Internet Evangelism: The Case for Actually Getting Results

By John Edmiston

One of the most frequent objections to Internet evangelism and to the use of information technology in missions is that of numbers and results being seen as worldly and therefore as “unspiritual”.

Jesus was transformational. Jesus changed the situation that He was in. The change was visible, measurable, and often astonishing. The changes Jesus wrought were even so startling that they threatened the Pharisees and Sadducees and the Roman administration.

I think that if Jesus had not produced any results no one would have been annoyed.

Jesus would have been safe and His disciples would not have had to hide. They could have happily discussed the finer points of Messianic Philosophy (or whatever) until dawn.

God actually wants results, He trains His disciples to get results and His faithful and good stewards go out and get results.

Faithfulness is much more than patience or persistence or consistency, faithfulness is the focused and diligent pursuit of definite and clear outcomes which have been communicated to us by God.

The Master sets the goals (take My talents and get a return), but it is up to the steward to choose the method (trading, investing or just burying the talent in the ground).

We need to be faithful to our “time”, to the spiritual moment we are in, to know the signs of the age, and to minister with opportunities that arise in our place in history.

Martin Luther used tracts and books and the printing press in the sixteenth century. After WW2 Billy Graham learned how to organize and coordinate large stadium events with multiple denominations. Later, the great radio ministries such as TWR, HCJB and FEBC used the high-wattage transmitters of the fifties and sixties and are still relevant today.

Then there were Christian films, Christian TV, and a Christian music and recording industry; even more high-tech, SAT-7 uses satellite technology to reach the Muslim World.

Each of these people and ministries were faithful in that they grabbed a hold of the means of ministry multiplication that were emerging in their time and place in history.

If Martin Luther had not nailed his 95 theses to a church door, if no one had taken them to a printer for publication, if Luther had just stayed quietly teaching classes in an Augustinian monastery, doing things the old way, then perhaps there would not have been a Reformation!

Now in the 21st century the faithful Christian missionary (or the faithful Christian mission agency) will be asking how he or she can take hold of the opportunities for ministry multiplication that have arisen in our time in history. One of the most obvious ones is the wise and godly use of Interner evangelism and information technology in missions.

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John Edmiston is is the CEO of Cybermissions, He has degrees from the University of Queensland, the Baptist Theological College of Queensland and the Melbourne College of Divinity (all in Australia) and has lectured at a number of bible colleges and major seminaries during his over 30 years in ministry.

If you want to learn more about online evangelism, then register for John’s class on Internet Evangelism offered at the CLA Online Academy this next quarter. Registration closes on January 6, 2014.  Understand how to make a digital difference and advance the Kingdom of God online.

Internet & Technology – Winter Quarter Options

• Creating a Mobile Ministry: Mobile Ministry Introduction and Relevance
• Internet Evangelism
• Digital Strategy
• Website and Social Media Ministry

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