Big news for the global church: VideoTeaching.com launched this week. Here’s their reasoning:
Video teaching in the Church isn't an experiment anymore. It fuels thriving churches around the globe every weekend. And now, your church can access an online library of video messages from gifted Christian communicators…all for free. Wondering if video teaching is a good fit for your church? Many ministries enjoy video teaching for different reasons... see if these examples spark some ideas for you:
- Expand your teaching team.
- Make a smooth transition.
- Develop your ministry.
- Take a break.
I respect many of the guys who developed this site as well as many of the pastors whose sermons are available through it. I wonder though, as a generation of twenty and thirtysomethings marked by apathy and complacency if this is really the best thing for us.
While I’m all for the technology behind this venture, I wonder if it provides “an easy out” for church planters and pastors looking to take a break from speaking. I’d like to see those same pastors empower those younger than them to step up and take their place while they’re gone. I’d also like to see those younger quit talking about what’s wrong with the church, take some risks, work their butts off, and volunteer to be it. We’re a generation of epic complainers. Seriously, we’re good at it. But where are the leaders? Between desire and action there is a tremendous chasm.
I truly believe millenials don’t want to be spoonfed their teaching from a computer screen, but that begs a HUGE question for us to consider: “Why do people keep inventing 'VideoTeaching.com'?” Can we blame them? Is there a disconnect between our desires and our actions? Interested in your thoughts…
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I have two questions for the community: is this concept good from a church operations perspective? And, how does this affect the overall church community and discipleship factor?
Any thoughts?
Aside from maybe churches from overseas or in remote areas of the world using this to encourage their church (though I don't know how the message would translate sometimes), I see many problems with offering this type of stuff online as it is targeted at churches specifically in America and the West, not just church goers or people in general.
One of the biggest problems with this is the creation of a sort of Christian celebrity, which is an oxymoron, and unbiblical. It's personality driven and like you said CJ not only gives pastors an easy way out, but also sets a high bar of excellence for speaking and communication, which is not always bad, but sends the wrong message that if you are not well-renown or a big personality, you aren't worth listening to. What happened to just presenting the Gospel and teaching from the Bible?
I agree with you CJ, that younger (and older) leaders and pastors/teachers need to be raised up to fill in the gaps, not outsourced to other companies or organizations.
Another problem I see with this website is that Francis Chan is not on there, I'm not subscribing...
I do agree on the Christian celeb thing. The last thing we need as a body is more big headed pastors who think they are the "ish" (CJ term). Call me old fashioned, but I also like the idea of knowing my pastor personally. I listen and learn better when I have an actual relationship with the pastor.