"The greatest challenge facing the church today is not anything else but the internet," said a pastor who serves in a church under the municipal CC&TSPM in East China.
Having served in both northern and southern regions, as well as in rural and urban contexts, for more than two decades, Pastor X said that the easy access to online devotional resources, particularly sermons and training programs, while offering abundant information, has also fostered a consumerist approach to faith. This trend, he warned, undermines the role of local churches, weakens authentic pastoral care, and erodes the relationships between pastors and congregants. As a result, spiritual information is plentiful, yet believers often remain spiritually impoverished.
Pastor X observed that the challenges of ministry today are more complex than in the past. One of the most notable is the strong consumerist mindset with which believers approach biblical teaching. Regardless of age, many now evaluate sermons as though sampling different "flavors," choosing among speakers and treating worship as a form of "information and emotional consumption."
He remarked that, though such tendencies are inherent to human nature, over time they diminish believers' reverence for the spiritual essence of preaching. Increasingly, people view sermons through the lens of entertainment and consumption. The abundance of online resources has expanded the scope of comparison, prompting many to weigh local services against popular online pastors and courses. Some even regard online teachings as authoritative standards, using them to critique or correct their local pastors. Over time, this erodes respect for local ministry and fosters a growing detachment from the local church life.
Church Z is a newly built church in the local area, with Pastor X appointed as senior pastor in 2020. Situated between two centennial churches to the north and south of the city, it lacks a stable local membership base. Apart from a few elderly believers who attend out of convenience as they live nearby, most are migrant workers. The former generally have little prior involvement with the church and limited commitment, while the latter, though enthusiastic, often bring complex faith backgrounds and are "restless-minded." They actively participate in various online platforms, training programs, and community activities, making it difficult to remain consistently engaged in local church life.
This trend extends beyond Church Z, as believers increasingly prefer online activities over on-site pastoral care. By mid-2023, six months after the pandemic had ended, many churches still reported that one-third of their members had not returned to on-site worship. During the pandemic, churches suspended in-person gatherings and launched numerous livestream services, which inadvertently expanded the reach of online resources.
Pastor X observed that this situation is driven not only by spiritual consumerism but also by the marketing strategies of online resource providers. Unlike routine and sometimes "mundane" on-site services, online courses, training programs, and seminars are often attractively packaged and promoted under the names of "doctors" and "professors," drawing Christians to register.
What concerns him most is on-site training promoted through the Internet, which invites believers to travel to the organizers' venues.
"These programs often lack spiritual oversight and formal recognition," he cautioned. "They are frequently initiated by a few zealous young people, without legal registration or endorsement from the local church." He cited a case in a city in southern Zhejiang where several young people organized a marriage and dating workshop. A wife attended, but after her husband was unable to reach her for several days, he reported it to the police. Investigations found that the program was not supported by any local church. "This unregulated model carries significant risks," Pastor X warned. "How can anyone know who is actually behind it?"
The danger, Pastor X warned, also lies in the fact that many believers lack sufficient spiritual discernment. He noted that while numerous online lectures and training programs appear biblical on the surface, they deviate from spiritual orthodoxy. Since the pandemic, a number of believers have been drawn into the Shincheonji cult through online Bible courses. He added that online cult groups often outpace traditional churches in social media promotion, marketing strategies, and technological use. Virtual communities formed through these platforms typically require participants to give regular reports on their spiritual lives and receive "follow-up care," gradually eroding their discernment and weakening their sense of belonging to their original churches.
Local congregations have sought to respond to these challenges. According to Pastor X, many churches have organized Internet-related faith training sessions, addressing topics such as fraud prevention, cult awareness, and discernment of misleading information, though with limited results. "Most believers are not very vigilant about media content," he observed. He finds it comical that some believers even misinterpret pastors' cautions about online activities as "jealousy," assuming their pastors were simply envious that they preferred listening to online sermons rather than their own.
Pastor X remarked with frustration that such attitudes arise from a misunderstanding of a pastor's spiritual role. The role of a local church pastor extends beyond delivering sermons; it also involves meaningful interaction, emotional connection, and serving as a life role model for believers. Simply acquiring abundant information or knowledge does not guarantee spiritual growth. The true value of the local church lies in fostering ongoing, authentic spiritual relationships and a sense of belonging.
Contrary to the common perception that pastors struggle with media and technology, Pastor X is highly adept in both areas. Early in the WeChat era, he launched a public account to share church information. While managing media outreach for a Shanghai charity, he also developed livestream programs. He is experienced with AI-assisted pastoral tasks, including Q&A, conducting inquiries, organizing documents, and preparing sermon outlines, and has even explored the metaverse. These pursuits align with his personal interests, pastoral experience, and his Gen-Z son.
