For eternity past, relationships have been risky business. Think of Moses and the people of Israel; David and Absalom; and, for that matter, God and humanity.
In our culture—with the disintegration of healthy family systems, the compelling voice of progress through marketing and the break-neck pace of an apparently malcontent society—a sense of connectedness is in crisis. Connectedness is shalom: wholeness, peace, harmony with God and His creation; and it’s in short supply right now. What might happen if a new product could take the dirty work out of forming relationships with others?
Say this new technology could allow for fluid connectivity. That’s where commitment is optional; the delicate relational tension between known and unknown collapses by making self-disclosure less threatening through anonymity and by providing space for acceptance and belonging through online networking. Such a product would be very attractive to a plethora of lonely “consumers.” (Consumers are actually who we are to the modern, industrialized world).
Enter MySpace and the advent of social networking.
Missing the Point
Social networking facilitates fluidity, anonymity and lack of authenticity. Granted, many good, authentic conversations can occur. MySpace can serve as a type of confessional booth characterized by vulnerability or as an evangelistic tool or possibly even as a place to build and experience real community.
But let’s acknowledge what its creators designed it to be—namely, a product whose mission statement is guided by meeting a felt need of its consumers. As such, its place in Christian formation, nurturing a God-centered worldview, must be supplementary and not primary.
If we take our cues about how to do ministry from our culture, we’ll end up with some confusing priorities. For example, evangelism becomes a second-rate imitation of secular marketing that is further impaired by our failure to deconstruct the self-centered worldview that advertising propagates and thrives on. When we do this, we encourage a me-centered faith, which is inherently incongruent and incapable of withstanding the postmodern onslaught of spiritual and philosophical turmoil.
Then we scratch our heads.
If technology is the starting point, we have missed the point.
What Is Ministry?
We will know we have missed the point by the way we frame the question about youth ministry and technology. The question cannot be “What is the role of technology in ministry?” but, rather, “What is ministry?” If our answer has anything to do with God, it should change the way we talk about technology.
God must always be the starting point, not only for biblical studies but also for questions relating to technology. God must be the center—the beginning and the end—at all times, in all places, regarding every life issue. A pastor, mentor and friend defines a worldview as “what you think before you think.”
A worldview is the knee-jerk response that takes place in your heart and mind before you ever critically engage a stimulus. A God-centered worldview will see God at the center of every personal, political or even technological question. God being in the center means allowing God into every area of our lives.
Yes, we need to understand this medium of communication. Escapism in this realm would be detrimental to both believers and nonbelievers. We need to learn the language of technology, work with it, help reshape it and employ it for God’s service.
However, to advance the conversation about God and technology (such as MySpace), we must first settle the question of God’s place in it all. This is living out covenant—covenant with God, with the body of Christ and with God’s creation. If we are to meet the need for relational connectivity, we must address the root issue. God has provided through covenant the means whereby connectivity may be re-established. Jesus Christ’s life is both the fulfillment and example of covenant, reconnecting us to the Father and with one another.
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Youth ministry veteran Derek Knoke now serves as Pastor of Ministry Development at New Life Worship Center in Canton, Georgia. His book God in MySpace: Answering Questions of Loneliness and Identity will be available January 2008 (derekknoke.com).
