Hiya! Hayden here :) Welcome to Beautiful Internet; the place to learn about how our digital experiences spiritually form us. In Christian circles I often hear two sides to the digital debate; you’re either a monk or a missionary.

A digital monk is someone who seeks to abstain from the virtual world. They are not necessarily fully detached, but when it comes to things like social media they would stay away. Some may self identify as luddites (actively opposed to the development of newer technologies) whereas others may just abstain less passionately. The monk believes the best way to serve God is to recede into the metaphorical forest and live out their days primarily offline.

A digital missionary, on the other hand, sees this new virtual landscape as an unreached people group. A new way to engage with people and begin conversations or tell stories about faith. Some may actively make content about God, sharing their faith in this new format. All in all, the missionary archetype is pro-internet and believes that the best way to serve God is to engage and shape the digital culture.

Now to be clear, I’m a wonky mix. I’ve deleted most major social medias but the majority of my working hours are spent helping churches build digital spiritual formation strategies. 

My guess is that as you are reading this you are probably feeling a similar way. You see the negative effects of these technologies on relationships, attention, and beauty yet you also see massive potential for people to be introduced to Jesus through digital methods.

When I was exploring Christianity, I didn’t step into a church building or go ask a Christian friend what this whole thing was all about. Instead, I opened up YouTube. I searched topics like “how to pray” and “apologetics”. One of the earliest memories I have of my faith journey is me sitting in front of my old shrine with my Buddah statue and crystals arrayed just right while I listened to Pastor Tyler Staton preach about how to pray like Jesus prayed. 

These digital experiences led me on the most wonderful adventure where I ultimately became a Christian. 

1. God wants to redeem all things 

God is in the business of redemption. If something is broken His heart is to make it new. Scripture says that even while we were still sinners Christ died for us (Romans 5:8). The internet has created a lot of suffering for people and we are invited to participate in redeeming it so it might create flourishing. 

2. God can use anything for His glory 

His word says that He desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth (1 Timothy 2:3-4). God can use anything to bring this about. Suffering, work, dreams, and yes even the internet can bring about his plans.

3. God is ruler over all things (yes, even the internet) 

Oftentimes it’s easy to write platforms and their content  off as devil-owned while forgetting that God is victorious. If Jesus wrote off every evil platform, place, or institution he would have never preached in Jerusalem or to Roman officials. Nothing is too far from being saved. 

4. Christians are culture makers 

From the very beginning of creation, we were called to subdue and have dominion. I feel as though we have lost that a bit. We have become more consumers than creators. If Christians were making/ building/ crafting/ shaping/ renewing things on the internet, it would be much more beautiful.

So whether you’re a monk, missionary, or maybe somewhere in between I encourage you to seek the Lord and ask Him to give you eyes to see the internet and the people on it like He does.

With brotherly love,
Hayden

P.S. If you haven’t already please subscribe to this newsletter. Every week I promise to bring my all to you. Subscribing is an easy way to support