By Jason Perry
“Having your finger on the pulse” is an idiom used to describe a desire to understand something well. It also means to be aware of the latest information in a certain area of interest.
With that in mind, welcome to The Pulse!
The year 2020 ushered in a significant number of seismic shifts for leaders, churches and how we do ministry. Pastors, who in 2019 had no social media presence, found themselves creating Facebook accounts to communicate with their congregations. Church leaders are now having to become literate on topics like live streaming, cyberchurch, digital engagement, and hashtags. It has been a lot take in, hasn’t it!?
One pastor, angered by all of the changes forced on him, decried the intrusion of the “world’s” technology into the church. How should we think about technology and how we do ministry today? Here are a few thoughts:
Jesus commissioned the church to “Go into all the world and preach the Good News to everyone” (Mark 16:15). Utilizing the World Wide Web (www) exponentially expands our ability to the Good News to the whole world.
Technology is not inherently evil. How people use it can be evil. We don’t stop driving cars because some people use them for criminal activities, do we?
Blockbuster stores went out of business because they thought their mission was to rent people DVDs, when in fact it was to deliver easily accessible digital entertainment. The church’s mission is not to have a Sunday service in a building, but to deliver the gospel to the world by any means necessary.
Churches that will not only survive, but thrive during this turbulent season, will be those that pay attention and engage our fast-changing world, while not becoming unmoored from its defining principles. Let me put it another way: We must use ever-changing methodologies to reach an ever-changing culture with the never-changing gospel of Jesus Christ.
Our goal with “The Pulse” we will strive to do in this space is to help you keep your finger on the pulse of our rapidly changing culture and give you some ideas of how to adapt effectively. We’re in this together! Let us know how we can serve you.
Here are some interesting articles addressing how 2020 has impacted churches.
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