I worry that two weather systems have formed and are coming together in a way that might harm the church. The first weather system is a drought caused by the fatherlessness of our current society. People are looking for fathers and their influence.
The second weather system is the heavy rain of pastoral resources available through technological advance. People can easily access terrific sermon content from especially gifted pastors.
Put drought conditions and heavy rain together, and we have a potential flood situation. Pastors and preachers whose messages connect with our generation are filling the fatherless void but in a way that leads to a distortion of what pastoral influence and fatherhood is supposed to be.
Read the rest of Your Podcast Is Not Your Pastor | The Gospel Coalition.
As a missionary who heavily promotes the idea that mentoring and discipleship is a personal thing and not something that happens exclusively or primarily over the information super highway, I “amened” some of the things in this article.
I also agree with Trevin that such technological advances are a double-edged sword in that people can become isolated individuals who live like hermits and don’t have fellowship with anybody nor have anybody in their lives who can offer them correction, but yet access the most cutting-edge spiritual revelation available on their iPhones and Kindle apps.
[Tweet “Character is formed in community, not in isolation.”]
But as a podcaster myself, I don’t exactly think the rise of podcasting and being able to influence others over the internet in the last four years since this article was originally written as being a bad thing. I’m grateful for the ways I’ve been able to connect with people I’d never meet locally thanks to podcasting, blogging and book writing. I’ve had people respond to calls for prayer and help who I never would have had contact with if not for these mediums.
But I do agree with the basic premise of this post that if the only spiritual sustenance you are getting is from the podcasts you’re subscribed to and the books you’re reading, you are not experiencing true koinonia and oikos.
Like I have said before, an apple a day keeps the doctor away, but not if all you eat is apples.
Read the rest of the post from 2011 at this link.
Thanks Jonathan Keck for sharing it on Facebook and catching my attention.
Leave your thoughts and experiences with podcasts having an impact on your spiritual walk below.
