There are two dangers when using web technology within the church, trend and tradition, but we need to be concerned with the truth. This post will provide a brief overview on how to recognize trend and tradition then make the case for gospel truth to be our absolute objective when we come to use web technology as churches.
As Tim Keller suggests there are three ways to live, legalistic, liberal or gospel centric, I want to suggest these three ways influence how we approach the use of web technology as churches. Most of our technological shift in the last decade has been communication based and this effects how churches are reaching people with God’s revolutionizing truth. We all sway towards tradition or trend on different issues, I know I do, but it is helpful to understand where we mostly stand so that we can line up with what the Bible actually says and have the Gospel centric view taking time to listen to what the Holy Spirit is saying.
Mars Hill recently sold their web based social network known as “The City” to publisher Zondervan. It’s a strategic move that will enable many other churches around the world to use the same features that the Seattle based church provides their members in connecting with each other online. Essentially it is Facebook for your church community but with a bias towards doing mission, as their website explains.
“The City is an online meeting place where Gospel transformation can take place. It ties together your existing local communities into a social fabric that undergirds your ministries and greatly enables connection…”
The inventor Zack Hubert a former Amazon employee and current Mars Hill elder was thinking on Matthew 5:14 “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden.” Wondering how technology might serve to help God’s people live as “a city on a hill” he then set up The City for Mars Hill Church to enhance existing relationships in the church and the various missions which people were involved in. Within two months of the tool’s launch more than 85% of the church’s members had signed up and more than 75% visit the site every single day.
Though no one but Mars Hill and the Acts 29 Church network have been using the tool, it is possible that some potential users may have concerns about the Zondervan acquisition. I know that those involved in Christian literature distribution are a little uneasy toward Zondervan as it is an imprint of Harper Collins who publish the Satanic Bible. Harper Collins is also owned by Newscorp (Rupert Murdoch). However Harper Collins have stated in the past that Zondervan “operates with complete autonomy out of a separate headquarters”.
This being said the leaders at Mars Hill spent a lot of time thinking about how the tool could be used for Jesus’ fame outside of their own church, but the work required more than they were capable of on their own. An opportunity presented itself when Zondervan made an offer to purchase. Hubert has moved with the acquisition and will now be heading up a development team for the social network in Seattle at a new office for Zondervan.
Personally I think a tool like this has a lot of potential in connecting many different Church plants, but maybe more importantly this tool is super for large churches who want to get their members doing mission and reaching out to those who don’t know Jesus. Watch the below video on how it works. Other videos can be found on The City blog.
This is the site of web enthusiast Dan Lee. He is pretty normal most of the time and likes smoothies, drumming, movie making, designing, being Church and knowing Jesus.
