Kim Gentes

In a another article, we included a video post from a Ted talk presentation about social technology and its possible negative effects on the human psychology. In this blog entry, we want to cover a more hopeful look at social networking from the perspective of the church, based on an article we wrote in May, 2011 for Worship Leader Magazine.  We hope you find this helpful. K. Gentes

It was Monday morning. Jake Johnson had just started work. Aaron walked by, declaring his customary “good morning” and smile. Only this morning, the smile was gone. Aaron said quickly, “Could you come to my office please Jake.” Jake liked working for Aaron. He was sometimes intense, but never over-demanding and always honest. Jake stepped into Aaron’s office.

Aaron closed the door behind Jake and walked around the desk. Before he sat down he had already started his sentence, “I’m sorry Jake, but we’re going to have to let you go.”

In an instant, Jake’s mind washed with numbness. Somewhere in the background Aaron was talking about sales, financials and corporate cutbacks. But Jake was already moving from numbness to questions and panic. Soon he walked back to his desk, took out his cell phone and called his wife, Kara. Having relocated just 18 months before, Kara’s heart sank as Jake told her the news.

Kara immediately logged on to Facebook and sent a message to her mom in another state. She also sent a text to her friend, Alyssa. Kara’s mom, Sarah, called the rest of the family. Alyssa told the church secretary and an email quickly went out to the prayer group. Over the next 24 hours, friends and family began looking for possible job openings at their places of employment. Over the next weeks, encouragement, prayers and support helped, as Jake would eventually find a job through a contact in their small group. Thank you Lord!

What happened to Jake and Kara is a powerful reminder that community has an important place in our lives. It also shows us how technology can be a tool to help connect to our real social networks for communication and support. When change comes, it is often the community that provides a supportive safety net in our languishing situations. Over the last two thousand years, the church has been God’s family on earth meant to support and encourage one another – a living, breathing example of Christ, as we love one another.

Tweets in the Early Church

From the earliest church found in the book of Acts, social networks of care have been integral to church life, even survival. When we hear the words “social network” today, we often think of it as synonymous with Internet technologies and websites. However, long before LOL, BFF, Twitter or Facebook, Christians were using coded abbreviations, communications and relationships as supportive social networks to help the community of God survive and thrive.

We know that early persecution drove Christians to gather in secrecy in many parts of the ancient Mediterranean world, and for the first four hundred years the tight-knit bonds of faith in the church could mean the difference between life and death. During that time, the use of the word Ichthus (ΙΧΘΥΣ – which literally meant “fish” in Greek) was used as a code word (often times along with a symbol of a fish) to identify Christian tombs, meetings and even Christians themselves. This code word was an acrostic in the Greek language that represented the words “Jesus Christ God’s son Savior.”

But Ichthus (also known as Ixthus and Ichthys) is only a small part of early church social networks. Networks, by definition, are associations comprised of two things: a) members and b) relationships between members. True social networks are simply associations based on human relationships, allowing for interaction and communication. Relationship and community were hallmarks of the early church.

All the believers were together and had everything in common. They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need. Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.

Acts 2:44-47 (NIV)

For the early church, social networks were formed from the relationships of trust that bound them in faith, gathered them together, prompted them to give sacrificially to one another, and resulted not only in praise for God but attracted the attention of people seeking to live in such a community.

Blogging and the Reformation

Over the centuries, relationships, community and communication continued to be integral components of ever changing social networks among Christians. Long before email and blogging exploded on the Internet, Martin Luther and John Calvin’s voices of reformation were propelled into wide spread conversation by the advent of another technology- the printing press. While early versions of the printing press had been developed around 1440 by Gutenberg, it was the explosive topic of church reform that allowed Luther’s Ninety-Five Theses (and other writings) to spread like wildfire on the wings of the new technology. This mechanical movable type made Martin Luther one of the first profoundly impacting “bloggers.”

While social media tools have changed from the printing press to online tools, clearly technology remains a powerful ally for spreading both knowledge and opinion, as we saw recently with the controversial blogging surrounding author Rob Bell’s recent book on heaven and hell, “Love Wins.” Blogs, tweets and Facebook all became part of a global, interactive conversation that expressed opinions from different viewpoints.

Using Social Network Technologies Wisely

Social networks have always been a part of the Christian community. Our networks and communication have relied on the relationships and technologies of the time to bring us together, protect us, and even create controversy and change. Today’s online social networks are simply digital expressions of human patterns of relationship, thought, and interaction. They offer the ability to extend our engagement with one another. But like so many tools, they are amoral- providing neither good nor bad weight to the communication.

The danger of online social networking (as opposed to face-to-face interaction) is that Internet communications provide for anonymity and/or instant electronic distribution, which ultimately allows for relationships in which we have contact without a corresponding accountability. But like the Ichthus and printing press, online tools can also support the best of what social networking has to offer. For Jake and Kara these same social networking systems were important tools that allowed them to connect to the support and love of the Body of Christ. Social networks will always be part of our Christian communities. The social network technologies and our use of them remain helpful tools for us, if we choose to apply them with God’s wisdom.

Use the tools – but remember that human beings were made for direct communication. Tools were made for man; not man for the tools.

Kim Gentes is a worship leader, pastor, writer and technologist. Aside from serving as CTO of a Christian media company, he was the founder of Worshipmusic.com and WorshipTeam.com and is the author of the new book “2011 Ultimate Worship Resource Guide: Songs & Media Edition.” He can be found online at www.kimgentes.com.

[Copyright © 2011 by Worship Leader Media. Used by permission. All rights reserved.]

NOTE: Article originally published in Worship Leader Magazine, May 2011 edition. Please visit http://www.worshipleader.com for more information or to subscribe