I have been re-watching the video again and am really struck by the raging debate that still continues about Virtual Community. We are a society that is moving into a new generation that will have lived throughout with the Social Networking Era. They will have been defined by it. There friendship will revolve around it. What challenge’s does this leave us with?

Some Good Links that talk more about this…

Out of UR

Flowerdust

JR Woodward

For those of you that haven’t heard of Second Life before, it is a virtual world where you can explore and do anything you desire, from scuba diving to exploring the moon and even owning your own nightclub all from the comfort of your own home.  You are able to take on any persona you wish in Second Life, many people use it to escape their real lives and become the person they have always dreamed of being.

The only problem with having a world where you can live out your deepest desires though is that not all desires are good ones; it is well known that a lot of people use Second Life to fulfil a lot of their sexual desires, new strip clubs and brothels are constantly popping up all over Second Life.  A woman who joined Second Life with the best intentions warns us of the dangers that we may encounter:

“I joined Second Life with the thought of it being a great mission field. However, being lonely in a marriage, I actually met someone that I began to spend a lot of time with. Even us Christians are vulnerable. Instead of sharing the good news of Christ, I actually (surprising to me) found myself in a virtual life of sin. Avatars in Second Life can do anything that humans do, including a huge world of sex.

My intensions were so good, yet as a human, I failed. I failed the Lord, I failed myself and failed my husband as well. In Second Life, I met many people who in real life are married yet have SL boyfriends, girlfriends etc.” (http://www.internetevangelismday.com/secondlife-evangelism.php)

This virtual world is far from all bad though, there are also churches popping up all over the place as well, from a group of Anglicans pulling finances together to place a more traditional church in Second Life (http://slangcath.wordpress.com/) to a very modern online church where you can sit and watch real preaches live from across the globe (http://www.lifechurch.tv/).  Maybe it is not as exciting as being sent to far off land to do mission but more and more evangelists are being drawn into Second Life and with gaming increasingly becoming more popular each year who knows maybe in years to come churches may need a Second Life evangelist on staff.