Over the past fifteen years, the exponential growth of reality shows have dominated television programming. There are even channels dedicated to reality TV. Of course, as we all know, such reality shows are far from being “real.” Nevertheless, these shows and their apparent popularity revealed how expansive this cultural itch has proven to be for this generation which has enjoyed the scratch of American pop-culture. However, as often is the case for Western society, we are seeing an invasion from the East. No, I am not talking about yoga or Eastern mysticism. I am talking about the virtual world of Kaneva.
Kaneva is the fasting growing virtual world on the Internet. Currently it has 4,848 communities connecting 115,548 people across the world. So what exactly is Kaneva?
Kaneva is a virtual world where you can create your own 3D home and decorate it with your own unique style. You can also explore hangouts, theaters, clubs, etc. as well as watch and share videos, throw a dance party, and chat with friends while playing games. The developer noted that Kaneva is MySpace and Facebook in 3D. Kaneva even allows you to accessorize your home with your own idiosyncratic style, showcasing your eclectic blend of what you consider the coolest trends. Currently, there are over 67,000 uploads onto Kaneva of videos, images, music, and games.
Kaneva has a slogan which says “Virtual World: Where Communities Become 3D Venues.” In Asia alone, Kaneva has attracted tens of thousands of people, mostly young, to the virtual world. I find this cultural trend fascinating as a generation that has been raised on a quest for reality is now on a hot pursuit for virtuality. In the real world where so many have experienced heartache, isolation, and fragmentation, the virtual world has much to offer. A virtual world affords a person the ability to develop their own world, safe from the fears, frustrations, and pain waiting around the corner in everyday life. In such a place, they can create their own world and control their environment as sovereign. Virtuality allows for community without authenticity, identity with anonymity, and friendships without commitments.
Furthermore, for those who do not like the “reality show” of their live, this virtual world is an opportunity to create “my world as I like it.” For those who always lived in the shadow of another, virtuality allows the possibility of becoming a virtual celebrity, vicariously living out a personality as an actor in a movie or a puppet in a play. On could easily imagine how one could spend invest their real lives in such “3D venues,” seeking to get what they otherwise have not receive in the world in which they live. Yet I have been wondering how a Christian with a biblical worldview and missionary mindset should think about Kaneva. As it continues to grow and expand in the United States, Christians will need to be able to address the emerging cultural phenomenon of virtual worlds like Kaneva–a world which for many is their “real world.”
Let me pose some questions to consider, questions that you can feel free to answer or discuss:
1. Could Kaneva be considered a “mission field?”
2. How should Christians use such technological trends to engage the culture?
3. What are some of the greatest dangers to Kaneva? Greatest prospects?
So what do you think? Here we have people in our world searching for community, some possibly searching for a new identity and a new world. This puts a new twist the whole idea of being “in but not of” the world. The irony is that in our highly individualistic cultural ethos, more and more people, especially in the younger generation, are voluntarily providing disclosure of their life and lifestyle, seeking people to share life and discuss common interests. Tragically, I fear that so many people will spend so much of their real life wishing they were someone else living somewhere else, only wasting their real life in the process. Furthermore, what do you do when you have real hurt and needs? Who from the virtual world can reach you? What is a “virtual hug” really worth? When you are sick, how could someone in the virtual world care for you when there is no “virtual hospital?”
As a Christian there is no such thing as ministry in a virtual world. Yet there is possibly the opportunity to reach out to people with the real, life-transforming message of Jesus Christ. I suspect that many want their lives changed, so they develop such an alter-ego for an alter-world. Yet such a world does not exist, and such a change is not real. I am not so sure that those digging Kaneva will ever find a church or steeple (personally I hope they don’t), but they might just find something that is “for real”–namely a real Savior who has entered a real world to embrace sinners through his death on a cross.
amen!
“…there is possibly the opportunity to reach out to people with the real, life-transforming message of Jesus Christ.”
thanks! i found your blog in such a “lucky” way! providence!! love His ways!!
press on!!!!!!!
I totally agree!
I too had been thinking about these new virtual communities as possible “mission fields”.
What we are seeing now is just the tip of the iceberg. These virtual communities will continue to grow as technology develops and expands.
Perhaps this would be a new way for some of the techies in our congregations to penetrate the world with the Gospel. The possibilities are limited only by our imagination.
Amazing isn’t it? Could it be a mission field. Yes.
I’m continually amazed at where God opens opportunities for me, usually where I least expect it.
In fact, someone posted to a friends blog once, he was an aethist and I recognized it immediately. I was able to talk to him for a few minutes.
I do think, in the case of this virtual world, we need to remember WHERE we are (in this case ARE NOT)
Agape and happy hunting.
