ONLINE CHURCH #04

 

Previously, I suggested Online church is driven by two necessary “engines” – empowering and engaging. Let me expand a little more on empowering from the previous write-up before I start on engaging. Another example of empowering is based on the concept of the “School of Elisha”. Elisha’s students felt the need to enlarge the prophetic school. They came to Elisha and presented him the proposal. Although the idea did not originate with Elisha, nonetheless Elisha gave the go-ahead while he stood behind them. That is empowering.  The church in Acts did the same. Having no “commander”, the followers of Christ initiated house churches and ministries and the apostles were aiding and providing the necessary support. One of the “tentacles” of an Online church is in facilitating Bible study groups. Online church does not create Bible study groups. This is done by its members. The Online church support team (consisting of pastors, Bible teachers) will assist in providing a facilitator and necessary materials. The initiator of the class will be responsible to organize the class and the attendees. Classes can be held from anywhere, anytime. Online church rides on the platform of decentralization. To empower is to allow people and ministries to organically spring up from anywhere, anytime. Online church seeks to create a uniform platform for resources, for working together, and for accountability.

 

ENGAGING.

Engaging is about following instead of attracting. Jesus engaged people wherever they were. He went about preaching and teaching in villages and towns. He could be at the marketplaces, the seashores, synagogues, someone’s home, or wherever He was needed. He was usually out at “sea”. He did not have a home. And if He did, there will be a sign hanging at the door: “Out Fishing”. Jesus could have easily stayed put at one single location and people from near and far would have made the journey to attend His “services”. But that was not the church He had in mind. He raised a movement, not an institution. Perhaps the better way of understanding engaging is to take a snapshot of social media today.

 

Social media is used for just about anything. Individuals used it to keep in touch with friends and families. Others used it for career opportunities, finding people with like interests across the globe, sharing their thoughts, their feelings, their moments. There are plenty of social media apps available on devices and one of the more popular ones is Facebook. In FB people tend to follow others (friend’s requests) and in following, they get “followed back”. (friendship accepted). From here, they get to participate in groups of like interests (engaging). This is how church can be today. Instead of attracting people into our church with the hope they would like it enough to stay, we ought to be following people. And when we are “followed back”, we engage and build relationships.

 

Keeping FB as an example, let us imagine how house churches started in the days of Acts. Say you take evening walks around your neighborhood. You pass by many houses each time, but you took no notice. One day, a particular house caught your attention. After a couple of passes, you decided you would engage the owner because you are interested in how they managed to managed their garden so well. You rang the doorbell and soon the owner and you were chatting at the front gate. Seeing your interests in his garden, the house owner “followed” you back.  He invites you into his living room (that is engaging) for a cuppa and a friendship began. FB pages are like houses you browse through all the time. When something interests you, you follow and make a friend’s request. The host then accepts your request and invite you into his FB group where you will meet others with similar like interests. In the context of the church, this is called discipleship.

 

The way the early Christians behaved caught the attention of the unbelievers. In fact, they were first called Christians in the city of Antioch because they were so Christ-like in their communal living. People began to “follow” just as they did with Jesus, and the Christians “followed” back, engaging them into their homes. That was how churches sprang up throughout entire regions. And the beautiful thing was, house churches were operating daily, not just once a week.

 

I have so far shared with you the basic concept of what I think an Online church is. How it operates is up to one’s imagination and resources. They say, “the sky’s the limit”. Online church is literally a church without walls. You will never know where or how it will lead you. It is like jumping into a river. Unlike a lake, when you enter a river you cannot exit at the same entry point. The river is always flowing. Its currents carry you beyond your point of entry. In the Bible, there was a river in Ezekiel’s vision (Ez. 47). When we are willing to flow with the Holy Spirit, who knows where the “River” will take us, just as it had taken Jesus all over Israel and all over the world.

 

I am sure you have questions. I am not trying to “reinvent the wheel”. I am just trying to rediscover church based on the book of Acts. The world about us is evolving fast. Between “Tent” and “Temple”, I like the idea of the “Tent” (mobile) more than the “Temple” (fixed). Problem is, the “Temple” (big and majestic) had overshadowed the “Tent”. In this digital age we are in today, I think the “Tent” is making a comeback. However things will evolve, going hybrid, for now, is a necessity. We have to flow with the river. God bless.