Three things last week happened to me that got me thinking.
I read a book by a 28-year-old venture capitalist that's creating rental subscriptions so that renters can be location-independent.
AirBnB CEO stated that the Office is an "anachronistic form...from a pre-digital age" and I read his comments in an article online.
We bought a bookshelf from a young couple who both work remotely that decided to move to Georgia where they could afford a home, and have a winter-free existence.
Friends, the digital age is disrupting all geographically anchored models, and church leaders need to think about a future in which many of your church's most avid supporters and engaged members are only coming to your physical building 3-4 times per year–if that. This new phenomena is called Location Independence (LI), and it will continue to create a recalibration of our lives in the coming year. Don't believe this is a real thing? Check out this article. LI is an outcome of a world embracing Digital Decentralization.
Now, I believe LI won't be fully understood for another 20 years, but its present implications will continue to disrupt our current understanding of ecclesiology. What happens when a an ultra-successful digital company like AirBnB says it needs no physical locations for everyday business? More businesses will take notice and continue to rethink their strategy. If we are honest, with all the cons of not having a physical footprint, there are some inarguable pros. Most notably, the money that a company saves on their overhead is undeniable. As more businesses create an environment where their employees can work from anywhere, you will continue to see more people move. In the future, more people will live where they desire, rather than where they are required.
WE MUST EMBRACE A DECENTRALIZED WORLD
As church leaders, where our entire model is built around a centralized paradigm, this might create an overwhelming sense of anxiety. I get it. We have mortgages to pay, and we did an amazing job of growing churches in world where physical presence prevailed. The last thing you want is another morning you wake up knowing your church is closed to the public and you are scrambling to survive. I don't believe that is in the cards again, but I do believe that this trend isn't going away; it will continue to whittle your centralized church's effectiveness as the world increasingly embraces a decentralized paradigm.
"In the future, more people will live where they desire, rather than where they're required."
The key to winning in a decentralized paradigm is through the principle of asynchrony. Simply, asynchrony is the absence of concurrence in time. When it comes to digital asynchrony it is the absence of concurrence in time and place. When we understand and embrace Digital Asynchrony, we will be able to redesign our ministries to accomplish our organization's mission without the reliance of a centralized model as the lynchpin for all of ministry. The Gathering becomes a welcome part not the co-dependent whole of our mission.
So, how can we embrace a decentralized paradigm and move the organizations God called us to steward into continued relevance and impact in a digital age? Here are 3 ways your church embrace the digital age to become LI:
Embrace Email
I wrote about this last week, but it's important. In an increasingly decentralized world the most important aspect of growing your church is the email inbox of the members of your faith community and those who are thinking about joining. The best way to create a one-to-one relationship with your people when they aren't coming to the building is to reach their inbox. I hear you, you think that email isn't one-to-one communication, its one-to-many. To those of us disseminating communications via email the way we normally do it (information dumping) this is very much true, but for those receiving the email it is one-to-one. If we treat all our communications as one-to-one, then they will experience it as one-to-one, and that builds relationships. We make the faulty assumption that the people who don't attend are disengaged. They only disengage when they feel relationally disconnected. That brings me to Embrace #2.
Embrace Digital Community
The key connector between the centralized and the decentralized community is an online community platform. Online communities such as facebook, instagram, and TikTok have created whole communities around common interests and missions. Churches often misuse these communities by using group functions as the church bulletin board. The sad truth is most churches plan events not build communities. I am not pointing blame. It's hard to scale community period, and it's even harder in a centralized paradigm. We need to learn the art of building true community around a common purpose. Fortunately, Digital Platforms allow us to expand our reach and focus our efforts on community that will drive greater returns for the health of our organizations. You will be able to create connections between people that are Location Independent and Geographically Anchored.
Embrace Discipleship
Jesus didn't say make events, he said make disciples. People Development is the primary product of the Church. So many have argued that can only be done in person. Tell that to Paul. He didn't even have dial-up internet, he had walk-up internet; it was called the Pax Romana. The Roman Road system was a connected system of roads that networked together the greatest Urban centers for trade and urbanization throughout the Roman empire, and Paul used it to create a network of faith communities linked together through relational messengers and church leaders traveling these roads to carry p-mails (papyrus) to the churches. Pretty low tech today, but very high tech back then. So, even when Paul was working remotely (i.e. prison) he could still communicate with all of his churches. I wonder how Paul would have felt with a more advanced Operating System like email, zoom, and and Web 2.0?
I believe Paul, if alive today, would have embraced technology to reach more people, and make more disciples. I believe he would have used digital tools like Learning Management Systems to streamline his approach to teaching the pillars of the faith to many people, I think he would have utilized on-demand methods to give people access to his teaching at any time day or night, and I think he would have used tools to track his students progress as they gained more knowledge, so that he could hold them accountable and encourage them along the way, no matter where they lived. He would have focused primarily on the development of his people, not on the gatherings.
THINK ABOUT IT
What would you do differently, if you embraced the principle of Asynchrony? What would you continue, what is missing, what needs to be considered sunk cost? These are the questions we most honestly ask of ourselves as leaders of the Church in the digital age. It is our responsibility to lead well and steward our people in the societies God plants us. You were born for such a time as this. God is asking you to step up to the challenge of leading in an age of massive disruption. The challenges are numerous but the payoffs are huge. There are very few times in human history where our leadership decisions can literally change the trajectory of the Church for hundreds of years, and we live in one of those times. It's humbling and honoring.
Chestly Lunday is highly regarded as an international speaker, coach, and consultant helping people defeat futility in life and the workplace. Having given over 1000 unique presentations, he has worked with denominations like the Southern Baptist Convention, The Assemblies of God, the Christian Reformed Church, and The Reformed Church in America as well as multiple businesses. Chestly has over a decade of developing leaders from all walks of life. Chestly is on the cutting edge of innovation in the religious non- profit sector, co-founding Digital Church Network, training and connecting Digital Church leaders all around the world. Chestly’s insights help leaders facing the prospect of irrelevance in their min