April 7, 2004

What Would Jesus Blog?

Christian outreach is rightly going high-tech, hip and modern, reports FOX News.

A gaggle of ministries have taken their biblical messages down unconventional paths to appeal to 20- and 30-somethings. Using Web sites, multi-media, pop culture and edgy language, organizations like www.relevantmagazine.com and Fireproof Ministries (and its anti-pornography Web site www.XXXchurch.com) are reaching out to young Christians in more modern ways than established organized religion ever has.

... The Web's activist role, especially among the 18-to-34 set, isn't surprising considering that more than half of homes in America have Internet access.

"If you want to reach them, you’ve got to speak their language," said Paul Boutin, contributing editor at Wired magazine. "It makes perfect sense to take the ministry in that direction. I really think that if Jesus were around today, he would have a blog."

...Extending the biblical messages to the Web is like the 2000s version of folk-music church services that were common in the '70s, Boutin said. "To kids today, the Internet is what rock 'n' roll was to another generation and TV was to the one before that and swing dancing was to the one before that," said Boutin. "Kids aren't going to go to some stuffy church with stained-glass windows. They want to get online."