“It appears the Church ceded the world “wild” web to the Evil One long ago. And, no, potluck details, Home Bible Studies and “Men’s Saturday Prayer Breakfasts” do not count as reaching the Lost online. They need a spiritual Life-Line to the Savior.”
(Quote from Our Passion at TheaXiomNetwork.com) The “Great Omission”
One of the most puzzling things to me about the U.S. Church today is the absence of the Gospel online. Wait! What?!
Isn’t the American Church utilizing the power of Facebook, Twitter, Blogs and a multitude of other venues to tell visitors about the power of the Gospel? Yes. Many are. And, we are grateful their vision extends beyond their own congregation. But, there’s a problem.
In the digital and spiritual environment of today social media platforms can and often do limit content they disagree with or worse, delete years of effort on a whim.
And, while some content is reinstated after they acknowledge “a mistake was made” by their teams are we sure we want to limit the impact of the Gospel to those who may be or become hostile to our message?
Should we really allow others to determine if, how and when we proclaim the truth of salvation? It’s probably safe to assume there will eventually be a complete “black out” of the Gospel. After all, if you post something they consider inappropriate or “not in line with our values” how long should be expect them to “tolerate” our message?
I believe these are critical questions in this, dare I say, “post Christian culture” and if our message is slowly removed from these popular social media platforms then what?
Should you submit your entire online ministry outreach efforts to powerful social media platforms who so vehemently disagree with your message? The Church of Jesus Christ must not surrender control of the Gospel’s online presence to those who don’t believe or are hostile.
With literally hundreds of thousands of Churches in the U.S., most having websites today, how is it possible that only a small handful actually make the path to Eternal Life available for their site visitors?
Did we miss the conclave where it was decided that Salvation would not be offered to the millions who search weekly for spiritual answers on the web? Why is the absence of God’s Plan so consistent across hundreds of thousands of Church websites? Is there a better answer?
If Seekers aren’t finding spiritual help on Church websites where would we recommend they look? More importantly, moving forward, there is a small, passionate group of us who want to see the Church make a “180” and reverse this reality. It doesn’t have to be complicated but it is critical I believe. Why don’t you have the gospel on your Church website? (Am I assuming incorrectly?
You believe the Gospel or you probably wouldn’t be reading this. You believe others need the Gospel. But, do you implicitly or explicitly insist the Seeker has to come to your Church service to get Saved? Is that the criteria?
Folks can only be saved in a Church? Where else could they be confronted with the claims of the Savior besides Sunday morning at 10 or 11 o’clock? Why not the “world wild web”? Why not make it available on your Church website. Why not start today!? I have included seven reasons every Gospel believing church must have the Gospel on their website.
A critical movement is growing that I believe can and will change the way God uses the internet but it is the responsibility of the local Church to carry out that message. More on this soon…
Soli Deo Gloria.