Page 53 - Digital Church in a Lonely World

BOLDL Y INNO V A TING

What bold questions can we be asking to disrupt and innovate in how we reach and grow people with
the gospel?

In Faith for Exiles, David Kinnaman and Mark Matlock write, “Digital Babylon is not a physical place.
It is the pagan-but-spiritual, hyper-stimulated, multicultural, imperial crossroads that is the virtual
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home of every person with Wi-Fi, a data plan, or—for most of us—both.” To reach a generation in
Digital Babylon, we need digital discipleship.

The idea of Digital Babylon is compelling. It raises the question, how will we reach this new world
where they are, which is online?

Digital tools allow a local church to exceed the limits of a physical building. The ministry and message
can impact a global audience. The digital age is therefore an opportunity to harness these tools for the
spread of the gospel.

The internet should allow our physical gatherings to be more focused, more intentional and more built
around the unique elements of community that we only get when we share the same physical space.
Maybe, with time, there will be such revolutionary innovation that all seven ingredients of biblical
community can be achieved digitally.

But for now, let’s ask the question this way: How do we leverage the best innovations from the digital
world to extend our reach, deepen our discipleship and better support biblical church community?

To reach a generation in Digital Babylon, we need digital
discipleship

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