Chapter 2 of 15 · 30,000 Feet Thinking
Is Someone Who Only Watches Online Part of Your Church?
Chapter 2, “Thief and Tower,” from Online Church Is Not the Answer by Jay Kranda
Short answer: Two visuals for the "is online church real church" argument. The thief on the cross settles the minimum requirement to be part of the church, and the Tower of Babel gives you a sliding scale for how much biblical community a digital medium can carry.
What is this chapter about?
I've had too many frustrating conversations with church leaders about digital, and I usually walk away realizing we're arguing about two different things. I'm saying God can use all sorts of methods to extend his Kingdom. They're trying to protect a tradition because they're afraid of losing something. I was once on a Zoom panel where Darrell Bock said people against online ministry limit God's omnipresence by putting him in a small box. I geeked out so much I texted my brother a photo of the screen. If God can speak through Balaam's donkey in Numbers 22, he can work through a platform.
The first visual came from a theology class at Talbot. My professor, Dr. Kevin Lewis, asked what the minimum requirement is to be saved, and pointed to the thief on the cross in Luke 23. No robust view of the Trinity, no morning prayer habit, just belief, and Jesus said "today you will be with me in paradise." Now ask the same question about the church. The New Testament keeps echoing two things: know Jesus and connect with other believers. Paul felt deeply connected to churches he was hundreds of miles from. So the person engaging with you online, even minimally, has crossed the line into your church family, the same way the person in your back row has. Our job is the next step, not the gate.
The second visual is the Tower of Babel, and I'm hijacking it on purpose. Imagine the tower got finished, with a Six Flags elevator to the top (I got weak in the knees halfway up the JW Marriott Marquis in Dubai, so I'd hate this ride). Put a sliding scale on it from one to a hundred. The top is in person. The bottom is texting your friends. Video calls, voice calls, VR, and everything else land somewhere in between. Not all digital interactions are equal, but all of them are some degree of real connection. Your tower might be ordered differently from mine, and that's fine. The point is to use a medium while knowing what percentage of biblical community it carries, and to keep moving people up the tower over time.
What are the big ideas?
Humans love to draw lines. God tends to erase them. The Court of Gentiles isn't in the Old Testament blueprints; Herod added it. Start every online church conversation with the minimum requirement question, not the fullest expression question, and you'll flush out a lot of faulty theology. Nobody strives to be the thief on the cross, but nobody gets to say he isn't in.
Who is this chapter for?
Anyone who has to defend online ministry to an elder board, a senior pastor, or a seminary friend. You can skip it if you're already all in, or read it for fresh ammo.
What is the Big Idea of chapter 2?
Big Idea: God is moving and using digital platforms to expand his Kingdom, and, yes, the church can thrive online in many different ways.
What else do people ask?
Is someone who only engages with a church online really part of that church?
According to the book, yes. The New Testament's minimum requirement is knowing Jesus and connecting with other believers, and that can happen digitally for a season. The goal is still to shepherd them toward the fullest expression of church over time.
What is the Tower of Babel visual?
A sliding scale of closeness, from one (texting) to one hundred (in person). Every digital medium sits somewhere on it. The visual lets you value a Zoom group or a group text as real community while still preferring in person and working toward it.
Does Jay think online church is the fullest expression of church?
No. He holds that in person is the ideal and the biblical bar. The chapter is about not dismissing what God is doing below that bar, the same way you wouldn't dismiss the thief on the cross.
Why does the chapter bring up Balaam?
Because God used a pagan prophet, and even his donkey, to speak truth. If God can use Balaam, the book argues, he can certainly use a digital platform.