Navigating Life’s Rapidly Changing Landscape
As the landscape of our lives and the landscape of our ministries change (rapidly at times), may the words of Saint Paul be a constant reminder to us: “For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:38-39).
In the first book of Tolkien’s “The Lord of the Rings,” the protagonist Frodo, struggling to comprehend the suffering he will have to endure as a reluctant hero, has this exchange with the wizard Gandalf:
“‘I wish it need not have happened in my time,’ said Frodo. ‘So do I,’ said Gandalf, ‘and so do all who live to see such times. But that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us.’” (J.R.R. Tolkien, “The Fellowship of the Ring,” Chapter 2)
J.R.R. Tolkien, being a devout Roman Catholic, understood that this was a dilemma every person must face in his life. We do not choose the time or place into which we are born; God’s providence determines those circumstances. Yet God does not rob us of our free will, and so the choice is ours as to how we will use the time God has given us. For the Christian, we must remember that trials are a guaranteed part of the human experience. Rather than lament the trials we face, we can choose to spread the Gospel using the gifts God has given us in the time and season in which He placed us.
We will have no shortage of trials over the course of our lives. Surely each and every one of us has had reason to stop and say, “I wish it need not have happened in my time.” Yet despite the difficulties we face (both as a Church and individually), and despite the longings we feel for the good desires of our hearts, Saint Paul’s words continue to ring true: “Nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
The Fruit of Digital Ministry
Ever true to His word, God has blessed us far more abundantly than we could ever ask or think (see Ephesians 3:20), allowing our humble ministry to reach people all over the world with the Gospel. God accomplished this task with a means we did not expect (digital ministry) to a degree we could not have imagined.
Throughout the last year, our sermons were viewed over 50,000 times by people across the United States and around the world, from places such as Canada and the United Kingdom to India and the Philippines. Articles on our blog were also read over five hundred times across a similar distribution of countries.
Last year was also the first full year of The Lively Faith Podcast, a ministry we launched at the very end of 2022. Over the course of 2023, our podcast – focused on sharing the Gospel through frank conversations about issues relevant to the Christian life – grew to an audience of nearly eight hundred monthly listeners, while our YouTube channel received over 20,000 views.
I share these humbling statistics not only to encourage us in the work of ministry but also to make a point: Just because God gives us fruit different from what we asked for, that does not make the fruit any less valuable. We may ask for apples and God gives us oranges. Both the apple and the orange are inherently good fruit, but the fruit is for God to decide, not us. As Saint Paul writes to the Corinthians, “So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth” (1 Corinthians 3:7).
Beloved, the landscape of ministry has changed dramatically over the last decade, and digital ministries are uniquely positioned to share the Gospel in that brave new world – not to the neglect of the local congregation, but in support of it, wherever the Faithful may be gathered.
The Roman Roads of the Modern Age
Consider the ministry of the Apostle Paul. From the moment of his conversion on the road to Damascus, Saint Paul made it his life’s mission to proclaim, “Jesus Christ and him crucified” (see 1 Corinthians 2:2). Paul preached the Gospel despite many persecutions and risks to his life, especially at the hands of the Roman Empire (who would ultimately have him beheaded).
The expansion of the Roman Empire across the ancient world brought dramatic changes along with it, including many technological innovations: Roman concrete, which stands the test of time even to this day; advances in architecture, such as the Roman arch; running water, through the use of aqueducts; and most importantly, Roman roads.
The Ancient Romans engineered a network of roads over 50,000 miles long, all stemming from the capital city. These roads represented a drastic increase in mobility between provinces of the Roman Empire, increasing the rate of commerce, military transport, personal travel, and the flow of information. Though the spread of the Roman Empire across the ancient world accelerated cultural change dramatically (and with it the persecution of Christians), Saint Paul nonetheless saw an opportunity to spread the Gospel.
Over the course of his 30-year ministry, Paul traveled an estimated 10,000 miles across the Roman Empire as he preached the Gospel, largely through the use of Roman Roads. The Apostle Paul tactfully used the technology of his day to preach the Gospel all over the world, even as the Romans transformed the world around him. Yet he did so fearlessly, because of his confidence that nothing could separate him from the love of God in Jesus Christ our Lord.
For ministry in our modern age, digital media represents the new Roman roads. As of 2023, 42% of Americans ages twelve and older reported listening to a podcast in the past month, according to the Pew Research Center. According to the research organization Statista, over one hundred million Americans are projected to listen to podcasts in 2024.
The statistics for YouTube are even more staggering. Per Statista, YouTube has roughly 2.7 billion monthly active users worldwide, with 62% of all Internet users accessing YouTube daily. Though the user base skews male at 54.4%, usage of the site was distributed evenly across all age groups. YouTube is also considered the second largest search engine (behind Google) and the second largest social media platform (behind Facebook).
Conclusion
While these mediums must never replace interpersonal discipleship and the regular worship of God in Word and Sacrament within the local church, to ignore them as a means of spreading the Gospel would be akin to Saint Paul refusing to use Roman roads and ships to traverse the Roman Empire. Let us praise God for equipping our humble congregation to travel the Roman roads of our day so boldly, and may He see fit to lead us even further in the future.
As we navigate the year ahead, may we remember that although years past have not gone as we expected nor as we planned, God’s Word still went forth, and it did not return to Him empty, but accomplished that which He purposed, and succeeded in the thing for which He sent it (see Isaiah 55:11). And let us take heart, for whatever the year 2024 brings, nothing will be able to separate us from the love of God in Jesus Christ our Lord. May the same God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ crown the coming year with His blessing. Amen.