Emphasizing these points, Pastor X reiterated that pastors' advice to avoid over-reliance on online materials or spending large sums on courses is not motivated by jealousy or competition. Believers often pay for online resources because of perceived scarcity. Yet local pastors typically have access to extensive Christian materials, can provide them free of charge, discern sound teaching from harmful content, and tailor guidance to the needs of individual believers.
Pastor X's long-term engagement with the Internet and media has also led him to recognize that these technologies can offer certain conveniences for church ministry, such as providing online worship for believers unable to attend in person. Yet, he believes their influence on the spiritual growth of believers has proven more harmful than beneficial.
He observed that the overwhelming flow of information in new media, particularly through smartphones and short videos, has made people increasingly impulsive, superficial, and even apathetic. This, he stressed, runs counter to the diligence and perseverance that have shaped Christian devotional life for two millennia. "True self-improvement comes through reading and deep reflection, not from passively consuming large volumes of fragmented information," Pastor X stated. "If believers genuinely desire spiritual growth, they must return to a solid spiritual life."
One reason many believers pursue online resources while undervaluing local church life, Pastor X explained, is their long-held, narrow understanding of devotional practice, equating listening to sermons and gaining knowledge with spiritual discipline and growth.
He explained that Protestant Christianity has historically emphasized the pulpit and listening to sermons over ritual, holding to the belief that "faith comes from hearing the message." Yet, within the context of the Chinese church, marked by its weakness and particular development, this emphasis has often fostered a narrow view that "listening to sermons equals spirituality." As a result, believers frequently neglect personal devotionals. Many have grown used to listening to sermons but lack the ability to pray and meditate on their own. Spiritual growth is reduced to the intake of information rather than deep engagement and inner practice. Many Christians, Pastor X observed, play sermons in the background while cooking or doing laundry, listening throughout the day. While this practice has some value, it also reinforces the misconception that "hearing sermons is supreme," the belief that simply listening is equivalent to living a spiritual life. Online resources may provide a wealth of knowledge, but they rarely bring about true spiritual maturity, often leading instead to unrecognized self-righteousness and the tendency to judge others according to the content of sermons.
Another common narrow understanding of spiritual practice, Pastor X noted, is an overemphasis on personal devotion at the expense of interaction with others. He stressed that spiritual life is not merely an intimate relationship with God or a prayer life confined to the inner chamber but must also, on that foundation, involve refinement and formation through engagement with others.
Drawing on insights from psychology, he explained that the more experiences a person gains, the stronger their inner vitality becomes. Such growth is not simply the accumulation of knowledge but also the refinement of emotions, experiences, and character. The same principle applies to spiritual growth, which often occurs through interpersonal relationships.
In light of the ways online spiritual resources encourage one-sided notions of spiritual growth and fuel spiritual consumerism, Pastor X believes the church must adapt its pastoral approach while also improving the quality of sermons.
"As knowledge becomes more easily accessible, the emotional support and practical activities offered within spiritual communities are increasingly vital," he said. Local pastoral care, he emphasized, should highlight participation, interactivity, and a sense of belonging. Churches can create more opportunities for meaningful face-to-face connections through activities such as short trips, barbecues, outings, games, and other social gatherings, enabling believers to build relationships in shared life and thereby nurture spiritual growth.
He cited the example of a Hong Kong church that adopted a "membership system." Under this model, the membership charter requires all members, regardless of where they live, to attend designated gatherings. This focus is not tied to a fixed church venue but to spiritual commitment and belonging. Members worship, share meals, and pray together, cultivating authentic fellowship through consistent group interaction.
In addition to updating pastoral philosophy, Pastor X stressed that local churches must also improve the quality of sermons. Beyond recognizing problems such as spiritual consumerism among believers, he said, churches must engage in self-examination. He spoke candidly, observing that many sermons today lack depth and doctrinal clarity, with content often superficial and perfunctory. Pastors, he added, frequently speak in generalities without sufficient biblical grounding or practical application.
"This kind of diluted preaching cannot effectively build the spiritual foundation of believers," Pastor X remarked. He noted that the tendency of believers to rely on online resources and distance themselves from local churches reflects a deeper issue, a distorted understanding of the church. Many lack a proper recognition of the church as their spiritual home, which he attributed to shortcomings in local teaching.
He emphasized that preaching should inspire believers to renew their worldview, deepen their spiritual practice, broaden their perspective, and transform their way of life. True spirituality, he concluded, is not measured by words alone, but by whether believers continually grow, face challenges, cultivate relationships, and experience God's presence in daily living.
Originally published by the Gospel Times
- Edited by Karen Luo and translated by Poppy Chan
