Future of the Church 5 (of 5)
Higher Tech and Higher Touch
In my opinion, the church that doesn’t use technology to reach people is missing one of the greatest opportunities of our generation. The church will unquestionably continue to grow in its use of technology.
As the church becomes more high-tech, we should become even more intentional about being high-touch.
In short, relationships and deep spiritual community will matter more and more. (It’s not that they don’t matter now; it’s just that so many people are overlooking this need and opportunity.) One thing that will drive people together will be increased persecution. When being a Christian is no longer accepted (as it isn’t in so many places), we will be driven to deep and meaningful biblical community.
When talking about high-touch relationships, you might think I only mean relating “face-to-face” relationships. Actually, I mean more than that. We can be very high-touch (or very low touch) in relationships using technology.
For example, we can have hundreds of so-called “friends” on Facebook. Most of these will be shallow, superficial, low-touch friendships. Or we can have a few intimate, doing-life-together friendships in person, or by the use of technology.
To me, the key is developing the authentic, transparent, heart-to-heart types of relationships. Without spiritual depth and intimacy in Spirit-filled relationships, many consumer-minded believers will likely fall away.
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I agree. Technology is great for keeping people up to date with the diary, getting the sermons to people who miss the service and so on. Perhaps more improtantly it is a great to have a presence on the internet as many people will look here first when looking for a Church.
However the Christian life is all about relationships whether with God or our fellow people. The tricky bit is not letting technology take over and make us damage those relationships…
How can one have “a few intimate, doing-life-together friendships…by the use of technology?” What does that look like?
Todd…good question.
In the same way that cell phones have allowed us to stay in closer contact with our close friends…today’s technology allows us to keep in close “proximity” to our intimate friends even when we are physically not in the same place.
For example, I have points of contact via instant message, txt and/or email with my closest friends throughout the day most everyday of the week. It increases my proximity which is a key component to relationship.
Ah, I see. I was thinking that Craig was talking about founding new, intimate friendships solely through technology.
That’s what intrigues me about the LifeChurch internet campus. I’m wondering what kind of intimate relationships can spring forth from a web-based worship and teaching time.
I believe using technology to build relationships is awesome…. thru myspace I have found several forgotten friends and have been more “real” with them than I would ever be in a face-to-face meeting. I have also realized that many have faith based lives and I would have never known that without blogs, IMs, or other tech based conversations… putting things in writing commits you to the things you say and sometimes its easier to “blog” than it is to talk!
I am convinced that Jesus would be leading the way in the area of technology today if he were trying to reach people in our culture today. I don’t think he would waste a ton of time on trying have the next best thing, or accomplish a look that no one else had ever seen. but I think he would be tapping into every possible avenue of interest in order to connect with people.
I think God would encourage us to use as many points of connections as we can. Media is certainly one of the largest avenues we have. Everyone is connected someway through media…chat rooms, movies, music, emails, internet campuses…the list goes on and on!
All of those avenues lend way to building relationships!
I’ve built relationships via technology. I have friends all over the world. I pray for them and they have prayed for me.
I also have used my blog as outreach. I have at least a dozen atheists who contribute on my blog everyday. I don’t understand it because I don’t consider myself an “apologist” but they feel comfortable debating the Bible and Christianity.
As believers we can ignore technology or ride the wave.
Todd - I have an internet relationship with a pastor in Nebraska whom I have never vocally talked do…we correspond through I.M. We provide encouragement, bounce ideas, and sometimes just shoot the breeze. He has became a great friend of mine.
Craig - I think its a personality thing…you have to understand the personality of your people. Where technology can be used to heighten and add touch points, there are some that just like the phone call.
I whole heartedly agree that we should redeem technology and use it to its fullest potential to help us to continue to develop deeper Spiritual relationships. More and more people who used to be afraid of technology are utilizing it now more and more.
Todd,
I’m sure Craig was talking about both.
I gave the example that I did because it helps illustrate how technology can bring our existing relationships closer. Once a person experiences and/or understands that process, it becomes easier to see how close relationships are currently being formed using the same technology to increase proximity.
