Not long ago I posted this quote in Facebook:
“No, Internet is not a Local Church. Facebook is not a Prayer Meeting. YouTube is not a Worship Meet. & good vibes is not anointing“
After a few people responded pointing to the fact that we are now changing our habits -which in their sight means hypocrisy- I think I will clarify the underlying issues.
We live in a wonderful technological age in which is easy to communicate with others around the world in seconds, via phone calls, video calls, chats, live streaming, and so on and so forth. It is amazing, and it is a blessing!
However, it is only too easy to actually “hide” online. Hide behind a chat, or a semi-anonymous request, or never show our real me, protected by the near full privacy of the internet.
In this particular time, when all things seem uncertain while we fight this Coronavirus that just upended the life of entire nations, the communication possibilities become even more amazing and necessary.
So, how to I explain my original post about Internet and Social Media in light of our church decision to broadcast our services online via FaceBook Live or other such options?
Broadcasting the service LIVE so people who cannot be on site because of illnesses or other issues, –or now because of the restrictions imposed to prevent further spreading of the Coronavirus– provides a means to connect with your LOCAL CHURCH, the one church you call home, and which considers you as part of that body of believers. In other words, even though you are home, for whatever reason, you can still meet via social media with the body you are part of, or if you do not have a local church that you call home, it is a good opportunity to participate in one that might become your spiritual home.
Participate is the word.
What my post/meme referred to was the fact that many people do not seem to ever connect –much less participate– in the life of a local church, while at the same time expect that the local church be there for them whenever they need prayer, or a word of comfort, or other needs, pretty much like a sort of convenience store that has a blessings fountain connected directly to heaven, and maybe an angel who will offer “you want fries with that?
So, that said, the internet is not a local church, although we can use the means available in internet to connect with a local church. I believe that every local church is meant to be the local expression of the body of Christ, and has all the tools necessary to be a channel of blessing and a factor of change in their community. However, the internet at large is not a church.
Facebook is not an ongoing prayer meeting where we can just drop a request and expect that someone out there will pick our request and spend their time praying for us. We can use its availability, though, to connect with a praying body or group of believers and share needs and requests. My point is that the reality of a local body of believers that connects using social media has a literally more tangible reality than a massive group of people that a lot of times we do not even know.
About youtube. It is an awesome tool to listen to music or watch worship videos and be blessed by using it in our private worship time or with our family or some friends. However, we mustn’t forget the need and the blessing that corporate worship is, so we must endeavor to worship together with the body of believers we call home, as much as we can. When circumstances prevent us from so doing, then connecting with the worship going on in our church using online options is a good thing to do.
Again the word is participation.
Now, as much as I agree with being positive in our thinking and our talking, sending “good vibes” or offering “thoughts” via social media is not comparable to actually praying for one another, and good thinking does not release anointing from heaven, neither connects people in a sort of ethereal way with God’s presence. Prayer does.
Good vibes are not anointing. Anointing requires –of necessity– a direct connection with the Holy Spirit.
So what is my point? We all need a local church that we may call home. A place where we belong, and a place where we invest of ourselves to make things happen by calling together on the promises of God. If you do not believe in church, but you believe in prayer, you will need to re-connect those two aspects of spiritual life. Jesus said that separate from Him we can do nothing. The Bible also says that we are the Body of Christ. And that where two or more are GATHERED, Jesus is there. Now, connect those points together. If we want to be effective in our prayers, we need to be part of the Body of Christ in a tangible real way.
Psalm 133 Brothers and Sisters being together: There God sends blessings and eternal life.
Belong. Invest of yourself. Participate.
That was the way in the book of Acts. And there is no reason why it should not be the way in these days.
J. Conrad Lampan
