Into All the World Wide Web

In Mark 16:15, Jesus told his disciples to “go into all the world and preach the gospel.” When we read that passage, it may be difficult for us to find application in our own life. While some Christians will become missionaries and travel to various parts of the world to teach, the majority of Christians are going to stay in their own country for most, if not all, of their life. So, how do we share the gospel with the world when we may never even leave home?

There are currently 2.2 billion people in the world who use the Internet (according to http://www.internetworldstats.com). That’s 32.7% of the world’s population! In fact, there are 273 million individuals in North America alone using the Internet (78% of the population). As Michael Hite, one of my instructors here at school, stated in my Ministry Technology class, we have an opportunity to impact the world each and every time we get on the World Wide Web! So, how do we fulfill the command found in Mark 16:15? We can do it each and every day online. Unfortunately, we often don’t take advantage of those opportunities. How do we fix that problem?

Talk about your faith online. I’m not saying that everyone needs to start a spiritual blog. I’m not even saying we have to post Scripture on our Facebook page every day (though both of those things can be very effective). But, how often do you mention God online? As of December 2011, there were 845 million people on Facebook alone. Can you imagine the impact we could have if all Christians shared their faith on their Facebook status? We could reach millions of people all over the world. It has to start with the individual though. In the class I mentioned before, we were told to scroll through our timeline on Facebook to find the last time we mentioned anything regarding our faith. It was a humbling experience. If God is the most important part of our life, should we not talk about Him more?

Watch your attitude online. I know way too many Internet “Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hydes.” These are individuals who can be very positive and friendly in person but become extremely depressing or rude when they get online. Perhaps it’s because when we sit behind a computer screen it becomes easier to say things we shouldn’t since we aren’t seeing the faces of those who will see it. We need to be careful about our attitudes online. You may have friends on Facebook that aren’t Christians. If you are the only Christian they know and all they ever see you post are complaints and rants, what do you think will be the chance of them desiring to live the life you live? People should be able to look at the life of a Christian and say, “they have something that I want.” If our attitude is poor, we may be turning people off to Christ.

You may be able to think of other ways to impact the world through the use of the Internet. It might be starting a blog. It might be sharing a spiritual thought each day on your Facebook page. It might be adapting your church website so that it will be more accessible for non-Christians and will provide them with information about God and His Son. These are all great things. If there are 2.2 billion people using the Internet, we “go into all the world” every time we log on. But the disciples weren’t just commanded to “go.” They were commanded to “preach the gospel.” It’s time we use this tool that God has blessed us with to spread the gospel throughout the entire world.

Super Sunday

Super Bowl Sunday is finally here. This weekend, two teams meet in Indianapolis to decide who will be this year’s NFL Champion. People all over the U.S. will throw parties. Celebrities have already started gathering in Indy for the week’s activities. Companies and organizations have forked over millions of dollars for just 30 seconds of ad time. Television ratings will be through the roof. It’s a big day. However, all of this isn’t what makes Sunday so super.

How often do we get excited for Sunday? Not because of football games or a day off from work. How often do we get excited for Sunday because it’s the Lord’s Day? I love football as much as the next guy but should it really be the reason that I look forward to that first day of the week? I would suggest there are greater reasons why Sunday should be seen as super.

Sunday is a day we get to worship our God. Notice I didn’t say the only day we get to worship God. Our worship can and should take place everyday. Sunday, though, is the one day we can dedicate completely to worshipping Him. We should look forward to singing praises to Him. We should look forward to going to Him in prayer. We should look forward to studying His word. Unfortunately, worship frequently becomes something we feel obligated to do. We are commanded to worship God but He is so great that we should desire to worship Him even if it weren’t a commandment. Psalm 92:1 says, “It is good to give thanks to the Lord and to sing praises to Your name, O Most High.” Do you agree with the writer? Or do you see worship as a burden?

Sunday is a day we can fellowship with other Christians. When you go to a preaching school, you get to spend time with Christians each day. That won’t be the case forever. Most people go to work every day without ever coming in contact with another Christian (outside their own family). If you do, consider yourself very blessed. Since we spend so much time in the world, it’s important to have that time each Sunday where we can be around those who belong to Christ. Hebrews 10:25 reminds us why it’s so vital that we assemble with one another. It’s during that time in which we receive and give encouragement. We should get excited about spending time with people that have the same spiritual goals that we do.

Sunday is also the day we get to remember Christ through the Lord’s Supper. This world is full of distractions. Our jobs, families and other responsibilities can take up so much of our time each week. For that reason, it can become easy to forget about Christ and the wonderful things He has done for us. God clearly knew that we needed time each week to remember. By coming together on the first day of the week like they did in the first century (Acts 20:7) to partake of the Lord’s Supper, we get to be a part of something that Christians all over the world are a part of. We get to take time to remember Christ, the sacrifice that He made for us and the salvation that we’ve received through His blood. I don’t know about you, but that sounds like a pretty good reason to be excited for Sunday each week.

This week, people will be excited for Sunday for a different reason. I won’t lie. I love football and I’m excited about the Super Bowl too. In all honesty though, the physical things like football are nothing in comparison to the things we get to be a part of when we gather together on Sunday with fellow Christians to worship God and remember His Son. Be excited for the Super Bowl. That’s fine. Just don’t let that be the only reason, or the main reason for that matter, you look forward to the Lord’s Day this week.