We have many examples of strong friendships and community that has formed using the Internet Campus as a catalyst/connector.
I hope that helps.
Todd,
Bobby is right. I was talking about both. For example, I have an editor that helped me with my first three books. We became very close talking daily by email. It was months before we had our first face-to-face. He was already calling me his best friend all because of constant communication using technology.
I’m not disagreeing (or trying to hijack this post), but I simply haven’t experienced that level of intimacy through technology. I have some blog-friends (Carlos Whitaker, Anne Jackson and such) that I like and enjoy bothering through iChat or by email, but nothing really intimate has transpired.
I think I’m confused by the catalyst that would transform web-relationships into intimate ones. Is it simply a matter of frequency? Mutual desire for such a relationship? A DTR about the online friendship?
What’s been your experience?
We have an online forum for our junior high students and though it is online, it is still very high-touch. I have had some great, deep conversations with students about what is going on in their lives in the forum. Younger students tend to be more open in the forum than they would be in person. High-tech and high-touch go hand in hand with students these days. We still have to challenge our students to have face-to-face relationships with their peers. I don’t think we can ever move away from that. But we can’t discount the community that can happen online.
Todd,
You’re not hijacking the thread.
I think you may have answered your question with your questions.
I think that mutual desire and frequency are certainly a part of it. The catalyst that I was refering to is “a common experience”. All of those things are exactly the same things I would use to describe what contributes to in-person relationships too.
The method of communication doesn’t matter. It’s the fact of it. It allows for the evidence of things unseen. Among other things.
I have used technology to keep in touch with personal friends from high school. When we all graduated and went to college, we were able to call each other once in a while but that was about it. Now, thanks to MySpace and video chatting we can learn about each other’s lives and see each other when we talk. We can text if we have a quick question or e-mail a picture or two from a fun event.
One of the benefits of an online social network is you can ‘catch up’ with the person and then spend your next phone conversation asking questions to fill-in-the-blanks. In other words, you don’t have to spend your entire conversation telling each other where you are in life. You can pre-read it and view the pictures along the way!
This can be a great tool for the church. If new members come into a congregation, they should be able to ‘catch up’ and feel a part of everything that has been happening even before they arrived. This can create an amazing sense of ownership and community all at the same time.
You know there are some things that I consider grace from God that I would go crazy without…
Talk radio…(Mostly Bible teaching news and info, but I also like the radio talk shows…)
I also have friends all over the world through the web (e-mail, blogs, discussion forums, etc)… part because I am an evangelist, and have found online evangelism extremely fruitful, and part because we evangelists are all wierdos (you know being wisked away like the wind).. it is good to share thoughts, and be encouraged by each other’s struggles…
One of my very good friends, whom I have never met face to face has a website called “The Reformed Evangelist”…
Another good friend I have never met face to face is a pastor from a small church in India who is also an evnagelist…(his perspective is refreshing…)…
I have met people online from Thailand, Australia, and India, that I have met face to face, all through the web…
I agree Craig…
I don’t think it is as intimate of friendships as those that are face to face, but spiritually speaking… we are one, and for a single cause…I don’t think the accountability is as good, but the friendship definitely is…
You know millions of people around the world all get online two or three times a week from all over the world to play “Halo”… and some of them have become pretty familiar…
It isn’t only possible, but it is inevitable…
Technology can become a monster, but it can also be a blessing… and unifying…
Lately I have been using twitter to connect with people, in and out of church. It seems to be something that you dont have to be terribly tech savvy to understand… Just send a text message to 40404 that says “follow aaronmarshall” and bang you are connected.
I just did a video blog about it.
Craig, I think through this weeks post, I have heard a man listening to a clear voice of the Spirit. We have been trapped for so long in our traditions and methods that we have forgotten how to hear God as individuals. We rely solely on the “pastor” to tel us what God is saying or doing. God showed through Jesus his intent to speak to each child personally. Thanks for your openness this week. What we know is surely going to see a major shake up in the days ahead. Many will sadly hold on to what they are “used” to as God “rips the curtain” and walks out the back door, leaving them with only a glimpse (remnant) of himself.
Those who follow him in the expanse of His glory will find that He still touches the lepers, heals the sick, raises the dead, cast out the demons, and heals their broken lives. They will also experience the bite of the “wolves” that Jesus referred to.
Thanks for your desire to follow Jesus and lead other people to do the same!
[...] FUTURECHURCH.COM! muah hah hah! I’m surprised that’s not taken yet. Craig Groeschel has concluded the Future of the Church series on LifeChurch’s Swerve blog with part 5. Check out all 5 in the series for some lively and fun predictions about said. This last one in the series is about “Higher Tech and Higher Touch”. [...]
The Mars Hill Journey blog of 10/19 makes an interesting point about Matthew 16:18. They say that it tells us that Christ is building his church, not the people in it. How does that apply to this topic? It got me to thinking. Not being an alien, I sometimes forget that God is in control of all this “stuff”, not the world. I think that gets reflected in my viewpoint a little bit sometimes. (grin)
Todd had great questions that I have asked myself, too, as I’ve looked at LCs online campus. I would also like to know (maybe a dumb question) if/how you know who is attending your online campus. If you do know, what do you do with that info? Is there a follow-up process, or do you consider that “venue” to be a “big front door” entry point and let people remain rather anonymous in that experience until they reach out. Do you view the online campus as an endpoint or a through way? I don’t know if I am asking the right questions in the right way? Just kind of wondering how you get people into what I would call the life of the church from there. Thanks — you guys are awesome!
Having moved as much as I have recently technology is what keeps me in touch with friends and family. I have had a friendship based solely on telephone time. I haven’t gotten anyone to “go to church” with me online yet, but I will. I have attended once when away from home. I look forward to the day when everyone that I love is a member of the internet campus and we can discuss church together. My experience in Tulsa has been wonderful. I have the opportunity for local Mission work, chance to serve others by volunteering my time, and love of God through all my Holy Spirit experiences that I have already had since July. I know that God has me here now right where he wants me, and that with an open mind to new things others will follow.
Question:
We have been living in the technological age for years now… Do you think as a society we’re becoming more intimate, or just more connected (the difference being the level of intimacy being realized - which for me is the true measure of relationship)?????
My answer:
The vast number of available connections has actually deprived most people the opportunity to dive into those levels of intimacy that humans so desperately desire. The danger (which I often fall into myself) is that people are getting all they “think” they need from these non-fleshed-out relationships - and that is enough for them. Relationships take so much more than that! I’m not saying it can’t happen online - in fact I know it can - I just wonder (as a whole society) if this is happening. I would venture to say it isn’t for many reasons. One being because most people don’t know what real intimacy looks like in the fleshed-out reality, therefore they’re not attempting it online virtually.
Credibility:
Someone responded saying Jesus would be using the internet - I doubt it! Society doesn’t believe half the stuff it sees online - I’m sure the authenticity of His message would be more greatly felt face-to-face and by real word-of-mouth. In Jesus’ day there were writings and other media available to use - only he seemed to teach more by the way of inviting people to be witnesses to his real life, to boil all things down to one person’s heart-state…
Media:
Media has nothing to do with relationships really, because it’s just art. It’s purpose/importance is simply to engage people as they relate, anything else media does is very personalized.
Wow. Can’t even believe this is a concern. The kid you talked out of committing suicide via chat, the girl you encourage to not compromise her honor by giving into her boyfriend’s pressure of having sex, the long ensuing talks of Christ and His glory that got a person to attend church, get in a life group, and meet a girl who was suicidal whom HE was then able to help, which in turn gave him confidence that maybe, just maybe, God really did create him for a reason…I mean, come on, what’s the question again? When one falls head over heels in love with Christ Jesus, oh the lover of my soul, to question the avenue as to how I will reach anyone, someone, everyone, so that I may stop but if just ONE more tear falling from the heart of my Father in Heaven, just blows me away. To say that we can keep in touch with our friends from high school or whatever is one thing, but then to talk of its possible inability because of the lack of person to person contact…well…what if YOUR child was kidnapped, would you really, truly, not put pleas out on the internet, leave flyers anywhere possible, not make phone calls, send text messages, WHATEVER, in order to get your child back??? Well that is what has happened to billions of our dad’s kids (our brothers and sisters!!), and we sit here and question this beautiful avenue of finding them, reaching out to them, loving them, saving them? Well, I love my dad so much, and I will stop at nothing to help Him because His heart is my heart. So I dare not put limitation as to how I (we) could possibly EVER do work towards making our dad happy, elated, overjoyed, ecstatic because we cared enough to help, love, encourage, assist, or bring laughter into one of his children’s lives by doing even just that goofy little 8;-O emoticon thingy…All I care about is helping my dad be not only the BEST DAD EVER, but the HAPPIEST DAD EVER…Oh man, to see him laugh and smile because we helped Him get back just one of his kids via technology, I am so in.
