#608. Going to an online church.
Aug 31st by adminI am what the Dutch call “web dumb.” When people email and ask how they can subscribe to Stuff Christians Like, how they can get an RSS feed or get the posts via email my usual response is “So, the webscapes can do that now? Far out!”
Seriously, let’s look at my online track record:
1. The domain name for this site was taken so I registered a new name with a typo in it.
2. Not understanding Twitter, I register myself as “ProdigalJohn.” Only my name is Jon, so that’s kind of a typo and a guarantee that none of my friends can search for me.
3. On facebook, I decide to go with “Jonathan Christopher” as my name creating further confusion. (That’s my first name and middle name.)
4. I allow a 1957 Chevy dealer to take the .com version of this website.
All in all, I find that I tend to have the web skills of an 1840’s prospector.
That’s why when it came to redesign this site I hired an expert named John Saddington. It’s also why when the church I attend, North Point Community Church, announced they were starting an online church I was completely confused. I clearly want to seem postmodern and relevant so when I heard they were launching northpointonline.tv I had two choices:
1. I could nod my head and pretend I understood what online church was all about. (This is a technique I often do in conversations so that I don’t look stupid.)
2. I could ask a bunch of questions.
Faking it is kind of exhausting and would make for a really boring post, so I decided to go with option number 2 and ask a bunch of questions.
Since North Point often sends out emails called, “A note from Andy Stanley” (the pastor of my church) I thought I would address the questions directly to him. (This is horrible, but every time I see the subject line “A note from Andy” in my inbox, I think to myself, “Andy finally emailed me! I bet he wants me to go on tour with him and Craig Groeschel, or maybe play flag football with him and Rick Warren or at the bare minimum he’s agreed to endorse the Stuff Christians Like book!”)
So here are my questions for Andy Stanley about online churches, or maybe they’re for you if you’re smarter than me about the whole online church movement:
1. If I’m watching a sermon online and I open up another window and answer some emails at the same time, is that a sin? Isn’t that the cyber equivalent of doodling in your bulletin? If I have a really big monitor, does that change your answer?
2. What if the emails are from people I’m in a Bible Study with, so technically speaking, I’m participating in fellowship? Ohh curveball.
3. Do I have to stand up when the worship leader calls us to our feet?
4. If I don’t like the worship songs that day, can I DJ myself with some songs I like from iTunes?
5. If I have a bad connection or the wrong version of flash or my computer crashes, is it safe to assume that I can blame that on the devil? If so, can I put him on notice?
6. How long can I pause the sermon, go do chores/answer the phone/find more comfortable socks to wear etc. and then come back without it seeming like I’ve left church?
7. There are only two occasions in which I wear a belt: A business meeting at work where I want to look smart and church. Do I have to wear a belt to attend online church?
8. Is it weird if I’m still shy about singing with my hands raised during online church? Should I still be doing the ninja in my own home? Is that something a counselor can help me with?
9. If I watch the sermon on a podcast, do you mind if I fast forward through the first few minutes of the sermon where you recap last week’s message for the people that weren’t there?
10. Someone once told me they consider eating at Chick-Fil-A to be tithing. Now that I’m using my computer to attend church, can I consider a new Mac purchase to be like one big, silvery cool tithe?
11. Will you please not cut off the podcast before or in the middle of the closing prayer? People at home like closing prayers too. (I’m talking to you Matt Chandler.)
12. Is there anyway that you could create a frame around the video player that has a graphic of someone giving someone else a back massage during church, someone coughing and the heads of the tall family I inevitably manage to sit behind every Sunday so that the experience will feel more authentic?
Those are the questions I have for Andy Stanley. And for you.
Does your church have an online version?
Would you have asked something different than me?
What do you do online when it comes to church? Blogs? Podcasts? Video sermons?
Are you currently doing anything church related online?
So many questions!
Comments
Oh my gosh, I had to pick myself up off the floor after laughing myself out of my chair! (no offense to all those that "need" online church) Excellent questions, to which I have no answers cause my church does good just to keep their website up-to-date. Although someone handy musta recently volunteered cause things are looking better as of late! If Andy answers – PAH-LEEZ post that!
Is attending an online sermon and having tabs of Icanhazcheezburger, Awkward Family Photos, FailBlog, and Neatorama open in the same browser at the same time a sin?
Love this post, particularly the webdumb part. I'm not that old and sometimes find myself resenting my own 'web savvy' and whatever expectations o web savvy that the universe continues to require of me and everyone else. It's just not fair. Twitter sux.
I'm still mystified with the idea of web church. I thought it was for people who would never darken ze doorway of a church building….with the ideal outcome being that they eventually decide that the risk of experience the scariness of church is worth trying out since real people are ultimately a good thing for your health. All your questions are justified. I await Andy's answers. (Once I stumbled upon a ranting comment discussion about how Northpoint sucked, and was pleezed to see Andy join in the conversation and contribute some humourous defense. Loved even more how everyone ranting totally backpedaled. Actually, I can't believe that Andy doesn't read this blog. How could he ever *not*?!
There is no such thing as an online church! The word for church as used in the New Testament is ecclesia, which is Greek for 'assembly.' SO, if church is really a gathering of people, we can't do that via the Internet. Sorry, pastors.
I guess you could call it an online sermon. That's different. I listen to podcasts from Greg Laurie, and I love them. I think they really help me dig deeper in the Word and gain understanding.
I just think we have to be careful to not depend upon technology to substitute interacting with people and their garlic breath, goofy laughs, and genuine personal connection. Cause that's way more important than sleeping in on Sunday mornings.
If online churches are reaching and engaging with people, then that's a good thing. Personally speaking, I'm far from a Luddite, but I can't see how online churches can provide me with community, fellowship, accountability, and discipleship.
I'm glad that you made the typo in your site name on purpose! I've always wondered whether you meant to do that, but I don't think I ever asked. It was something that made me wonder every time I looked at it though!
Also, thanks to your post where you asked what kind of music people workout to, I've taken to listening to John Piper's sermons while at the gym. I love it!
You can actually change your twitter username to be prodigaljon. You just have to go into settings and change it. All of your followers will be the same and it won't really change anything, just your name. And I checked, prodigaljon on twitter doesn't exist yet. =)
Online church — I love it. Does my church have an online side? Not hardly, I'm the token internet-y person — well me and that strange kid with the earrings.
Seriously, if I'm your internet connection (pun intended) you are in so much trouble.
Church members often refer to me as Mary, you know the one that does all that blogging stuff for those women's groups and that cruise thing. Real descriptive.
But Jon, I do have EVERYTHING in MaryRSnyder – site, twitter and facebook. of course, I went to business school and that's what they teach us — get everything in your name. And have good attorneys, but that's a story for another day.
I need to be held accountable. A lot. I need to be sternly spoken to about not taking the narrow gated path. Frequently. And our pastor has a gift for knowing which sin I'm struggling with, or lost the battle. and rebuking me, personally, in a service of a 1,000 souls.
There's something lost in online church on that level. It feels too impersonal and since I have the attention span of a Irish Setter, sitting in front of my computer is fraught with pitfalls. And I do not listen well anyway, so trying to read a week's worth of Stuff Christians Like, listen to the service and catch up with my e-mails…..message? There was a message?
But I think online church would be way awesome if I was physically or mentally unable to get to church. I work with people who would hyperventilate and pass out if they had to endure that many people, noise and space. I think it's an awesome option. But nothing replaces gathering together in His name and rejoicing in one another's presence.