E-cclesia

Originally posted on November 18, 2007 – by Andre Piet

Also in earlier times, it was possible to share the Word of God with one another without physically attending a gathering. Paul writes to the Corinthians and the Colossians that although he was not present with them in body, he was at least with them in spirit (1 Cor. 5:3 and Col. 2:5). Through, among other things, written correspondence, there was close mutual fellowship. But don’t underestimate how cumbersome letter-writing was in those days. It sometimes took months for a message to travel back and forth. Because of that, such mutual contact was by definition rather exceptional.

Until recently, it was the norm that one had to attend a physical gathering in order to hear the Word of God. But due to new communication technologies, this has completely changed. We have the internet, we email, Skype, text, and so on — all techniques that have conquered our world in barely ten years.

Add to that the great ease with which, in recent years, audio and video files can be shared via the internet (just think of the success of YouTube). The Goedbericht site also gratefully makes use of these new technologies. For over a year now, nearly all gatherings have been recorded in both audio and video and made available online.

A multitude of people who don’t attend the meetings in person still watch and listen via the internet. While the gatherings are attended by between 50 and 70 people (in Zoetermeer), the Goedbericht site draws ten times that number in unique visitors every day!

Of course, an e-community has its drawbacks. One can attend a gathering digitally, but naturally that doesn’t compare to experiencing it in real life. Just as watching a concert on TV is quite different from attending it in a stadium or concert hall. Meeting “face to face” is something else than exchanging thoughts via MSN, Skype, or email.

Although… digital conference-talking is, in essence, also “face to face.” But everyone senses that as an e-community, you can’t sing together — let alone eat and drink together, which are still the ultimate expressions of shared fellowship.

On the other hand, in an e-community, people generally do not know each other “according to the flesh” (cf. 2 Cor. 5:16). The contact is therefore often much more content-focused and far less about outward matters.

Be that as it may, we are living in 2007. And I think it’s absolutely wonderful that the Good News, thanks to the internet, has such enormous reach. That through these (literally) borderless technologies, “the one ecclesia” may be built up.

Or shall we call it: the E-cclesia?

Delen: