The Visible Church Is the Answer To the Internet Frenzy

 The Visible Church Is the Answer To the Internet Frenzy


First of all, the internet cannot be blamed for anything I will touch on in this little paper.  The internet, social media, AI, Google answers to our questions, etc.--are not responsible for any of our sins, our over-indulgences, our addictions, our insanity, our stupidity, or our frenzy.  Every "tool" that God has ever allowed the world to develop is, in itself, innocuous; it is not "ethics-bearing" in its existence.

 

One of the problems we sinners face today, is that we simply have too much time on our hands.  Because we do not use our time well, we find ourselves frittering it away--and today, this is most easily done via facile access to the internet.  I myself--now that I am retired from the strenuous duties of pastoring a church congregation--have "time" to write articles like this one.  In so doing, am I being a hypocrite, especially with regard to what I am writing in this particular missive?  I do not think so, because I am not wholesale-ly condemning the use of the internet, etc.  It can serve good causes; but, like anything else that is "good" or "inoffensive" in itself, it can be abused, as well.

 

Very briefly, let us talk about some of the "abuses"; and then let us seek the practical solution--all in Jesus, His gospel, and His church. . . . The "abuses" are manifest in social anxiety; cruel and thoughtless "speech"; easy access to very harmful material, viz. pornography; and addictive habits that tend to "dehumanize" people.

 

. . . Now, let us talk about the solution.  The solution is to have one's life anchored in real "flesh and blood," "blood and guts," person-to-person interaction.  And there is no better place for this to happen, than on Sundays (the Lord's Days), in and as the worshipping church of the one and only Triune God.

 

And, in that context, there are not to be video screens projecting some "preacher" off-site somewhere.  There are not to be "holograms" of people appearing (like ghosts), who are not actually there.  The church, the true church, the gospel church, the Spirit-filled Christ-loving church, is to be experienced "hands-on," with *real* people, and actual ministers who preach the gospel in real time, right in front of the people of God.

 

When our lives are "anchored" in this environment every Sunday; and as we fully enjoy together the experience of loving and blessing God through Jesus Christ as His elect ecclesia--then, (but only then), are we able to weather the storms of the life of the internet, (or of anything else).  But, if we do not have this "anchor," we are set adrift on the open "ocean" of anxiety, uncertainly, frustration, hopelessness, and grief.

 

It is interesting, that God allows all kinds of things to happen in His world; and He permits all kinds of new technologies to come to the fore.  For the Lord, this is no threat whatsoever.  He knows that the heart is, and always has been, the issue.  If the heart is good, via faith in Jesus Christ, any challenge can be overcome.  If the heart is bad, because of a rejection of Jesus Christ, His gospel, and His church--it will be consumed in the confusion and mire of the world.

 

As God's true saints of His redeemed church, let us put everything God has given us to good use--including the internet. . . . At the same time, let us be careful not to make easy "scapegoats" out of human contrivances.  Can Satan's "gospels" go out on the internet?  Of course they can.  Does Christ's true gospel also get broadcast on it?  Sure, it does.  But that (true) gospel put forth over digital media always addresses the perceivers of it to the concrete, visible, person-to-person church of the Lord Jesus Christ.  After all, the Son of God came to earth as a real physical human being.  He was incarnated as Jesus Christ for our salvation.

 

Rev. Mark J. Henninger

Treatise #135

16 September 2026

 

https://theologicaltreatisesinretirement.blogspot.com

https://henningerdevotions.blogspot.com

Comments

  1. AnonymousSeptember 16, 2026 at 4:28 PM

    These are good comments, Mark. Thank you for highlighting the real issues. I suppose this is one of the reasons some societies seek to abolish churches (the gathering of believers) and why they perceive churches as threats to the state. We should be careful not to take this privilege for granted.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Rev. Mark J. HenningerSeptember 17, 2026 at 11:27 AM

      True, brother, gospel churches are always a threat to the status quo. Though there are subordinate alternatives to the church, viz. social organizations of all kinds--none of them have the heavenly grace and authority of God's "body of Christ."

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