There is no doubt that twenty-first century Christianity is different. The technological advances over the last 100 years have literally given us instant access to the entire world. Preaching the gospel to the ends of the Earth is no longer as difficult of a task as it once seemed. If there were enough evangelists, modern technology would allow us to accomplish this goal in a very short amount of time. However, despite our high-tech abilities, Jesus\u2019 words still remain relevant: \u201cThe harvest truly is plentiful, but the laborers are few.\u201d (Matthew 9:37)<\/p>\n
No matter how much we progress, God\u2019s timeless plan for His Church is not obligated to our technology. Whatever we build or discover, the gospel message will still be carried on the backs of individuals, not merely through the transmission lines of modern engineering. The Christian faith is a personal one. It requires people and always will.<\/p>\n
With that being said, virtual church is becoming a prominent feature in the generation coming of age in the United States. One short article cannot deal with the many inconsistencies of placing these two words side-by-side. However, I do wish to explain a few basic truths that tell why church cannot just be virtual. Simply put, you cannot be a church on your own.<\/p>\n
Before you think that I\u2019m throwing the baby out with the bath water, let me say that I see no problems with live streams, podcasts, YouTube, etc. I believe the Church should use every tool available to us to get the gospel into as many areas as we possibly can. Technology is one such tool, and we would be foolish not to make use of it. Its use is not what I am wary of. As everyone knows, anything that man creates can easily be abused. What remains a tool capable of spreading the gospel message to diverse places, working individuals, or shut-in churchgoers can also become a hindrance to the Church at large. This is my hesitation with virtual churches or telling people that watching a live stream every week is proper Christian practice: It may be acceptable in our culture, but I don\u2019t think the New Testament is as approving. We need each other in the Christian faith. We need every member of the body of Christ in order to function properly, and we need them in the same room.<\/p>\n
Though every man or woman who goes through conversion into the Faith is considered a part of the Church on their own, the Church itself is communicated as a body requiring multiple members. \u201cFor in fact the body is not one member but many.\u201d (1 Corinthians 12:14) We are individual temples of the living God who become the Church when we gather together. A single Christian sitting at home is not a church in the sense that they are not an assembly of multiple parts of the body of Christ. We don\u2019t function as the Church in isolation, we function as the Church in community. \u201cFor where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of them.\u201d (Matthew 18:20) Though community may not be required to experience the presence of God, for the purposes of the Church, two, three, or many are needed. Multiple people are not just needed to perform the functions of the Church but also for the building of faith. Faith will never grow in isolation the way that it does in community. \u201cFrom whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for edifying of itself in love.\u201d (Ephesians 4:16) \u201cAs iron sharpens iron, so a man sharpens the countenance of his friend.\u201d (Proverbs 27:17) Likewise, we will never affect the world as a single individual the way we will as a multitude. Christ\u2019s own model for His followers shows this very clearly. Community is a vital and necessary component of the Church.<\/p>\n
That being said, the argument could be made that a person is joining the body of Christ from the comfort of their own home. They\u2019re a part of the body, they\u2019re just not in the room. This is where a proper Christian lifestyle comes in. We must understand that as believers, we are responsible for building up other believers. Though we may feel as if we don\u2019t need to be physically present in church to experience God, this is simply a misunderstanding of what God has called us to. First, you need community far more than you realize. Second, the community needs you far more than you realize. They don\u2019t need you watching from afar because it\u2019s convenient and it helps you maintain your busy lifestyle. They need you to get in the trenches right beside them and help them carry the load. The person who is satisfied with a consistent virtual experience has no plans to carry any weight. How can they? Conventional laborers must go to the job site, the job site doesn\u2019t come to them.<\/p>\n
