In Shakespeare’s “Julius Caesar,” Cassius, in attempting, verbally, to convince Brutus to join the conspirators in assassinating Caesar, comments, “Know you now, that I have moved some of the noblest-minded Romans to a enterprise of honorable, dangerous consequences.” One cannot help but read such a comment and ask the question: Is the murdering of another human being “honorable and dangerous”? The answer to such a question is not clear-cut and suggests the response as being “half a dozen of one and six of the other.”

Likewise, I think, the answer to the question: “Is the church website a means of grace?” is not a clear-cut “Yes” or “No” but “a little of this and a little of that.”

Consider your above definition: “A means of grace is given by God to open our hearts to God’s presence and power.” Is a church website, technically speaking, a “means of grace”? Is a church website referenced in the Bible in the same fashion as are the two means of grace: baptism and Holy Communion? Of course not.

But…consider Christ’s command as He was ascending into heaven: “Go, all of you, into the world and ‘make disciples and make a difference’; and, low, I will be with you even until the end of time.” With 7 billion people now living on the face of this earth, is it possible that God has given mankind that which is called a website in order for us to accomplish His Son’s command and commission? Sure.

According to your definition, “a means of grace is a gift from God.” Who discovered electricity? Who discovered that the earth is round? Who invented the steam engine, the telephone, and the incandescent light bulb? Who discovered cancer and the various treatment-protocols to arrest this insidious disease? Who discovered the vaccines for smallpox and polio? And who invented booster rockets, the space shuttle, and the technology that put men on the moon and created satellites that voyage through the universe allowing us to see things that were, only until recently, unseeable and to marvel at and worship the God Who created a universe of such diversity, breadth, and scope? Who invented the VCR, computers, ipads, ipods, and cell phones which enable bombs to detonate in planes and buildings, citizen-rebels to overthrow totalitarian governments, and having-lost-touch-with-you-until-now friends to reunite on Facebook and Tweeters to Twitter adverse weather conditions to the Weather Channel during hurricanes? I can’t help but wonder what Tweetie Pie must be thinking.

Are all such mentioned inventions, discoveries, and advancements gifts from a loving God to His children as He allows the expansion and further development of human intelligence and knowledge to heights unimaginable hundreds of years ago? Is it only the inventors and the discoverers who deserve and merit the credit for their inventions and discoveries? Should God be thanked and honored and glorified for what has occurred because He has allowed, enabled, and gifted mankind over centuries to stand on the shoulders of each other in order to come to the day in which such a question can be asked because such a thing as a website exists? Is the church website a means of grace because it is a gift from God? Sure it is. It is a gift-in-the-making for centuries upon centuries.

Once again I ask the question: “Is the church website a means of grace?” And with that, I ask a second question: “Is any church’s website a means of grace?” And most emphatically, I have to answer “Yes and No” to both questions. As a computer operator will answer in reference to how “good” and beneficial a computer is: “It’s only as good as the person operating it” so, too, is a similar statement applicable to the question: “Is the church website a means of grace.” Any church’s website is a means of grace in terms of their “leading to new ways of thinking and behaving by engaging the senses, challenging the mind, and stirring the heart” in accordance with 1) the thinking, mind, and heart of the person creating the website; in accordance with 2) the vision the person creating the website has for that website; and in accordance with 3) the content the creator/contributor places on the website to invite and inform. If the person creating the website invisions it as being a “means of sharing God’s grace” and inviting those who have never experienced that grace to come and become a part of a community of Christians who live with gratitude, lead with grace, learn through relationships, link in community, and love by serving, then, most assuredly, a church’s website is a means of grace. If the originator of a church’s website allows him or herself to be guided by the Holy Spirit as to its content rather than viewing the website as an venue to accommodate and publicize his accomplishments and examples of his self-centeredness and hubris, then, of course, the church’s website is a means of grace. If the website creator/contributor chooses to walk in the mocassins of those who will be reading the elements of the website and provides access to areas, such a prayer, that he or she knows many might find strength and support from reading, then, most assuredly, a church’s website is a means of grace. And if the website’s creator/contributor is amiable to the thought: “I’ll be faithful and let God be successful,” then a church website, to my way of thinking, is a “means of grace: a gift given of and from God with the intent that it will lead to new ways of thinking and behaving by engaging the senses, challenging the mind, and stirring the heart.” As are the biblically stipulated means of grace such a baptism and Holy Communion not to be taken lightly, so should not the creation of a church’s website be taken lightly. There is a great responsibility with the placement of “words of inspiration” online. One incorrect word, one incorrect statement can turn or continue to turn those, who are seeking and hoping to find, permanently away from God and cause them to be lost forever. Conversely, with the Spirit’s guidance of the website’s creator/contributor, those seeking to either initiate or grow their relationship with God can or will be able to do so because of the informative content they read and the prayers that either they request or that are offered on their behalf.

