THE CHURCH IN A CONTEMPORARY WORLD (16)

The Digital Church

"Why do thy disciples transgress the tradition of the elders? for they wash not their hands when they eat bread." Matthew 15:2

"And the ruler of the synagogue answered with indignation, because that Jesus had healed on the sabbath day, and said unto the people, There are six days in which men ought to work: in them therefore come and be healed, and not on the sabbath day." Luke 13:14

A certain bishop visited a junior priest's ministerial station on a certain Sunday. Being a 'custodian' of the divine ordinance and sacrament, after the service, he called the junior priest and assessed the service, saying: "For just thirty minutes of preaching, you asked people to shout hallelujah thirty times." The priest was baffled but summoned the courage to respond to the bishop: "Sir, how did you have time to count the number of hallelujahs being shouted?"

Today, we are in the midst of ADVENTURE—a mixture of fun and mystery. Today's services are aired and transmitted from start to finish. Our Christian youths and adults alike transmit church services live or recorded for others to view and hear. Unfortunately, the preachings and teachings only exist on their phones, but they themselves are oblivious to the messages and the move of God.

TikTok, Instagram, WhatsApp, Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, and a host of other social media are drenched with messages from Christian pastors. Unfortunately, most of those who publish these messages are ignorant of the word of God. Their ignorance has paved the way for crisis profiteers to gain an audience and followers. They are carting millions of dollars from the ignorance of digital Christians who are good at recording and presenting messages to the public but can't defend what they post because they did not listen to the heart of the message. They were only concerned about getting popular messages to gain media audience and followers.

There are more phones and gadgets in the church today than there are people holding Bibles. The church media team is helpless when thousands of youths and adults alike troop out to record live messages and take pictures.

As a teacher, I ask my students on Monday morning what the Sunday School topics in their churches were. Unfortunately, I always get passive responses. Some of these students have good phones and post how they dressed to church and the aesthetic nature of their church building on social media. Unfortunately, there is no substance of the church (Christ) in them.

Are you aware of how people struggle to charge their phones in the church auditorium? Have you asked yourself why youths go to church with their phones and power banks even though the phone is at one hundred percent? I was in a certain church some months back and was afraid. The pew where I sat was full of people with their phones, chatting and taking pictures. Not even the time of preaching could deter them.

I guess what the prophets talked about—the famine of the word—is here. Youths capture various dancing steps and styles in the church that even look more like a buvette than retaining the word of God in their hearts.

We are in a precarious period. Something must be done. The church must ensure we prayerfully regulate the use of phones and social media. We must deliberately teach our youths how to engage with phones and social media. Otherwise, a generation will soon arise who will not know the Lord nor His acts.

May God bless you greatly. Amen.

Peter Abdul-Razaq OLAYINKA, a serving missionary with Living Grace Christian Missions, Ilara.  

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