Let\u2019s be honest. Participating in a virtual church experience is easier than the practice of going to church. You can sleep late, stay in your pajamas, sit on your bed, and just enjoy. There are no hands for you to shake or crying babies to distract you. It\u2019s convenient, and it easily conforms to your current lifestyle. If you want to go out of town on the weekends two or three times a month because you have hobbies that require your time, then virtual church is your go-to. This is where we must draw a line between Christianity and consumerism and show the problems of virtual church experiences. At some point, we stopped telling people that they must conform their lives to the demands of the Faith, and we began to show them how to conform the Faith to the demands of their lives. It may be convenient, but it may fail to reflect New Testament Christianity as well.<\/p>\n
Jesus says in Luke 9:23, \u201cIf any many would come after me, he must first deny himself\u2026\u201d Self-denial is literally the most elementary step in Christianity. The cross doesn\u2019t conform to us. We conform to it and find that it is rarely convenient.<\/p>\n
When we experience true conversion, our lives become subject to that conversion. We partner with Christ as He brings our will into line. Jesus doesn\u2019t parallel our current experience, He intersects it. He then demands that we bend our will to His. The same is true for our involvement in the body of Christ. Church doesn\u2019t bend to us, we bend to it. Does this mean we might have to get up early in the morning and inconvenience ourselves by getting dressed and going to church? Yes. Might we have to curb our hobbies or outings a bit to ensure that we actually function alongside the rest of the church? Yes. Is all of this worth it? If you\u2019ve met Jesus, it is. What small sacrifices these are in light of the exceeding weight of glory and the opportunity to join the saints in worship around the throne.<\/p>\n
Virtual church tends to feed consumerism. Christians aren\u2019t consumers. We produce the fruits consistent with repentance (2 Corinthians 7:11) and a transformed heart. We are servants of Christ first and from that position, servants of people. It is increasingly difficult to serve the body of Christ if one is consistently absent from the gathering of that body. Two or three are still required and self-denial is still the expectation. Believers, you will find the rewards of an active relationship with God\u2019s people far outweigh your need for convenience. However, you\u2019ll never experience this properly until you get out of bed, get dressed, turn off the phone, and come to church.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"excerpt","protected":false},"author":19,"featured_media":4756,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","episode_type":"","audio_file":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","filesize_raw":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1,305,3,8],"tags":[1088,294,290,1045,292,1089,1087],"class_list":{"0":"post-4752","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-general","8":"category-student-ministires","9":"category-youth-ministries","10":"category-youth-quest","11":"tag-church-online","12":"tag-josh-lafferty","13":"tag-smat","14":"tag-strong-in-fellowship","15":"tag-student-ministries","16":"tag-student-ministries-advisory-team","17":"tag-virtual-church","18":"entry"},"title_es":"Por qu\u00e9 la iglesia virtual no lo hace","content_es":"No hay duda de que el cristianismo del siglo XXI es diferente. Los avances tecnol\u00f3gicos de los \u00faltimos 100 a\u00f1os, literalmente, nos han dado acceso instant\u00e1neo a todo el mundo. Predicar el evangelio hasta los confines de la tierra ya no es una tarea tan desalentadora como parec\u00eda. Si hubiera suficientes evangelistas, la tecnolog\u00eda