Evangelism, exploration, or something else?

Today I wanted to write something for Internet Evangelism Day, truly I did.  The trouble is, I’m more of an internet explorer than an internet evangelist.  I spend a lot of time online, and devote considerable creativity to what I do there. The thing is, for me it is more of an exploration than a mission. In this virtual space I want to meet, greet, listen discuss and speak. If I share my faith online it is because I share myself online, and the one flows from the other.

That is not to say that I don’t honour those with a clear sense of mission about it. It has been my privilege to encounter many whose life and work is devoted to internet mission.  Through their time, efforts, creativity and skills they enter the digital space with all the clear missionary zeal of a Carey or a Graham. Today is a good day to honour their work.

As I thought about today, I looked up again the Latin meaning of ie as used in written text. I use it often, but couldn’t remember it’s exact meaning. It means “that is”, which seems very appropriate.  When I asked people earlier this year what their three golden rules were for a Christian presence online, they were dominated by being, rather than doing. In other words, the quality of our presence online – in terms of honesty, integrity and generosity, may mean more than anything. I reproduce below the wordle made from their golden rules – and it makes interesting reading on this Internet Evangelism day.