My semester project has revolved around encouraging members
of the LDS church to share the Gospel online.
This has personal relevance for me because I was released not too long
ago from my calling in my ward as the ward mission leader. I have personally struggled with sharing the
Gospel online, and being a ward mission leader really helped me see just how
much good sharing the Gospel online can do.
In my opinion, many members within the LDS church don’t
share the Gospel online, and I believe this comes from the idea that missionary
work, or sharing the Gospel, only happens in person, since that’s how it has
often been done traditionally. We
typically think of missionary work when we see pictures of missionaries or of
Jesus Christ teaching people during his life, but not when we see a person at a
computer.
I did receive feedback regarding a possible stigma of online
missionary work. The comparison could be
made between online dating and online missionary work, and how they should just
be done in person. Also, online
missionary work can be a concern because less dedicated missionaries, as well
as members in general, can easily waste time online instead of actually getting
down to doing missionary work. I’ll
admit that this was a problem for me during several of our meetings to share
the Gospel online when I was a ward mission leader.
However, I don’t think that online dating is bad, nor do I
think it is all there is to dating. The
same goes for online missionary work. It
isn’t everything, but it can help us accomplish missionary work and reach out
to people who we maybe otherwise wouldn’t be able to reach. Online missionary work shouldn’t be an idea
that gets completely thrown out.
One of my goals has been to focus on how different modes of
communication have been used in sharing the Gospel in past times, including
Bible times, and that missionary work hasn’t just been done in person.
For example, the Apostle Paul often used letters to
communicate with his converts and with other leaders of the church. A large portion of the New Testament consists
of Paul’s letters.
A good example of using letters to communicate is the
Republic of Letters, when long-distance communication between intellectuals of
the Enlightenment was done by letter, and information and learning was shared.
Also, there have been many examples of how the latest media
has been used to show famous speeches, give the news, etc. As technology changes, we should be willing
to adapt and use it as well as we can, just as many influential leaders of the
past have done, such as Martin Luther King, Jr.
At one point I thought I’d change my call to change
(ironically) since, at the time, I couldn’t seem to find anything online where
people were sincerely arguing against online missionary work. I think this could have just been an issue
with where I was searching, or maybe the fact that most people who disagree
with online missionary work maybe aren’t online arguing about it.
Whatever the case, I believe now that it is still an issue,
and that the problem is that, although most members of the LDS church do agree
with it and want to do their best to share the Gospel, they don’t because it’s
difficult. Part of what makes it
difficult is the thought of pushing away friends and/or family who are not
members of the LDS church. This is a
valid concern, and online missionary work, like most if not all things in the
church, takes tact and preparation.
I also thought that the problem could be with those of my
generation since we can be so busy starting our lives, but as I’ve thought more
about it I think it’s an issue with many people within the LDS church, and even
mostly with those of older generations who aren’t as tech savvy or aren’t as
connected online.
Because of all this, I’ve decided to keep my call to change
and the way I communicate it the same as I had been doing before.
Final Changes
According to the two comments received, I've realized that I need to focus more on why people don't do missionary work, and not just on doing the missionary work. I think I'd leave the rest of what I've done the same, but I would include common reasons why people don't do missionary work and how those things can be overcome. This would help my call to change actually be heard and actually happen, whereas otherwise people might just hear it and not do anything about it.
I think that your topic is extremely applicable to all of us. Your audience is obviously members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, but more specifically, those of the younger generation who are familiar with modern day technology. In multiple instances we as members have been admonished by our church to leaders to participate in sharing the gospel online. The majority of us use some form of social media thereby giving us an opportunity to share the gospel online. We have the mode and the means but often as you state what we assume that missionary work should be done face to face. As the means available to people progressively developed throughout the renaissance, their means of effecting certain activities changed. Now it is our time to change as the modes and means of modern activity change as well.
ReplyDeleteYou address this a bit in your post, but I think that it might be a good idea to address more clearly the reasons why people DON'T use online avenues for missionary work more. Are there things stopping us? Are there ideas about it that we need to change? We probably need to address those things, before we address how to go about actually doing the missionary work.
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