As with practically everything, it all depends on how it is used.

One last look at your premise/definition: “The means of grace are the ‘outward signs, words, and actions’ given by God to open our hearts to God’s presence and power.”

I always, literarily speaking, have difficulty determining if something is a pun or a double entendre. But either way, I believe you have purposefully phrased your sentences and your question so that the concept of “means of grace” carries a double meaning, and, therein, lies the answer to your question, depending upon which or both of the two meanings we perceive.

No…is a church’s website a “means of grace” as is baptism or Holy Communion? No.

Yes…is a church’s website a “means of grace, a means of extending grace, a means of defining grace, a means of teaching about grace, a means of sharing God’s grace”? Yes.

Yes…is a church’s website ” a means of grace” for informing about “the means of God’s grace” and for inviting people to know and experience “the means of God’s grace”? Yes.

2 Comments

Becky Ward
September 14, 2011 at 11:45 am

To me it is because it helps challenge my mind, engages my senses, and stirs my heart as I become more aware of the gifts God has given to us. Blessings Steve, Becky Ward
Cyndy
September 15, 2011 at 12:00 am

In Shakespeare’s “Julius Caesar,” Cassius, in attempting, verbally, to convince Brutus to join the conspirators in assassinating Caesar, comments, “Know you now, that I have moved some of the noblest-minded Romans to a enterprise of honorable, dangerous consequences.” One cannot help but read such a comment and ask the question: Is the murdering of another human being “honorable and dangerous”? The answer to such a question is not clear-cut and suggests the response as being “half a dozen of one and six of the other.”

Likewise, I think, the answer to the question: “Is the church website a means of grace?” is not a clear-cut “Yes” or “No” but “a little of this and a little of that.”

Consider your above definition: “A means of grace is given by God to open our hearts to God’s presence and power.” Is a church website, technically speaking, a “means of grace”? Is a church website referenced in the Bible in the same fashion as are the two means of grace: baptism and Holy Communion? Of course not.

But…consider Christ’s command as He was ascending into heaven: “Go, all of you, into the world and ‘make disciples and make a difference’; and, low, I will be with you even until the end of time.” With 7 billion people now living on the face of this earth, is it possible that God has given mankind that which is called a website in order for us to accomplish His Son’s command and commission? Sure.

According to your definition, “a means of grace is a gift from God.” Who discovered electricity? Who discovered that the earth is round? Who invented the steam engine, the telephone, and the incandescent light bulb? Who discovered cancer and the various treatment-protocols to arrest this insidious disease? Who discovered the vaccines for smallpox and polio? And who invented booster rockets, the space shuttle, and the technology that put men on the moon and created satellites that voyage through the universe allowing us to see things that were, only until recently, unseeable and to marvel at and worship the God Who created a universe of such diversity, breadth, and scope? Who invented the VCR, computers, ipads, ipods, and cell phones which enable bombs to detonate in planes and buildings, citizen-rebels to overthrow totalitarian governments, and having-lost-touch-with-you-until-now friends to reunite on Facebook and Tweeters to Twitter adverse weather conditions to the Weather Channel during hurricanes? I can’t help but wonder what Tweetie Pie must be thinking.

