I think the issue I have with anyone talking about ‘the Internet’ as if it is a separate territory – as in ‘Internet Evangelism Day’ is that being online is increasingly a part of people’s everyday lives, not a separate and extraordinary place they go to.

It seems to me that ‘Internet Evangelism’ is just the same as ‘Non-Internet Evangelism’ – we can easily put off doing it by talking about how important it is and admiring what other people are doing, and in doing this we create a false mystique around it and create a false ‘expertise’ which then becomes a barrier to involvement – because I have not got that expertise I can’t possibly do the thing that requires it.

There may well be people who are particularly gifted to work online, whether as pastors, teachers, evangelists, bloggers, tweeters…. and it’s good to look at what they’re doing and learn from it.

The main advantage I find of working online is that it’s incredibly easy to be in touch with non-Christians and to discuss with them on equal terms the events of the day, whether it’s Osama Bin Laden or Eurovision. But I will still be judged on who I am – the ‘being’ – than on specific comments. Am I argumentative? Do I attempt to impose my views without listening? Am I able to listen to what people say and answer their concerns? These are not skills specific to the Internet, but without them I don’t think we’ll get very far online or offline.