iChurch

By Rick Carrol

With so many great options to participate in online church these days, many people are asking themselves whether or not they will ever need to regularly attend church in person ever again? Why shovel the snow and fight the crowd when I can do church in my PJ’s from my living room, right?

Church has never been an institution, it’s always being a committed community of people, who gather together to care for each other, unite as a collective for worship, and proclaim the good news of Jesus to the world.

We should not be asking ourselves “Do I need to attend an in-person service?” Instead we should be asking ourselves, “In this modern world, how can I most effectively be in community with like-minded believers, engaging a world that needs to know the love of Jesus?”

Online services and digital ministry have become a staple of not only how believers gather, but also of how we reach people. This reality is not going away. In fact, it will probably take on a larger priority in our lives as we go along. However, we shouldn’t fool ourselves into thinking that a healthy expression of church equates to me, all alone, watching a video, for my own growth or enjoyment.

If online church is connecting us to a thriving community of people who care and share their faith and lives together, then it has opened up so many more doors to share this journey with people across borders whom we might never have the chance to.

If online church has instead made our faith about a 15-minute video you watch, then we’re missing part of Jesus intended for us – His Church.