Technology in Worship // something I learned from Tony Morgan

I just finished a book by Tony Morgan called Killing Cockroaches as part of the A Solid Average of A Book A Week For An Entire Year Campaign (I know the name keeps changing, but I can’t remember it every time. By the way, I’ve stuck to it so far.). Over the next few weeks, you’ll be seeing some blog posts that will carry on the conversation that this book has started in my head. One of the most important things that Tony says in Killing Cockroaches that I walked away with was (paraphrased, but almost word for word), “We’re not competing with other churches on Sunday, we’re competing with all that the world has to offer [and I would add that a HUGE number, like in the 80 to 90 percent range, of churches/ministries think that they are competing with other churches for numbers and coolness, and yes I said coolness].”

That is, we are offering the gospel, the good news of Jesus Christ. But an unregenerate, lost person has no idea how good that is compared to the “excitement” that the world has to offer. So, we have a choice to make. Will we redeem culture, engage culture, respond to culture and create culture, or will we be the stodgy old church building that doesn’t go to where people are and engage them? Jesus, above all, knew how to do this the best. He was unafraid to find what people were in to and go there and minister. Paul went to Athens, and what’s that, quoted secular poets in a gospel presentation.

One thing I’ve been thinking about lately is, “how do we use technology to enage people with the gospel?” I know my friends Heath and Scott have made this a big part of their life, and I love it, because I don’t understand technology like these two guys do. But I still think about how important it is that we who live in a technological age and a culture that is completely consumed by technology, use technology to engage people (that whole thing I was talking about with competing with the world).

Here’s an article about using twitter in church. O-mazing. These guys used twitter in church!

I blog. I twitter. I facebook (which is apparently a verb now). When I blog, it updates twitter. When I twitter it updates facebook. It’s a beautiful connection. I have people following me on twitter who don’t follow me on facebook, and visa versa. But I try to be very intentional about when I do it. I try to remember to blog or twitter (I don’t update facebook, why do that when twitter will) as often as possible because I have people following me who are not believers. I want them to see that I am passionate about that which defines my life…a relationship with Jesus, and I hope that in some way, Holy Spirit will call their hearts when I twitter something like, “Worship was amazing, great energy from people pouring out their hearts to God” or “Rusty just said, God chose us, and we are part of His plan in loving the world” or “We are called to be the peacemakers and the ones who give hope to the broken.” When I’m able to drop this kind of stuff on those people that follow me who I know are not believers but who are probably on twitter or facebook while I’m in worship, I feel more purposeful in that moment, more in to what I’m called to be, than almost any other time. That feels like a moment of ministry for me.

Plus, I follow other guys around the country that are using this technology and I am learning, growing and being shaped by people I don’t even know, like Tony Morgan.

One way we engaged the technological culture this past year was when we baptized Cindy Wall. A ton of people saw this post and who knows how people were touched because we put this video everywhere.

That’s how I’m contextualizing Tony Morgan’s quote. Those are my thoughts on technology in worship for the moment.

What do you think?