moderna nos permitir\u00eda lograr este objetivo en muy poco tiempo. Sin embargo, a pesar de nuestras habilidades de alta tecnolog\u00eda, las palabras de Jes\u00fas siguen siendo relevantes: \"La cosecha verdaderamente es abundante, pero los trabajadores son pocos\" (Mateo 9:37). Hay m\u00e1s de un sentido en el cristianismo en el que la tecnolog\u00eda simplemente no reemplazar\u00e1 las verdades eternas de las intenciones de Dios para su iglesia. No importa lo que construyamos o descubramos, el mensaje del evangelio todav\u00eda se llevar\u00e1 a la espalda de los individuos, no solo a trav\u00e9s de las l\u00edneas de transmisi\u00f3n de la ingenier\u00eda moderna. La fe cristiana es personal. Requiere gente y siempre lo har\u00e1. Hay una pr\u00e1ctica peculiar que ya es prominente en los Estados Unidos: la iglesia virtual. Quiero explicar algunas verdades b\u00e1sicas que dicen por qu\u00e9 la iglesia no puede ser simplemente virtual. En pocas palabras, no puedes ser una iglesia por tu cuenta. Antes de que piense que estoy tirando al beb\u00e9 con el agua del ba\u00f1o, perm\u00edtame decirle que no veo ning\u00fan problema con las transmisiones en vivo, los podcasts, YouTube, etc. Creo que la Iglesia deber\u00eda usar todas las herramientas disponibles para hacer que el Evangelio llegue al m\u00e1ximo n\u00famero de personas. \u00c1reas como sea posible. La tecnolog\u00eda es una gran herramienta, y ser\u00eda una tonter\u00eda no hacer uso de ella. Su uso no es lo que desconf\u00edo. Como todos saben, cualquier cosa que creamos puede ser f\u00e1cilmente abusada. Esta es mi vacilaci\u00f3n con las iglesias virtuales o decirle a la gente que ver una transmisi\u00f3n en vivo todas las semanas es una pr\u00e1ctica cristiana adecuada. Puede ser aceptable en nuestra cultura, pero no creo que el Nuevo Testamento lo apruebe. Nos necesitamos unos a otros en la fe cristiana. Necesitamos que cada miembro del cuerpo de Cristo funcione correctamente, y los necesitamos en la misma habitaci\u00f3n. Si bien cada hombre y cada mujer que pasa por la conversi\u00f3n a la fe se considera una parte de la Iglesia por s\u00ed misma, la Iglesia misma se comunica como un cuerpo que requiere m\u00faltiples miembros. \"Porque, de hecho, el cuerpo no es un solo miembro, sino muchos\" (1 Corintios 12:14). Somos templos individuales del Dios vivo que se convierten en la Iglesia cuando nos reunimos. Un solo cristiano sentado en casa no es una iglesia. No funcionamos como la Iglesia en aislamiento; Funcionamos como la Iglesia en comunidad. \u201cPorque donde est\u00e1n dos o tres reunidos en mi nombre, all\u00ed estoy en medio de ellos\u201d (Mateo 18:20). No se requiere comunidad para experimentar la presencia de Dios. El sacrificio de Cristo nos hizo a cada uno de los templos de su presencia para que pudi\u00e9ramos conocerlo personalmente. Sin embargo, para los prop\u00f3sitos de la Iglesia, se necesitan dos, tres o muchos. M\u00faltiples personas no solo son necesarias para realizar las funciones de la Iglesia, sino tambi\u00e9n para la construcci\u00f3n de nuestra fe. \"De quien todo el cuerpo, unido y unido por lo que cada articulaci\u00f3n suministra, de acuerdo con el trabajo efectivo por el cual cada parte hace su parte, causa el crecimiento del cuerpo para edificarse en el amor\" (Efesios 4:16). \"A medida que el hierro afila el hierro, un hombre afila el rostro de su amigo\" (Proverbios 27:17). Del mismo modo, nunca afectaremos al mundo como un solo individuo de la manera en que lo haremos como una multitud. El propio modelo de Cristo para sus seguidores lo muestra muy claramente. Se podr\u00eda argumentar que una persona se est\u00e1 uniendo al cuerpo de Cristo desde la comodidad de su propio hogar. Son parte del cuerpo, simplemente no est\u00e1n en la habitaci\u00f3n. Aqu\u00ed es donde entra en juego un estilo de vida cristiano adecuado. Debemos entender que, como creyentes, somos responsables de edificar a otros creyentes. Aunque podemos sentir que no necesitamos estar f\u00edsicamente presentes en la iglesia para experimentar a Dios, esto es simplemente un malentendido de lo que Dios nos ha llamado a hacer. Primero, necesitas comunidad mucho m\u00e1s de lo que crees. Segundo, la comunidad te necesita m\u00e1s de lo que te das cuenta. Necesitan que te pongas en las trincheras