Fact: people in Hong Kong queued up to buy dotcom shares of new companies as if they were 'sure wins'. Many who joined the queue did not even know the name of the company the shares of which they were buying.

Fact: thousands of young people in Hong Kong are lost in the ICQ currents, following the norm willingly or unwillingly  sharing porno web addresses, telling lies, trapping others, etc.

Fact: millions in the world have become addicts of pornography websites

Fact: there are hundreds of information technology hardware and software products in the marketplace. A typical consumer does not have the time and knowledge to follow the market signals and to make rational buying/subscribing decisions

Fact: An average citizen does not know whether they should try E-commerce services, as there are both positive and negative views on them.

It is clear that  more and more people in the community are getting lost as information society activities increase.

Should Christians just wait and see? Or let the currents carry them? My answer is no.  Christians should learn how to widen their visions,  be pro-active, distinguish the rights and wrongs and make the correct decisions.

Should Christians and churches help the lost in the information society? My answer is yes. Christians should be salt and light. Christians should serve and love our neighbours.

But should churches (some at least) allocate resources to do this job when there seem to be inadequate funds even for the 'more spiritual' functions'?  My answer is yes. Traditionally churches have for a long time helped the community in apparently 'non-spiritual' programmes such as language teaching, baby-sitting, filling forms for new immigrants, etc. First love and serve, and then evangelise; this should be an effective way.

The big challenge is on 'how'. I can feel that many church leaders know they have to help the lost, but just do not know how to formulate the strategy. I  shall give my views on this in forthcoming messages.

If you want to share, ask or debate, concerning the above, please contact me at clam@kamching.com
 

Charles Lam
July 2000