Thanks for enticing some interesting thoughts. Initially, I find hesitation with doing “missions” in the virtual world simply for the fact that the fullness of Christian community could not be experienced through a computer screen. I don’t doubt that the gospel could be clearly communicated via cyberspace in such a way that could result in faith (Rom. 10:17), but then I wonder how the process of growing as a disciple could be accomplished outside a physical, local body of believers. Now I am not anything of a gamer, much less a virtual world citizen, so I wonder if authentic community could really be experienced by people who are potentially thousands of miles apart. Can this exist when the only “contact” with another believer is through a digitally created image? As you have pointed out here Timmy, there are aspects of the “old era” community that couldn’t be accomplished in this new virtual age. I can’t seem to put my finger on what exactly makes gathering together with believers such a refreshing haven for me, but I am pretty certain I would not be able to experience the same community in a virtual world. I would be interested to hear the perspective from any virtual world citizens out there.
Hebrews 10:25
CandyR,
I agree with your statements. So much of the world today is looking for conversation, whether through discussion boards, MySpace, Facebook, blogs, etc. through the Internet which is the most impersonal medium available and thereby does not require a person to be authentic or transparent.
Yet from all the stats, reports, and reality checks, this digital generation who is technically savy but communally defunct is by and large going unreached by the church. How are we going to reach these young people? Is there a way that we can contextualize the gospel to reach them in a way that would help overcome the impasse which looms so large and indicts our evangelistic practices?
The Internet churches, virtual worlds, and Christian discussion forums are unacceptable for biblical community, yet I fear for some, that is all they have. These cannot replace the local church. Yet, how will those who have a desire to reach such people build a bridge from the virtual world to the local church? That seems to me to be a daunting task.
I would assume it to be true that most of these people who have created an identity for themselves in a virtual world must also have a day job. By this I mean, people don’t sit in front of their home computer ALL day entranced in their virtual world. These people are among us everyday. Now, granted more and more businesses can be run from your home, I would tend to believe that the typical person with a code identity on-line is someone we encounter more often than we think.
In an internship I had at a cooperate company one summer, I met lots of these guys. During the day, they were such and such engineer or computer scientist. But based on conversations with a few I grew acquainted with, I soon found out that their true joy in life was the next round of some RPG or episode of a classic sci fi series that was waiting on them at home. I was even shocked to witness a man who cashed in several days of his vacation to go to a national gaming convention.
My point in sharing this is not to belittle these grown men whose hobbies were quite a bit different than mine, but that I believe my best opportunity to impact them with the gospel was everyday while at work and not through a virtual world. It was here that I could interact in a real, physical context and they could see the “light” of my work ethic and hear words from my own mouth that were hopefully seasoned with “salt”. I would like to think that if I could have worked there longer, I could have grown into a trusting friendship that would have been an adequate “context” for evangelistic practices.
For what its worth, at least in the meantime until a humbly orthodox means of evangelizing and discipling the virtual world comes around, I believe the best way to reach these people with the life changing message of Christ is to walk around to the next cubical or have lunch in the cafeteria where you and these people work. We should break out of our own virtual masks and jump into awkward conversations about the hidden powers recently discovered in new video game release. Once I did, I found that I actually had more in common with those guys than I thought, despite the fact that it seemed we spoke different languages at times.
In a broader context, if the church would become intentional about relationships with REAL people they see everyday, we might just find a way to penetrate the communities that gather after working hours. And as for the younger generation Timmy alluded to, they are no further than the classroom where our younger church generation has direct physical access. Perhaps after these unidentifiable persons become known, befriended and loved by a Christian who genuinely cares about their spiritual welfare, they will desire more of that fellowship and attend a local church.
(P.S. I am new to the blogosphere and would welcome any comments/critiques to my posting – thanks for the avenue to share)
I have to respectfully disagree (with love!).
While I appreciate your views (they make sense–you can never and should never try to replace live interaction, nor the assembling of ourselves together physically on a regular basis–that’s based on scripture), I will not attempt to limit God’s influence in any area of our lives, even virtual. Jesus is Lord of all, even the internet. God is not limited by time, nor space–not even cyberspace.
Interestingly, I have recently been praying over this as I just discovered the popularity of virtual worlds and pondered whether and how I could be a vessel of God in them. I was “seeking His face” on the matter, as it were, and doing research when I found this thread (also not a coincidence, I think I was supposed to voice this here). As has been commented earlier, many people will never be reached any other way but “virtually”, if you will. Moreover, I believe in proclaiming the Word with every available “voice”, including a virtual one. Behind every virtual avatar is a live human whom God loves, whom Jesus died for on the Cross.
I have decided to “lean not unto [my] own understanding”, God often works in ways mysterious to us and which have us marvelling, but He knows what He is doing. Just the notion that we are even discussing this as a possibility is His doing, I believe. Exploring what is possible, while all the time being led by the Holy Spirit, allows God to move as He has longed to for many years. I say allow Him to work through you in every way He wants to work.
Respectfully Submitted,
Cat