Ministry and the Internet

In Acts 17 the Bible describes the Internet in general, and social media in particular. A place where people spend their time in nothing except telling or hearing of something new. So, what do we do with that, and what can we learn from Paul?

I was looking again at Paul and his journeys and trials in Acts. In Acts 16 he is imprisoned in Phillippi, along with Silas, after having been beaten with rods for preaching the gospel and, ‘turning the world upside down.’

Before the end of the chapter the jailer and his family came to a living faith in Christ, and the police and magistrate came and apologised for their treatment.

They moved on from there to Thessalonica (Acts 17), preached Christ crucified, buried, and risen, only to find themselves being hunted down by a mob of jealous Jews. Not being found, and encouraged by the brothers to leave, they set out for Berea.

Finding some success with Berean Jews (who were reportedly more noble than those in Thessalonica) they found the Jews from Thessalonica had followed them to stir up the crowds against them. Paul then left for Athens and waited there for Silas and Timothy to join him.

Finding himself in Athens with time on his hands, ‘he reasoned in the synagogue with the Jews and the devout persons, and in the marketplace every day with those who happened to be there.’ (17:17)

News of Paul and his ‘new teaching’ reached the philosophers of Athens and they invited him to come and give an account of himself. The Bible describes the scene, ‘Now all the Athenians and the foreigners who lived there would spend their time in nothing except telling or hearing something new.’ (17:21)

Did you notice, the Bible just described the Internet in general. social media in particular? A place where people spend their time in nothing except telling or hearing something new. Two things I wish to draw from these accounts of Paul and his companions.

First, Paul always sought to be where people are. Whatever the danger, even threat to life and limb would not deter him from being where he could encounter the lost, and the lost could encounter Christ. There are those who would argue that the Internet is dangerous for Christians, and it is true. The dangers are real and we need to be wise about these things, but Thessalonica was dangerous for Paul, yet he preached Christ in Thessalonica.

Secondly, Athens was dangerous for Paul, but in a different way. It was dangerous in the same way the Internet is dangerous for Christians today. How easy it might have been for a man of Paul’s education and standing to simply join in doing nothing but telling and hearing something new. If you are in a place where you are doing nothing but telling and hearing something new you can eventually find some philosophy to justify any sort of sin. If you are doing this on the Internet, then the Internet, like Athens, can serve up any sort of sin you choose to justify. Eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow…

The difference between today’s Christian on the Internet and Paul in Athens is, Paul went to Athens and then Paul left Athens. Today’s Christian is in real danger of bringing Athens with them, when we should be prepared to go to Athens, but not prepared to have Athens come to us.

People spend countless hours in trivia, looking to fill the hole in their lives with entertainment. This world is best described in Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress as Vanity Fair. It is not a new phenomenon, it wasn’t invented in the Internet age, as the story of Paul demonstrates.

Paul travelled to all sorts of places to preach Christ, to earnestly appeal to people to abandon vanity and fill the hole in their lives with Christ. However Paul never stayed in the hullabaloo of aimless society, but sought good Christian company like Lydia and the congregation in Thessalonica, before moving on to his next mission field.

So for every Christian today. By all means, let’s be where the people are, but let’s not fall into the trap of settling for the novelty of telling and hearing something new, ‘always learning, but never coming to a knowledge of the truth.’ (2 Tim.3:7) Remember the counsel of the psalmist:

Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; but his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night.’ (Ps.1:1-2)

Time is passing, faster than we think, and a day of reckoning is coming...TikTok.

Obama's mother posthumously baptized into LDS Church - Salt Lake Tribune

In the wake of his remarkable success it seemed that the world and his wife wanted to claim President Obama as their own with even an Irish connection being dug up. Now the Mormons have got in on the act by posthumously baptising his mother. They have in the past upset the Jewish community, the Catholic Church and now the American President with this wacky and unbiblical practice but there is no indication that they will review it. And, of course, it is always someone else’s fault and they promise a thorough inquiry to uncover the real culprits. Maybe they should try looking in the mirror. President Barack Obama's mother, Stanley Ann Dunham, who died in 1995, was baptized posthumously into The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints last year during her son's campaign, according to Salt Lake City-based researcher Helen Radkey. The ritual, known as “baptism for the dead,” was done June 4 in the Provo temple, and another LDS temple rite, known as the “endowment,” was

Mormon Christians? Whats in a Name?

The Mormon Church, disturbed by the continuing identifying of polygamus sects in the news with the name Mormon, recently issued a press statement aimed at "clarifying" issues. It is interesting to note that if you substitute the name "Christian" where they use the name "Mormon" it makes a very good argument for us against the claims of the Mormon Church. The full press release is reproduced below in italics with each paragraph rewritten in ordinary text to present it from a Christian perspective. SALT LAKE CITY 10 July 2008 On 26 June, Newsroom published a package of information featuring profiles of ordinary Latter-day Saints in Texas. With no other intention but to define themselves, these members provided a tangible depiction of what their faith is all about. They serve as the best distinction between the lifestyles and values of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and a Texas-based polygamous group that has recently attracted media attent

Who and Where are the 144,000?

Last time we saw that only 144,000 have a heavenly hope. Where does that leave the rest of the millions of faithful Jehovah’s Witnesses, the great crowd? “ The key to the identification of the ‘great crowd’ is found within the description of them in Revelation chapter 7 .The vision there presented is concerning persons not in heaven, from where the 'New Jerusalem comes down,' but on earth, among mankind .If the ‘great crowd’ are persons who gain salvation and remain on earth, how could they be said to be 'standing before God's throne and before the Lamb?' (Re 7:9) The position of 'standing' is sometimes used in the Bible to indicate the holding of a favored or approved position in the eyes of the one in whose presence the individual or group stands .It thus appears that the "great crowd" is formed of those persons who have been preserved during that time of wrath and who have been able to "stand" as approved by God and the Lamb.” - I

Bridge of Reason

Search This Blog