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11 Comments for 'The Seduction of the Web in Ministry'

1. On May 31, 2009 @ 10:31 am adam mclane said:

   • I agree and disagree with you on this. Obviously, most of my ministry is now to people in youth ministry… and 90% of that is done online. So I have a slightly different perspective on it than you do. This is more a reflecting on your post than anything else. I hope it spurs on discussion.

     While youth ministry is becoming more common, in many— heck, most cases— a youth worker is fairly isolated from his/her tribe while doing youth ministry vocationally. I’ve met hundreds of people who tell me that they are the only youth worker in their town or area. Many times they feel alone, with no one to talk to or even share their life with. Youth ministry networks are fine, but they don’t meet very often and when they do, community often takes a backseat to agenda. Being that youth workers are often new in ministry they struggle along tons of fronts. The picture isn’t always so good at their church either. Even if there are people their age in their church, they are often isolated from true friendship because of politics or the practical reality that when their peers meet/form community they are often teaching students or leading small groups of adolescents. In all reality, it’s either that they get some friends or they will bounce from ministry after a couple of years. Who wants to be lonely long-term? And we both know loneliness can lead to much worse addictions than Facebook, blogging, and Twitter.

     Having met you a couple of times, you strike me as someone who is outgoing enough where you could find friendship just about anywhere and with anyone. It simply isn’t the case for every person doing youth ministry.

     What the internet has provided for youth workers is a network of friends. By reading one anothers blogs, commenting on their Facebook, interacting on Twitter, on and on… they form a type of community. (Good, bad, or ugly… it is community.) Sure, there is plenty of time wasting, like in any relationship, but at the same time they are cultivating friendship and feeling normal. By creating spaces for youth workers to interact I’ve seen TONS of resource sharing like Tim Schmoyer does (he’s the tip of the ice berg) but also tons and tons of deep and lasting friendships formed. I’ve received hundreds of emails from people who were thankful for the space to share prayer requests, be heard, vent, or even participate in a fantasy football league. I’ve seen youth workers reach out to one another in times of crisis, I’ve seen their joy as they hang out at convention, I’ve shared meals with them as they all met “for real” for the first time, I’ve seen them provide respite for one another when they just need to get away. There is a tremendous upside to utilizing the internet for community. I don’t think you are saying there isn’t. But I know how people are… they see Marko back away and other tribe leaders talking about his backing out and people put 2+2 together to mean things you aren’t really saying.

     Can the internet be a distraction from people’s face-to-face ministry time? Absolutely! As someone who has been involved in the online side of ministry for a long time I have seen plenty of people struggle with the balance. I’ve struggled with that balance, big time. It took me several years to create the needed boundaries I use today. Like you said in your post… “it can transform from tool to temptation, nice addition to addiction that consumes our lives.” I’ve seen several people lose their jobs because of their online activities, I know what type of temptation it brings.

     My fear is that since Marko is a tribe leader, his stepping away would start a snowball effect that would devalue the communities that so many utilize to connect with one another. This doesn’t seem to be his intention at all. I’m actually quite confident that his decision was personal and not some sort of “metasignal” to the rest of the youth ministry world. I just hope people see him as one man making an individual decision to re-prioritize and not the beginning of pushing online stuff to the edges of normality. If anything, with all the cultural changes going on in adolescence right now… we need one another now more than ever!

     What I hope many people will do is take the time to determine what their purpose of their online interactions with other youth workers is. I’d love to see people share their strategies. I’d love to see more people wrestle with their intentions. And I’d love to see more people observe boundaries, take breaks, etc.

     Long comment. Thanks for getting me thinking this morning!

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     Greg Stier Reply:
     May 31st, 2009 at 11:54 am

     Good counterpoint Adam. I think that all of this is good discussion. Probably the operative word is balance and sensitivity to where the Lord guides us personally. And now you may have the record for the longest comment on my blog ever. congrats!

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     adam mclane Reply:
     June 1st, 2009 at 7:41 am

     I think it was the longest comment I’ve ever left on a blog.

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2. On May 31, 2009 @ 10:46 am Brian Ford said:

   • Thanks for writing this post. I have been wrestling with this very topic for the past several weeks. I even touched on this a little bit in a blog post I wrote a couple weeks ago. I have cut back on the amount of time I spend on the internet because I don’t want it taking away from my family time or from doing real life face to face ministry. I’m concerned about how the internet is effecting us and our relationships with our students, family and God. One thing I love about working in camp ministry is the nature of it forces me outside the office into lives. It’s helped to remind me that life is real and virtual. Yes, I still use the internet and social networking tools as it does help me stay connected with students, but I’m learning it’s not the first place I need to be going. I appreciate what you have shared as well as what Mark Oestreicher has shared and has committed to do. I pray we all take more time with what really matters…relationships that require a personal touch, not a virtual touch.

