Monday, April 12, 2010
Avoiding Idols
Back during the "global warming" conference in Copenhagen Out of Ur posted:
One of the things the Internet has done best is allow people of similar interests, no matter how arcane,to find each other and organize in some sense. It's a big part of "non-belief beliefs" becoming more like religion. It is now much easier for them to organize in a church-like fashion.
Now, from my perspective, that is an argument against "virtual church." The genuine church of Jesus Christ should be demonstrably different than the false churches of this type. Human relationship is the place that that difference can become most apparent, and it is the example set for us by the incarnation.
This fact also raises some interesting questions for online Christians. For one, how do we avoid falling into the "idol-traps?" Secondly, what can we do on-line to effectively battle the tendency?
The answer to the first question is easy - we sink our personal roots deep in the local congregation and make ourselves accountable to our brother and sister Christians.
The answer to the second question is far more problematic. I do not think on0-line alternatives is the answer - that's just repeating the mistake. Rather we need to engage these people where they are, and then we need to pull them from the virtual world into the real one.
Who have you engaged today?
Best-selling author Michael Crichton became an outspoken skeptic of man-made global warming before his death in 2008. In this video Crichton uses his background in anthropology to explain why environmentalism is based more on religion than science.(They have the video) What I find increasingly interesting is that it we do seem to be "anthropologically wired" to religion of some sort. Even atheists "believe" in their atheism. It's an old observation, I know, but it is taking an interesting turn int he modern era.
One of the things the Internet has done best is allow people of similar interests, no matter how arcane,to find each other and organize in some sense. It's a big part of "non-belief beliefs" becoming more like religion. It is now much easier for them to organize in a church-like fashion.
Now, from my perspective, that is an argument against "virtual church." The genuine church of Jesus Christ should be demonstrably different than the false churches of this type. Human relationship is the place that that difference can become most apparent, and it is the example set for us by the incarnation.
This fact also raises some interesting questions for online Christians. For one, how do we avoid falling into the "idol-traps?" Secondly, what can we do on-line to effectively battle the tendency?
The answer to the first question is easy - we sink our personal roots deep in the local congregation and make ourselves accountable to our brother and sister Christians.
The answer to the second question is far more problematic. I do not think on0-line alternatives is the answer - that's just repeating the mistake. Rather we need to engage these people where they are, and then we need to pull them from the virtual world into the real one.
Who have you engaged today?
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