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Apprenticing Jesus in our Online and Digital Spaces

Jul 20, 2024 | 0 comments

It’s hard to deny that there are wonderful things that the online world has offered us as humans, and it’s impossible to miss the realities that this is a tool that has caused and continues to cause harm. All of us have had different experiences with the emergence of the internet and all that came with it. One thing we have in commons is that if we had to declare our “relationship status” with the internet, social media, and online spaces – I bet nearly all of us would have to admit:

“It’s complicated.”

​​What does it look like to apprentice Jesus in real life when each of us exist in both physical and digital spaces?

For many of us at times the line between our digital and physical worlds is not that clear anymore! So as we have been in our conversation: Apprenticing Jesus in Real Life  We are talking about following Jesus in the lives we actually have. “In Real Life”, or the abbreviation often used “IRL” is often used to mean our physical or analog world – which creates the assumption that our digital or online world is NOT real life.

But the truth is – online and digital spaces ARE a part of real life!

Are there some aspects of online spaces that slip in to fantasy or cause people to have a warped view of reality? For sure – but that can happen in physical spaces as well as times. Every one of us here has aspects of our REAL lives that are now lived out in online or digital spaces. 

So we all need to ask these questions:

  • What does it look like to apprentice Jesus in our online and digital spaces?
  • What is at stake if we don’t acknowledge that online and digital spaces are just as critical places to choose to apprentice Jesus as our neighborhoods, families or workplaces?

We looked at Jesus words in Luke 6:

“No good tree bears bad fruit, nor does a bad tree bear good fruit. Each tree is recognized by its own fruit.” 

Jesus is referring to a deep theme in scripture that the Bible Project folks call the Trail of Trees. Hear more about it here:

Our takeaway was: To bear good fruit in our lives we must be rooted in our relationship with God, grafted into the life of Jesus and intentionally led by the Spirit.

So what if we shifted our question from “is social media good or bad” is the internet “good or bad” or should we totally avoid it or not to:

  • How might my online spaces help me know and relate to God?
  • How in my online spaces can I live like Jesus?
  • How in my online spaces am I led by the Spirit?

We need to be led by the Spirit if we are going to be able to live like Jesus in our online and digital spaces.

We can also utilize resources that help us connect with God and live like Jesus online:

Apps that help us connect with God:

Websites with resources for connecting with God:

Additional resources: 

Porn Addiction Resources

Gambling Addiction Resources