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3. On May 31, 2009 @ 2:18 pm Deek Dubberly said:

   • Great post. Hit home with me. Conviction…prioritization…must do better.

     Great comments. Balance is key and I agree that online community can indeed be a very real thing.

     Aside from the noted issues of laziness and lust, another issue I have with the web—primarily social networking—is its tendency towards a more narcissistic culture. Blogs, MySpace, Facebook, Twitter: each of these allow for us to control what others see of us in ways that personal, face-to-face time does not. I think that can be very detrimental. It’s more difficult to be open and honest about who you really are when the person that you want people to think you are posted in a variety of different ways all over the social-networking halls of the Internet. Anyone see where I’m coming from?

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4. On May 31, 2009 @ 5:35 pm Justin said:

   • I agree with Deek. Balance, as will all things in life, is key. Good things can become bad things when they take the place of better things. Thanks for the post and comments.

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5. On June 1, 2009 @ 8:46 am Eddie said:

   • I think it’s dependant completely on effectiveness and accomplishments. What’s getting done and is it getting done better online?

     In some cases, without the internet, a particular ministry is non-existent or left unknown. In stopping, they would lose their effectiveness and in some cases ALL that they’ve accomplished.

     In others, the internet wastes too much time. Like with all things, sometimes what we think will make something BETTER ends up a waste of time or not as effective as we were doing it before. When that happens, just go back to the more effective way.

     A friend of mine thought that through the internet he was going to be able to reach so many more people for Christ because of the potential. In the end, he realized he was actually spending all his time talking to people he already knew and wasn’t really meeting “new” people that cared to listen to him. His great speaking and making friends ability was lost online and found himself arguing with unknown people on the other end. So he stopped. Now he’s back to just sharing Christ with the “few” people he meets in person. He’s had the priviledge of seeing more trust Christ this way. And he actually knows them.

     Each person should seek God’s guidance and make this decision accordingly…

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6. On June 1, 2009 @ 5:07 pm Will said:

   • Hey, Greg.
     Makes sense to me. I use the web to get me fired up, usually by following your blog and the sites you recommend. Just wanted to encourage you (again) to keep up the Great Work to which He Has Called you. I feed off your Passion for and in His Gospel, and that DOES translate to new relationships in Christ in my ministry and encouraging brothers and sisters in Christ to SHRED THE GNAR! Every day, buddy!

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7. On June 1, 2009 @ 9:16 pm Tim Schmoyer said:

   • For what it’s worth, most people on staff at my church don’t even know about my website stuff. In fact, many of my own youth leaders didn’t even know about it until the National Youth Ministry Conference this past February when they heard other people talking about it. Most of them still don’t know. As I said in an interview the other week on Youth Hacks, my ministry is definitely, absolutely a LOT more important to me than my online stuff. I feel that the level of satisfaction with me and the youth ministry at my church is high among our staff members, board members, youth leaders and most parents and teens. Actually, out of everyone, I probably have the lowest level of satisfaction! (My annual review is coming up in a couple weeks, so we’ll soon find out. My church is pretty good about addressing issues as soon as they come up, though, not waiting for the annual review, so I don’t expect to be surprised by anything too major.)

     This web stuff is just a hobby I do with my personal down time. It’s hard NOT to write, think, and read about it when you’re this passionate about youth ministry, ya know? Some people spend 10 hours a week watching TV — I spend about that time investing into other youth leaders instead, which in turn greatly enhances my own ministry on so many different levels. As I interact with other youth workers, they sharpen me in huge ways that make me a better leader for my own youth group. You can’t get that kinda stuff from just reading a lot of books. That life-on-life sharing YM together is amazing for developing me to be the leader God desires for me to be. Connections with youth workers through my site (including you, Greg) bless me and my ministry probably more than it blesses anyone else.

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     Greg Reply:
     June 2nd, 2009 at 3:16 pm

     Awesome. Let me know how the review goes. If you need a reference call me

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8. On June 6, 2009 @ 10:38 pm Andrew said:

   • Wow. That really hit home. I’ve been convicted about the huge amounts of time I spend Facebooking, but I haven’t disciplined myself, sadly. I don’t want to go so far as to delete my account, but it might be necessary. I’ve been rationalizing about it, because I live in a foreign country. I don’t have much contact with America aside from Facebook. “God, help me to do Your will, even if it involves reducing my internet time to nothing…”

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