Godbloggers Communicate Without Apology
There may be 50 million blogs by the year 2010, says one prominent evangelical.
Blogging is not a fad but a revolution that will only expand and Dr. R. Albert Mohler Jr. says it's imperative that Christians communicate, especially online.
Mohler, president of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, is a "godblogger" himself. He recently gave the keynote address at the third annual GodBlogCon, part of the BlogWorld & New Media Expo in Las Vegas, over the weekend.
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"The Christian faith is actually tied to words and without apology, the Christian faith is tied to communication," Mohler said at the Nov. 8-9 conference. "And thus, we are here not merely as Christians but as Christian communicators."
Christianity has a long tradition of harnessing new technology – from the publishing revolution to radio and television and now the Internet. And while "new media" is changing the way people communicate and understand the world, it doesn't supplant old media, Mohler noted. More books are being sold than ever and television still reaches millions of viewers.
Still, the Internet is "an enormous democratic revolution" that only a few kids do not have access to.
"There's hardly a 16-year-old in America who can't have a blog," Mohler said.
And what's markedly different about the new media is that it's the "first communication revolution" in which the younger generation is at the front lines, not only in terms of access, but also expertise and time, the prominent evangelical highlighted.
Thus, the demographic that would benefit most from a strong Christian presence in the new media is America's youth, according to a college group leader.
While pastors only get a few hours a week with youth in ministry, this generation is spending upwards 20 hours a week on the Internet, particularly social networks.
"When they spend that much time online, there's this idea that it's not just us in the church [who are] shaping their identity; their identity is being shaped by this online culture and it's hard to compete with," said Rhett Smith, college director at Bel Air Presbyterian Church in Los Angeles.
When Smith first launched a website for his ministry, traffic was already dying after five to six months. The community he wanted to create for his group of young believers online through a website that included forums and pictures got zero traffic, he said during GodBlogCon. An attractive and interactive website wasn't enough.
He decided to get on board with the popular MySpace social network and created a page for his college ministry. While experiencing some success, he found he couldn't control the content and the appearance of racy ads. Before Smith did anything in response, his college students already launched a Facebook page for the ministry.
There's a flattening of hierarchy on MySpace or Facebook, Smith noted. In the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), Smith typically has to run ideas by higher authority such as elders. But on the Internet, there's no red tape.
"Our leadership style has to change," Smith stressed. "We can no longer be these people that lead on top ... I had to learn how to shift my leadership style where I'm a pastor who leads in the community."
"I can either stay on the sidelines while all my kids are on Facebook and MySpace; or I can enter in their midst and ... hopefully lead as a pastor within," he added.
Today, Smith says he hasn't found a tool more effective and easier to use than Facebook.
Bill Gates calls today's youth and young adults "Generation I (Information)." Mohler says they're the most unevangelized generation in American history since the early 20th century – a generation desperately in need of the Lord Jesus Christ.
"Blogging is here to stay," said Mohler. "Let's see it as a mission field."
GodBlogCon, founded in 2005, claims to be the only Christian conference in the nation which brings together GodBloggers for the purpose of creating community amid the GodBloggers and helping GodBloggers, both beginning and advanced, become better contributors in the new media.
This year, GodblogCon joined other top new media companies such as Yahoo, Townhall.com, Amazon.com, Pajamas Media at the BlogWorld and New Media Expo, held at the Las Vegas Convention Center. GodBlogCon 2007 was sponsored by the Family Research Council, Stand To Reason, and Touchstone Magazine.
