"Myspace" & Paul

What would the Apostle Paul think of the virtual world of "Myspace"?

First for those over 30 - a little myspace Q & A?

What is myspace.com?

An online social networking meeting / hang out place. Members have their own webspace to post pictures, write blogs, listen to music, communicate with friends, meet new people, find out what's cool etc. More info HERE.

Is "myspace" a real place?

"For those who didn't grow up with the Internet, it might seem strange to think of a mere website as an actual place. But for people like Edstrom and Michael Edwards, a high school senior from San Diego who can't remember when there was no Internet, cyberspace is a real place, even if the entry gates come in the form of a PC.
And at least these days, one's MySpace page is not just a home in that place, it's actually who they are online." Rest of the USA TODAY ARTICLE HERE.

A thanks to Frank Johnson of strategicdigitaloutreach.com for pointing out this article.

How many people hang out there?

over 47 million! And growing rapidly.

How rapidly?

on average over 100 new people sign up every minute,

6666 an hour;

160,000 a day;

5 million a month!

who are these people?

Mostly teens and young adults although other age groups are starting to increase.

How much time are teens spending hanging out there?

According to Bussinessweek.com the typical American teen hangs out there for nearly an hour and a half a day.

What would Paul's response be to this?

Let's observe and learn from his trip to Athens

(A.D. 50?) Acts 17:16 - 17

STEP ONE - PAUL OBSERVED WHAT WAS GOING ON IN ATHENS...(vs. 16)

Go to www.myspace.com , use their search bar and type in your hometown. Then browse through the profiles. You will be shocked at what you see and read. I can't describe it, pagan, is the first word that comes to mind. You need to see it for yourself - most church going adults have no idea where today's youth are. There is a strong peer pressure to list partying and drinking as one of your favorites activities. As you browse, soon you'll see the faces of kids from your church. More than likely, many of their profiles will be quite similar to the others you've seen. I guess they haven't realized that parents can also use the Web.

STEP TWO - WHAT PAUL SAW DISTURBED HIM. "HIS SPIRIT WAS STIRRED WHEN HE SAW THE CITY FULL OF IDOLS." (vs.16)

May we see the world as God sees it. May our heart be touched with feelings and emotions. We have so many goals and plans for our lives, but what about having a passion to make a difference?

STEP THREE - PAUL WAS IMMEDIATELY MOVED TO ACTION. (vs.17)

Paul did not gather a little group of Christians together to swap stories and to preach sermons about how bad the heathen were. Often our Sunday morning sermons are filled with ranting and raving about how evil the heathen are. By the end of the service everyone is ready to pray like the pharisee, "I thank you God, I'm not like those heathen. I'm glad that I pray to you and give money to you - thank you God". Then we go home for the week and make sure that we don't spend any time with those heathens. GOD DOES NOT WANT US TO JUDGE THE LOST, HE WANTS US TO LOVE THEM. Maybe a better idea is to use that time to train, encourage, and inspire the church/congregation to do the work of the ministry throughout the week...

STEP FOUR - PAUL WENT WHERE THE MASSES OF PEOPLE WERE HANGING OUT. (vs.17)

We must go where the people are. Today's "marketplace" and "Mars Hill Meeting places" must include places like myspace.com.

It amazes me how most church attenders can see the need to hire a full time Youth Director to minister to 50 - 75 teens. (I agree your own kids must be the priority.) Then, they just can't wrap their brain around the concept or need for there to be FULL TIME Internet Ministers to reach out to the MILLIONS of teens who daily spend hours on the Internet. It is obvious that most churches can not support a full time Internet Minister. Yet I ask, "why is so hard for Internet Ministry to be a small part of their mission budget???" A church will raise money to send someone to an inner city park to talk with some teens and to try to share the gospel with a few. Why can't the church catch a vision to send a missionary to "myspace.com", to strategically share the gospel at the world's largest teenage hangout place?

STEP 5 - PAUL ENTERED INTO DISCUSSION WITH TOTAL STRANGERS.

"So he reasoned and argued...In the marketplace day after day with any who chanced to be there." Acts 17:17 Amplified Bible

It may seem like a chance meeting, but God knows who is searching and will set up divine appointments for all those who are willing to share their faith. Remember it's just our job to share.

Going "live" in April of 2006 - please pray for (& help?) these efforts.

In April of 2006 www.InternetMinister.org will be a place where you can get training on how to share your faith online. We will also be providing practical opportunities to share your faith. We are in the process on lining up volunteers who would like to help us with this. Please drop me a note or sign up for our newsletter if you are interested. Right now you can go to http://internetministry.info to get valuable tips.

STEP 6 - PAUL USED PRACTICAL WISDOM WHILE SHARING HIS FAITH.

Paul's message was never watered down or compromised. Paul did find ways to connect with his audience. He found ways to relate with them and their unique culture. As an Urban Missionary I interact with many different cultures. It is important when we share our faith we take into consideration the culture we are entering into. We must think through what are the clear Biblical absolutes and what are our personal preferences.

As an example, for many years I have been preaching at a Chinese church and also African- American Urban Churches. It is easy for those who are really emotional and expressive in their worship style to judge those who are not as unspiritual - "their faith does not even touch their soul, God has been soooo good to me, I can't help but to shout." Their goal in ministering must focus on sharing the GOOD NEWS, not trying to get the other group to worship the way they like it.

On the contrary, those who are deeply contemplative may judge the expressive ones as being too emotional - in need of superficial cheerleading. Just because something is true for ourself (I'm not talking about God's absolute truth) does not mean it's true for others.

Effective ministry takes place when we, with God's help, shed our cultural biases and personal preferences and share the GOOD NEWS in the context of the culture we are ministering to.

I heard a minister teach that you were compromising (bad to him) if you used an overhead projector to sing songs instead of a hymnal. On the other extreme I went to a large church that was doing a great job sharing their faith in a way that the youth could enjoy and relate to. Yet I was personally offended that they used a video clip that included adult humor as part of their efforts to connect with the "seekers". We can deeply connect with people in the context of their culture without lowering any God given standard of holiness.

Paul started his conversation by finding something he could compliment them on and by discussing something that they were fascinated with. (vs.22)

This blog is about to become a book so I better close for now.

One bit of good news, I read on the Appianway blog that:

68% of teens say religion is important to them and 92% say they want a better connection with God.

Wow this sounds like Athens - ripe for revival... now what do you think?

Acts 17:32-34 ...(when they heard of the resurrection of the dead),

some scoffed,

but others said, "We will hear you again about this matter"...

and some joined themselves to him and believed...

Lets keep praying to the Lord of the Harvest...

Scott Reese Web Evangelist, Internet Minister. Other words for the search engines: Internet Ministry, Web Evangelism, Internet evangelism, Christian websites, ministry opportunities.

Also want to say thanks to adaptivepath.com for an article on their site that was helpful for this blog.