While church use of mobile technology is unlikely to directly contribute to these dangers, we must be aware that by helping habituate our congregants to using their phones all day, we may be normalizing these damaging behaviors. As with social networks, it is challenging for churches to find ways to capture the power while managing the danger.
Wave 4: Connected Intelligence
We are now in the fourth wave of the digital revolution. As I’ve previously written, the core building blocks of the Connected Intelligence Revolution are:
- The Internet of Internets: the rapidly growing interlinked webs of unstructured content, social relationships, connected devices, and structured data which provide timely and timeless information about virtually everything, from anywhere, and at any time.
- Networked Computing Infrastructure: the global collection of digital hardware and connections that enable data collection, sharing, and processing.
- Analytical Software: complex and evolving algorithms which consume structured and unstructured data, identify patterns and trends, predict likely future occurrences, evaluate potential options, and recommend specific actions.
- Real World Interfaces: natural and intuitive human interfaces and software controlled machines that translate decisions into actions.
The most visible, and perhaps impressive, aspects of this wave of the digital revolution are the ways in which real world interfaces bring connected intelligence capabilities into our daily lives. As Siri, Alexa, and Google Assistant have enabled us to speak to devices to tap into the Internet of Internets, some churches have developed apps or “skills” to make it easy for anyone to access their sermons and other content. Robots, self-driving cars, and other powerful ways that connected intelligence protrudes into the real world may not have any or many direct applications for churches, but will still likely change the way congregants interact with the world around us.
One development that technology-oriented churches are paying attention to is what is becoming known as the “metaverse.” The definition of this concept is still pretty fluid, but NVIDIA describes it as “a shared virtual 3D world, or worlds, that are interactive, immersive, and collaborative.” Facebook recently changed its corporate name to Meta to reflect the company’s increasing focus on technologies like virtual reality and augmented reality.
Some are already envisioning and trying to create churches that exist in “the metaverse.” While COVID-19 shutdowns introduced many of us to churches meeting “virtually” for a season, some advocate that churches can exist entirely in the digital realm, never meeting physically in person. There are advantages to this approach, increasing the geographic reach of a church, and being able to serve those that could never set foot in a physical church building (e.g. for medical or political/persecution reasons). However, the sacrificial love to which Christ has called us, as He physically demonstrated in washing His disciples feet, is hard to accomplish without personal proximity. There’s something about a handshake or a hug that strengthens the relationships between the brethren. The sacraments of Baptism and the Lord’s Supper are physically ministered by pastors amongst the gathered church, and, as we learned last year, corporate worship simply doesn’t work well over virtual connections. Digital church is an interesting concept, but doesn’t seem to meet the needs described in the New Testament.
However, the most powerful (and dangerous) aspect of the Connected Intelligence Revolution is happening behind the scenes as organizations collect massive amounts of information about us and apply artificial intelligence software to predict what we are likely to do next, what we will prefer, and what we want or need. We reap the benefits of these solutions when our Google search results are most relevant to us, when Amazon recommends products to us that we didn’t even know existed, and when our Apple Watch tells us we should leave to make it on-time to our next meeting. But we feel like we’re being spied on when ads or article recommendations make it appear that someone is reading our minds or listening to our private conversations.
Jeff Hook, a veteran of the ChMS industry, has formed Communitas Technologies to help churches to leverage this power in serving their members while respecting their privacy. Although much more complex than this, it’s easiest to think in terms of collecting data about people and then applying machine learning algorithms to that data to classify people or to predict what they need.
We generally are uncomfortable with the concept of someone collecting information about us. Traditionally, we feel this discomfort when we first visit a church and the visitor’s card, for example, asks for the birthdates of all of our children. More recently, we feel violated when we realize that businesses have collected information about us that we’ve never intentionally disclosed to them. Jeff explains how churches can demonstrate respect for their people: “In our personal relationships, we share little bits of information with people we trust over time, as our relationship grows. The church should operate the same way. As our relationship with our church deepens, it’s natural that we will be comfortable sharing more about ourselves with the church so that the church can better respond to our needs.”
As I get to know people better, I try to introduce them to others that share their interests or might be in a similar situation. As I understand their needs, I might recommend books or other resources that might help them. For a large church, it can be hard for pastors to know everyone well enough to similarly know how best to meet each member’s needs given where they are in life. An intelligent church management system can help bridge this gap, helping church leaders identify better ways to disciple and minister to those in their flock. But this is hard to do, and I’m sure painful lessons will be learned as church leaders consider if and how to introduce these types of technologies into how they operate. Communitas hopes to help churches in this process.
Go Therefore…
I’m confident that the Digital Revolution isn’t over. We haven’t seen the last technological innovation that will impact the church. We haven’t fully discovered the power that is available, nor do we fully understand the dangers inherent in adopting these technologies. As church leaders venture forward into this technological unknown, they can rest in God’s sovereignty and use the most powerful tools that He has provided to them: His Word, prayer, and fellowship with other believers. Most importantly, they can keep their eyes focused on Christ, on God’s glory, and on the mission Christ has given to His church.
“Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen. (Matthew 28:19–20)
This article on the digital Christian revolution originally appeared here, and is used by permission. See Part one of this article here.
