Online Sermons: Too Much of a Good Thing?

The internet is a marvel. We take for granted all that is available to us at lightning speed. But, just pause and consider how many hours of audio, hours of video and libraries of text is contained in the nebulous space we call the world wide web. It's mind-blowing.

Evangelical Christians haven't wasted anytime taking advantage of this technology. I could listen to sermons uninterrupted for years. This has been a blessing to many of us, but how has it changed us?

Nathan Walter shares his thoughts in "iPod, iSermon, iRighteous?" in the July-August issue of the Briefing (this article not available online). Here is a rundown of perceived dangers:

• Sermon listening is disconnected from the gospel relationship of pastor and congregation. Sermons should have a context based on a pastor's knowledge of his flock and the flock's knowledge of their pastor.
• Sermon listening risks guru-ism. We learn from Driscoll/Piper/Dever/Stott/Carson rather than God and his Word.
• We grow discontent with the regular preachers and teachers God has given us.
• It replaces focused personal reading and study. We just listen to sermons, and even that as a secondary activity -- while running, cleaning, driving.

Here are his suggestions:

• Vary your diet of preachers, and sometimes, why not simply listen to an audio Bible?
• Be wary of comparing the online preacher (publicly or privately) to your own God-given pastors.
• Don't forget your responsibilities as a listener. Test everything. Never listen without your Bible open. Chase up the passages and write notes.
• Keep audio sermons in their place: like good Christian books, they can help us grow enormously, but we mustn't let them loom too large. Nothing beats the godly discipline of reading your Bible.
• As with all preaching and teaching, don't just listen to listen. Listen so that you might put into practice.

Sounds like good advice to me.