justo al lado de ellas y les ayudes a llevar la carga. La persona que est\u00e1 satisfecha con una experiencia virtual consistente no tiene planes de cargar peso. \u00bfC\u00f3mo pueden ellos? Los trabajadores convencionales deben ir al sitio de trabajo. El sitio de trabajo no viene a ellos. Seamos honestos, participar en una experiencia virtual de la iglesia es m\u00e1s f\u00e1cil que la pr\u00e1ctica de ir a la iglesia. Puedes dormir hasta tarde, quedarte en pijama, sentarte en tu cama y simplemente disfrutar. No hay manos para que sacuda o llore a los beb\u00e9s para distraerlo. Es conveniente y se adapta f\u00e1cilmente a su estilo de vida actual. Aqu\u00ed es donde debemos trazar una l\u00ednea entre el cristianismo y el consumismo y mostrar las deficiencias de las experiencias virtuales de la iglesia. En alg\u00fan momento, dejamos de decirle a la gente que deben conformar sus vidas a las exigencias de la Fe, y comenzamos a mostrarles c\u00f3mo conformar la Fe a las demandas de sus vidas. Puede ser conveniente, pero sin duda no es cristiana. Jes\u00fas dice en Lucas 9:23: \"Si alguien viene tras de m\u00ed, primero debe negarse a s\u00ed mismo ...\" La abnegaci\u00f3n es el paso m\u00e1s elemental en el cristianismo. La cruz no se ajusta a nosotros. Nos ajustamos a ella, y rara vez es conveniente. Cuando experimentamos la verdadera conversi\u00f3n, nuestras vidas est\u00e1n sujetas a esa conversi\u00f3n. Nos asociamos con Cristo mientras \u00c9l pone nuestra voluntad en l\u00ednea. Jes\u00fas no es paralelo a nuestra experiencia actual; \u00c9l lo intersecta. Luego exige que doblemos nuestra voluntad a la suya. Lo mismo es cierto para nuestra participaci\u00f3n en el cuerpo de Cristo. \u00bfSignifica esto que podr\u00edamos tener que levantarnos temprano en la ma\u00f1ana e incomodarnos al vestirnos e ir a la iglesia? S\u00ed. \u00bfPodr\u00edamos tener que frenar un poco nuestros pasatiempos o salidas para asegurarnos de que funcionamos junto con el resto de la iglesia? S\u00ed. \u00bfVale la pena todo esto? Si has conocido a Jes\u00fas, lo es. La iglesia virtual tiende a alimentar el consumismo. Los cristianos no son consumidores. Producimos los frutos consistentes con el arrepentimiento (2 Corintios 7:11) y un coraz\u00f3n transformado. Somos siervos de Cristo primero y desde esa posici\u00f3n, siervos de las personas. Es cada vez m\u00e1s dif\u00edcil servir al cuerpo de Cristo si uno est\u00e1 constantemente ausente de la reuni\u00f3n de ese cuerpo. Todav\u00eda se requieren dos o tres, y la abnegaci\u00f3n sigue siendo la expectativa. Para los creyentes, encontrar\u00e1 que las recompensas de una relaci\u00f3n activa con el pueblo de Dios superar\u00e1n con creces su necesidad de conveniencia. Sin embargo, nunca experimentar\u00e1 esto correctamente hasta que se levante de la cama, se vista, apague el tel\u00e9fono y venga a la iglesia.","author_name":"Josh Lafferty","jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/discipleship\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2019\/05\/Virtual-Church.png","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4T9u2-1eE","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/discipleship\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4752","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/discipleship\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/discipleship\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/discipleship\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/19"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/discipleship\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4752"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/discipleship\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4752\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/discipleship\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4756"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/discipleship\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4752"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/discipleship\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4752"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/discipleship\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4752"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}