Jesus Online

By Matt Van Zyl  

Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit – Matthew 28:19 (NKJV)

The Great Commission. So, do we see it as this far-off, grainy Ben Hur type deal? Hardy, weather-beaten missionaries with thousand-yard stares on dusty travels, with smelly camels and smellier translators? Does it seem this distant idea, something far removed from the ring tones and concrete of our cities and ‘burbs?

Yeah, I gotta admit, that’s what pops into my head most of the time.

It’s weird, I think we sometimes envision other people rolling with it, with us doing our bit with tithe, sponsorship or blessings of money, or if you do see yourself doing it, it’s kinda set in your near future. ‘Soon,’ you say, ‘soon.’ As you work on your thousand-yard stare.

And yeah, this is good stuff, some are called to be the funders, the givers that fuel this engine – bless ya big squishy hearts for it – and some are called to go get dusty and weather beaten in the various nooks and crannies of the earth. But I’m sure you all also get the teaching, the message, that mission work can be done right where you are, at your high school, college, work, ice rink, banana shop etc. And yeah, this too is great, and some peeps are awesome at this too, outgoing or not, taking courage from the Holy Spirit and forging connections.

Right. But here is a reality.

Check: I don't know about you guys, but I still struggle sometimes to be open and forward with the Word, with His message, as sweet and beautiful as it is, sharing it with people I meet and greet, spreading the Love.

Question: Have you ever decided to kind of skip giving thanks for your chow, or like saying it really quietly, ‘cos… well… you felt a bit embarrassed about it (yeah, that’s my hand raised there)? Eesh. For I shall not be ashamed.

So what is it? I don't know. Although, if I think about it, and go back to the Ultimate How To Do Life and Stuff Guide by El Shaddai ( MA, MS PsyD DSocSci MSc Ph.D. P.Th.D EdD DProf… etc), it’s a question of faith, of living in the Spirit and taking in the Word, and we will…

Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervour, serving the Lord – Romans 12:11 (NIV)

Okay. But I also get that it’s a process, that we are growing, and that if we follow the instructions He left us, we’ll eventually be parking off at Jimmy Flo’s Donut Paradise discussing salvation with Basil the teller over the ultra sprinkle surprise you just ordered. I can’t wait. I love sprinkles.

Yes, yes all right, I am going somewhere with this. I’m not sure where exactly, second left? Ah! Yes. OK. Got it.

We are missing a big, fat digital point here.

You want to go mission? Do you want to, in the depth of you heart, reach people in all the weird and wonderful nations of the world?

Yes? Lovely.

MySpace has a population of over 300 million, as of February 3rd, 2008.

If it were a country, that would be tying it third in the world, with the US of A, give or take a few hombres.

It gets hit with 230,000 new peeps a day. That’s a serious birth rate.

World of Warcraft MMOG has 10 million subscribed players. 3.5 million of them are in China.

Second Life has a cool twenty mill walking around on its virtual streets.

MSN has like, a totally big number of users. Skype, blogs, forums, threads, posts… the entire world, almost every corner of it, is sitting right in front of your keyboard, which, by extension of your knobbly digits onto said input device, links them all to you. Hi there.

So, with the beauty of anonymity, the ease of instant access and the comfort of your dad’s Herman Miller (borrowed or otherwise….) you can hone those vv1ck3d ministering $k1llz.

Imagine if you will, standing on a high snow-swept plain of Azeroth, pausing on your journey to the cave of Really Shiny Things with An Ugly Ogre Guarding, to strike up a chat about His freedom and love with the passing Dark Elf Mylhelia (or whatever) and her pet polar bear. It doesn’t get more ‘foreign nation’ than that.

Think of the cascade effect of reaching one person of MySpace, or Facebook, who lives 20,000 miles from you, and they are saved, and they connect with another chum on some other continent, and they are saved…

There are all sorts of discussions nattering around the blogsphere on movies, lollypops, bikes (guilty), biscuit sizes and coloured button collections. I mean come ON. Most of us wade through the ocean of cyberspace just because we're bored, or we are trying to find something.  We never stop searching, as humans, it’s part of us, because we are designed to seek Jesus. Most of us just don’t know it yet.

So check it. 1.114 billion people on the net. No shortage of people to talk to. Go wild.

Just a few thoughts, though.

It’s great to be able to do this with some anonymity, but remember, even though you can be anonymous, you are an ambassador of the Kingdom and will be branding Christ with your actions and words, even online. So follow His example, it’s a pretty friggin’ good one, if you ask me.

Don’t go running into everyone’s faces screaming prophesy and doom. Jesus was followed and believed with such passion because of who He was and what He did. If He is alive in your heart, let Him do the same. Just be who you are in Christ, trust His Spirit and man oh man do things happen.

As St Francis said: ‘preach the Gospel at all times and if necessary, use words.’

And again, don’t just do it because I say so, think about it. If you feel in your heart, or are led by the Spirit to run with this, fire away, just keep Him in the navigator seat.

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