Are all such mentioned inventions, discoveries, and advancements gifts from a loving God to His children as He allows the expansion and further development of human intelligence and knowledge to heights unimaginable hundreds of years ago? Is it only the inventors and the discoverers who deserve and merit the credit for their inventions and discoveries? Should God be thanked and honored and glorified for what has occurred because He has allowed, enabled, and gifted mankind over centuries to stand on the shoulders of each other in order to come to the day in which such a question can be asked because such a thing as a website exists? Is the church website a means of grace because it is a gift from God? Sure it is. It is a gift-in-the-making for centuries upon centuries.

Once again I ask the question: “Is the church website a means of grace?” And with that, I ask a second question: “Is any church’s website a means of grace?” And most emphatically, I have to answer “Yes and No” to both questions. As a computer operator will answer in reference to how “good” and beneficial a computer is: “It’s only as good as the person operating it” so, too, is a similar statement applicable to the question: “Is the church website a means of grace.” Any church’s website is a means of grace in terms of their “leading to new ways of thinking and behaving by engaging the senses, challenging the mind, and stirring the heart” in accordance with 1) the thinking, mind, and heart of the person creating the website; in accordance with 2) the vision the person creating the website has for that website; and in accordance with 3) the content the creator/contributor places on the website to invite and inform. If the person creating the website invisions it as being a “means of sharing God’s grace” and inviting those who have never experienced that grace to come and become a part of a community of Christians who live with gratitude, lead with grace, learn through relationships, link in community, and love by serving, then, most assuredly, a church’s website is a means of grace. If the originator of a church’s website allows him or herself to be guided by the Holy Spirit as to its content rather than viewing the website as an venue to accommodate and publicize his accomplishments and examples of his self-centeredness and hubris, then, of course, the church’s website is a means of grace. If the website creator/contributor chooses to walk in the mocassins of those who will be reading the elements of the website and provides access to areas, such a prayer, that he or she knows many might find strength and support from reading, then, most assuredly, a church’s website is a means of grace. And if the website’s creator/contributor is amiable to the thought: “I’ll be faithful and let God be successful,” then a church website, to my way of thinking, is a “means of grace: a gift given of and from God with the intent that it will lead to new ways of thinking and behaving by engaging the senses, challenging the mind, and stirring the heart.” As are the biblically stipulated means of grace such a baptism and Holy Communion not to be taken lightly, so should not the creation of a church’s website be taken lightly. There is a great responsibility with the placement of “words of inspiration” online. One incorrect word, one incorrect statement can turn or continue to turn those, who are seeking and hoping to find, permanently away from God and cause them to be lost forever. Conversely, with the Spirit’s guidance of the website’s creator/contributor, those seeking to either initiate or grow their relationship with God can or will be able to do so because of the informative content they read and the prayers that either they request or that are offered on their behalf.

As with practically everything, it all depends on how it is used.

One last look at your premise/definition: “The means of grace are the ‘outward signs, words, and actions’ given by God to open our hearts to God’s presence and power.”

I always, literarily speaking, have difficulty determining if something is a pun or a double entendre. But either way, I believe you have purposefully phrased your sentences and your question so that the concept of “means of grace” carries a double meaning, and, therein, lies the answer to your question, depending upon which or both of the two meanings we perceive.

No…is a church’s website a “means of grace” as is baptism or Holy Communion? No.

Yes…is a church’s website a “means of grace, a means of extending grace, a means of defining grace, a means of teaching about grace, a means of sharing God’s grace”? Yes.

Yes…is a church’s website ” a means of grace” for informing about “the means of God’s grace” and for inviting people to know and experience “the means of God’s grace”? Yes.

Commenting has been turned off for this post.

Related posts:

2 Comments