| The Internet has become a 21st century Roman road, marketplace, theater, backyard fence, and office drinks machine. Web evangelism gives believers opportunities to reach people with the Gospel right where they are, just as Jesus and Paul did. The Web’s explosive growth has been remarkable. In ten short years, it has jumped from being a minority hobby for computer enthusiasts to a communication medium used by over 1000 million people worldwide. If your visit to this website lasts ten minutes, in that time interval 460 people will have used the Web for their very first time. The world impact of the Internet and the digital revolution will be as far-reaching as the invention of the printing press. To use the Web effectively, we must understand its nature as a medium. Each time a new means of communication is developed, people initially think of it in terms of a previous known medium. Thus, TV began as radio with pictures, but was soon viewed as a different medium in its own right, as people learned its potential. Linear versus non-linear Many mediums are linear – they communicate a message along a single line. Radio and TV are essentially linear (although these days, interactive TV can give the user some control). Fiction books, videos and tracts are also linear. However, a newspaper is non-linear – it contains multiple messages, not linked together sequentially. Users can move around as they choose. The Web is also non-linear. A website is not (usually) a single page of text, but offers choice between a range of pages and ideally other interactive options too. Pull versus push Outreach literature is a ‘push’ medium. For instance, people offer tracts into others’ hands. Radio is largely a push medium – within a limited range of available stations, the user listens (or turns off). The Internet however is a ‘pull’ medium. It draws people in – but only within the channels on which they wish to be drawn. It is therefore like a reference library rather than a literature distribution program. There is no automatic audience for a website. Interactive and two-way One of the greatest attractions of the Web is its interactivity. The user controls completely what webpages appears on his or her monitor. Each person will have a unique route of personal choice though any website, and across billions of webpages around the world. The two-way nature of the web means that the user is no longer a passive recipient. When you listen to radio, the experience is one-way – unless you can phone in or write a letter. But the Web makes it easy for users to express opinions and interact with webmasters by email or instant messager, and discuss a site with other users by bulletin board, blog response form or chat room. At last, “my opinion counts”. In some ways, the Web is a modern reflection of the time 100 years ago before mass media, people created their own entertainments in the evenings or spare moments. Once again, through collective creativity, ordinary people at home are sharing their ideas, gifts and lives with others they feel linked to. The growth of sites hosting self-posted video clips is a dramatic example of this new creativity. “People want to be players not just spectators, part of the action, not on the sidelines,” writes Charles Leadbeater in a new book WeThink. [www.wethinkthebook.net/book/home.aspx] Just as a newspaper aims to build loyalty among its readers, a website can generate a sense of community – the feeling that users can identify with the site. Successful sites understand how to this create welcoming interactivity. Implications of the Web’s properties as a medium It is a mistake to regard the evangelistic potential of the Web as merely ‘tracts on a screen’. Such a perception will greatly limit its potential for outreach. Instead, we must understand the Web’s nature as a medium and learn how to work with its inherent strengths. Only then can we begin to use the staggering opportunities it offers us. If we were going to design the perfect mission field, here is what it might look like:
- It would be filled with millions of unsaved and accessible youth and young adults.
- It would be filled with millions of unsaved and accessible youth and young adults.
- It would be a place where people openly, regularly, and publicly share their opinions, thoughts, feelings, concerns, fears, and needs without anyone asking them to.
- It would be a place where people connect with other people in community, and people like and expect to meet new people.
- It would be a place where many people provide a picture and a little information about themselves so you can know a little about them before you communicate with them.
- It would be a place where it is okay to be creative, different, and to just be you.
- It would be a place where people openly debate, discuss, and exchange ideas including spiritual matters.
- It would be a place where people like to go and hang out. It would be fun, sometimes silly, and people would smile and laugh.
- It would be a place that is very close to our home so we could get there quickly when we have some time, and getting there would not require immunizations, or passports, or plane trips. And it would all be free.
This perfect mission field exists right now, down to the last detail. It exists on the Internet in public online services that connect people in community: blogs, personal webpages, and discussion groups, including social networking sites such as MySpace.com. Taken from Web-Empower Your Church [webempoweredchurch.com/support/weycbook/]
Unleashing the Power of Internet Ministry, Mark Stephenson, Abingdon Press, Dec 2006. Used by permission. Is this a missions field, that we as a church called to? Your comments are welcome |
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