it’s true. What’s special about social technologies is not the technology itself but what’s happening and can happen within it. There is a “Blog Church” movement happening almost accidentally. It’s a small movement but people are finding friendships, accountability, healing and connection through blogs. In regards to Ragamuffinsoul’s online community, LifeChurch’s Terry Storch commented that
“Your blog is actually like an Internet campus, but it’s not like a campus of another church. It’s its own church, and there’s healing that takes place there. There’s community that takes place there.”
I find this extremely interesting and cool but can’t ignore the burning curiosity of what church goers and some pastors would think about the idea of a kind of “Blog Church.” So, I am going to email this post to some of my closest pastor friends and ask them about what they think about this. I’ll then, with their permission, post their thoughts and we can go from there…
As usual, feel free to comment!!!
January 05, 2009 at 5:20 pm, jake said:
I think it all depends on who you ask. I personally have made some deep connections that have really helped me. It’s like a million reminders to live an authentic life for God potentially waiting to happen.
January 05, 2009 at 5:23 pm, Tim said:
I’d have to ask what “church” is. If it’s about a body of people or community sharing the burden of life together to maintain a genuine walk with God than sure why can’t it happen on a blog? I’m no theologian though!
January 05, 2009 at 5:24 pm, jessica said:
NO. CHURCH IS A BUILDING! PERIOD.
January 05, 2009 at 5:32 pm, jimbo_the_cat said:
nice post cj. as much as I think it’s possible, it’s still hard for me to wrap my brain around. maybe because i’m old school. i need to shake people’s hands and look them in the eye and all to feel a real connection.
January 05, 2009 at 9:14 pm, Jeff said:
Cool thought, CJ.
Technology is cool. Technology is not evil, its a tool, wielded to the lusts and longings of its master. Blogging, Twittering, and tech-necking whatever new gadget debuts on the fingertips of the USA can and should be used by the church to reach our community and world. I agree with much of what you say. But (i have to play advocate here) . . . it could be argued that in Scripture the only place where real community seems to happen in organic and healthy ways in around food. (but it could be equally argued that they didnt have twitter either). In any event, in the post-resurrection Jesus encounters food seems to be the place where Jesus shows up most often. People gathering together, doing life together in intentional community is another theme of the early church. They just did life together. Moreover, Jesus reminds us that he is with us when we break bread and drink wine as we remember him. This is real and authentic community. I am sure someone will think up a way through an avatar to take communion, but it never will substitute for tasting the wine and bitter bread with other people of faith, looking into their fleshly eyes and seeing Jesus in them and remembering Jesus.
Yeah there are times when i want to just crawl in my techno-cave and not talk to anyone. Just e-verse (instead of converse) and text (instead) of talk. But I really need real people, real relationships not mediated by electronic gadgets but mediated in fleshly casings. I hunger for real people and real relationships in real face-to-face encounters.
So i guess i am saying that i think they would have twittered, texted, blogged and anything else together but i dont think they would have quit meeting together or used technology as a substitute for human interaction. Doing life together whether its texting from 2,000 miles away or sipping tea over the same table. But if i can’t live in Sacramento with CJ and JAcquie I love the idea of having community with them from San Francisco, that is where technology is great
January 05, 2009 at 10:22 pm, alejandro said:
dude this is probably one of the best posts you’ve written to date.
regardless of what we think or believe or what we were taught growing up, if a church or your ministry is not online, long term i think it’s going to be tough for churches to not only connect with their audience on a consistent basis, but also will not have a pulse on the “conversation” happening around them.
just sayin
January 07, 2009 at 7:06 pm, amy said:
“So i guess i am saying that i think they would have twittered, texted, blogged and anything else together but i dont think they would have quit meeting together or used technology as a substitute for human interaction”
This point resonates with me and I’m not sure if it’s because I really feel like I need face to face interaction (minus technology) too. I think it’s really cool though how more and more people are stepping out of the blogsphere to meet with people in their area/online communities for coffee, tea or whatever. Kind of the best of both worlds!!! Just my .02