Technology and the Truth

Recently I opened accounts with some online networking sites. No! I didn't log on to those kinds that match people up for relationships. I'm happily married and have a house of full of children; so, I don't need a website to assist me with finding my soulmate. I've already found her. One of them in particular, myspace.com, has a lot of my friends on it and I thought that would be a great place for me to network and meet some new friends and kind of keep of with old friends. So....I signed up and got me an account. All was well until I got a hand full of unsolicited requests for friendship from some pornographic places. I closed my account with myspace.

When I first opened my account, I was intrigued by the responses of my friends and family. Some were shocked. Some were excited. Some were indifferent. Initially, all of my friends who were excited signed up to be my friends and I communicated with a few of them, but, in truth, I found it easier to just talk with them when I saw them or shoot them an email. So...my internet network really wasn't helping me to network that well. As time moved on and I received my unsolicited solicitations, I decided that keeping the account wasn't worth the effort. That's why I closed the account.

I didn't tell you about my friends who were shocked that I would open an account on myspace. Some of my friends were very passionate in their dislike of my decision. Some went so far as to say, "You're a Chrisitan. A Pastor. You should NOT be on myspace." Certainly, there were a few so radical that I think they would prefer I live in a monestary, but most were just shocked that I would even consider the possibility of opening such an account. I thought I might be able to share the Gospel through my account like many of my preacher friends do. I didn't have the time to do that and because of the other things I've told you about, I closed the account. So, here is the question. Can Christians use technology to advance the Gospel even if that same technology is used by the enemy for ungodly purposes? I believe the answer is YES!

Not only is the answer YES, but I think Christian people should be engaging the lost world more aggressively than we are. I had a few friends when I was in New Orleans who would go into the stripper clubs to witness to the people there. They were involved in combat evangelism! There is no other way of describing that kind of witnessing. They would pray forever, study endlessly and when they were right with God and prepared to take on the enemy on his turf, they would go into those places and share the Gospel. Many were saved by their witness. The same idea holds true for technology. The technology is morally neutral - it is neither good nor bad. It simply is. What people do with it, though, is another matter entirely!

What would the cyber world be like (for that matter, what would the real world be like) if all Christians everywhere decided to live out their faith before a watching world? What impact would be felt if every Christian articulated their beliefs in the liquor store instead of buying liquor in the liquor store? The liquor store clerk needs Jesus. Could you imagine, though, what the Christian gossip network would be like if they saw me, the Pastor, coming out of the liquor store? I'll guarentee you, noboday would say, "Pastor John must have been witnessing to that lady behind the counter." They would say, "Oh, dear God! There's the preacher coming out of the liquor store!"

Here's the real question. Is there anyplace off limits for the Gospel. The answer is no. We need to carry the Gospel on to school campuses. Teens can do that when adults can't. We need to carry the Gospel into the prisons. Prinsoners can do that when free people can't. We need to carry the Gospel to drug users and pushers. We need to carry the Gospel to pimps and prostitutes. We need to carry the Gospel to all the nations. We even need to carry the Gospel to the cyber world. Jesus said that we are the light of the world. We need to let the light shine even in the darkest of places. In fact, it is in the darkest of places that the light shines the brightest. Why don't you figure out a way to use technology to share the Gospel and get busy shining your light. In fact, if you come up with any thing creative, send it to me via email. Blessings!