Just discovered this new post on The Christian Chronicle explaining some virtues and downfalls of MySpace. Thought it was interesting, so here’s a clip:

With everything there is good and bad. Myspace has its good too! It can be an awesome tool for ministry. When there are adolescents involved every day with non-Christians around the globe through myspace there are unlimited opportunities for ministry and the spread of the gospel. There are things that we can take from a technology that adolescents will use anyway and make it to be glory for God. Myspace is used by the secular world to promote concerts, TV shows, political propaganda and more. Christian teenagers could use myspace to promote social justice, spiritual formation, mission opportunities, and God’s glory. In a recent camp I attended we were given the task to creatively find a way to help our assigned country in the issues they were having. The students in my group decided to create a myspace that would create interest in Venezuela in order to change the president’s mind about allowing American missionaries into the country. This is a radical, but useful way to use myspace for ministry.

Also Christians have the right and the responsibility to reclaim things for God. Our church has reclaimed a site on myspace for ministry. Instead of worrying over silly quizzes or random comments we have provided a place that while kids are surfing through myspace they can stop at ours and have a devotional thought for the week and comment. Not to mention that this myspace becomes one of their friends and more responsibility is tacked onto how they represent themselves in the virtual world. What the world created for communication of any kind, Christians especially adolescent Christians can reclaim for God’s glory.

Whether your opinion of myspace is positive or negative we cannot escape the fact that it is present and highly used. We can, however, take what is being widely used and steer it into a glorifying direction and reclaim it for ministry. This may be a challenge for us who grew up talking face-to-face and writing with paper and pen, but it can be done and we can help it happen. This thing called myspace can be a tool for His glory!

JG