Wow! I love the passion here, guess some buttons are being pushed. Good topic and (for me) very educational. This is way better than TV (it’s two way)!
What’s the church’s future?…
This week, Pastor Craig Groeschel of LifeChurch.tv, has begun an intriguing series of blog posts about the future of the church: Future of the Church 1 (of 5) - larger and smaller Future of the Church 2 (of 5) -…
Kerrie,
The Internet Campus has seen some really cool stories involving community online. I believe the Internet Campus has become a great first step to Christ and to church for many, but there are also hundreds of people who have committed to small groups during the week. We have almost 50 LifeGroups (small groups) that meet during the week. Over 30 of these groups meet online using internet tools.
Here is a cool story we saw in one of our online groups that had been meeting for a year. They had all met through the Internet Campus. This group decided to fly into Oklahoma and spend the weekend together. This was there first time to meet in person. They all stayed in one house, instead of a hotel, so they could spend all of their short time together in person. There were about 15 and they were from 5-6 different states. Three of them were baptized on that weekend. They are still meeting online now.
Whether you like the advance of technology to keep in touch or not, it is still happening. People are routinely using technology to stay in touch. If we decide to ignore an avenue of connecting with one another because it might not be ideal I think we’re underestimating what God can really do.
Great discussion, this is really informative.
[...] Relationships and Technology How do we build relationships with children and youth in today’s world? A major component of the answer to that question is to be relevant to their world. See our prior blog. In 2005, the Board of Directors of The LOGOS Ministry created the initiative for the ministry to create new ways to be relationship focused while at the same time being technology based. We unveiled it as the High-Touch and High-Tech approach to ministry. Questions were raised and dealt with about the partnership of these two initiatives. How can one focus on relationships while moving to a greater use of technology? Doesn’t technology interfere with relationships? Of course we believe the answer to this latter question is no it doesn’t have to, it actually can build those relationships up. And so that is how we have moved forward in the last two years. A week ago, the 5th largest church in the country, LifeChurch, blogged about the exact same thing. In fact, Craig Groeschel, the lead pastor, put it this way, [...]
In many ways technology has allowed people i’ve come in contact with to be more intimate/personal. i’ll give you an example. I used to run a “skateboard church” and so many of those kids would not talk about the Lord one on one… (it’s been 3 years since the ministry shut down)… and i’ve had the opportunity to counsel and even lead one person to the Lord via IM (years afterward and from another state)!!!! i even followed up with the person via phone and it was just awkward. they only wanted to be honest/real over IM. it was to embarrassing to talk about it in person or even phone.
that is not the only case either, friends have shared marriage issues over IM that were just to embarrassing to talk about in person… i love it too! it allows me to have the internet right there and search scriptures without being put on the spot and not having a good answer.
Thanks, Brandon — That’s really cool to hear how people can connect online and then take it to the “real world.” thanks for taking the itme to respond.
Facebook, SMS and MMS are how my students communicate information. But, when a friend has been killed, a family member is sick, when life just seems like garbage…
..breakfast at CFA.
..lunch in the school cafeteria.
..coffee at Starbucks.
..90 minutes of soccer.
..time spent just listening.
Its the touch…
It was the touch of the Son of God that drew us to His heart. As His ministers on earth, its the touch.