Message Date: August 17, 2025

Analog Community, Part 1

Victory Life Church — Sunday, August 17, 2025

Part 1: “Real Relationships with Real People”

Scripture Reading

Romans 12:9–16 (NLT) ⁹ Don’t just pretend to love others. Really love them. Hate what is wrong. Hold tightly to what is good. ¹⁰ Love each other with genuine affection, and take delight in honoring each other. ¹¹ Never be lazy, but work hard and serve the Lord enthusiastically. ¹² Rejoice in our confident hope. Be patient in trouble, and keep on praying. ¹³ When God’s people are in need, be ready to help them. Always be eager to practice hospitality. ¹⁴ Bless those who persecute you. Don’t curse them; pray that God will bless them. ¹⁵ Be happy with those who are happy, and weep with those who weep. ¹⁶ Live in harmony with each other. Don’t be too proud to enjoy the company of ordinary people. And don’t think you know it all!

Introduction

In a June 2017 speech, after Facebook crossed over 2 billion users, Mark Zuckerberg claimed Facebook is “the new church” and that the social network can take on the role that religion once did in giving people a sense of community. In this speech, he gave the newest direction the social media platform giant was going to take concerning their “groups.” He said groups on Facebook could give people a sense they are part of “something bigger than ourselves” akin to a religious congregation, saying people could find “purpose and support” online that previous generations found by going to church. In his speech, he said only 100 million Facebook users are part of what he called a “meaningful community,” as he defined these Facebook groups, wanting the 100 million figure to rise to 1 billion.

Facebook: The New Church?

Zuckerberg laid out his lofty ambition, suggesting Americans are in need of something to unify their lives. He says, “It’s so striking that for decades, membership in all kinds of groups has declined as much as one-quarter…That’s a lot of people who now need to find a sense of purpose and support somewhere else.” He added, “If we can do this, it will not only turn around the whole decline in community membership we’ve seen for decades, it will start to strengthen our social fabric and bring the world closer together.”

So this is the question: Is it? Has Facebook become the new church?

In a fiery response to Mark Zuckerberg’s claims, writer and journalist Peter Ormerod says,

“At their best, churches offer a perspective on life fundamentally opposed to the culture Facebook encourages and upon which it feeds…For one, churches are messy. They are not organized by any algorithm or tailored to the individual end user. Far from it…We can’t just flick past the bits we don’t like: we are confronted with discomfiting Bible passages, impenetrable mysteries, harrowing truths. Unlike Facebook, a church tells us that we are not at the centre of the world…There is a place in the world for Facebook; there are times when I would rather be confronted with a picture of a cat than with a glimpse of eternity. Yet a good church is more than just a social network: it’s a place of transcendence, space, silence, peace, devotion, richness and depth. No matter how grand Zuckerberg’s visions may be, they will never compete.” ~ Peter Ormerod

We all need real relationships with real people in real spaces.

The Human Need For Community

We all long to be seen and known.

We all long to belong with a people we can call our own.

We all want to be loved; none of us wants to be rejected.

We all need real relationships with real people in real spaces: analog community.

2 Challenges to Analog Community

1. Digital Substitutes and Counterfeits
2. Consumeristic Approaches and Frameworks

Digital Substitutes and Counterfeits

Social media, specifically, and digital technology in general, at its best, simplifies and streamlines communication, a necessary component in relationships and community. It also presents us with an opportunity and an ease of connection, having ties to people all over the world and from throughout our lifetime (old friends and loose ties).

But at its worst, social media and digital technology accommodate a superficial belonging, allowing us to hide behind a curated and highlighted version of how we present our lives to the digital world. It also encourages a voyeuristic perspective on other people’s curation of their lives.

“Social media in particular lures us in under the guise of connection, but beneath this mask is the reality that social media, and digital spaces as a whole, are for the most part lonely places… they are fueled by voyeurism—that broken inclination within each of us to peek behind the curtain of other people’s lives. Rather than connecting us, the voyeuristic nature of social media actually detaches and distances us from one another, as we find ourselves running aimlessly on the treadmill of comparison and contempt. We feel like we can see one another’s lives, but none of us ever feel truly seen.” ~ Jay Kim

The reality is that, now that we are a decade or so into this new world, digital technologies and social media, though helpful in many ways, have also given us an illusion of belonging, community, and companionship, but have been unable to fully deliver on its lofty promise of helping us cultivate deep friendships; these require presence, patience, and depth. Most often, we are simply left comparing our lives to the curated lives of others, making us feel hollow, unseen, disconnected, and lonely.

Isolation and Loneliness

For all the massive technological breakthroughs and incredible social connectivity, it seems as though there have been quite a few unintended consequences.

In a 2018 study done by the insurance company Cigna on loneliness, they found:

Nearly half of Americans reported sometimes or always feeling alone (46 percent) or left out (47 percent). One in four Americans (27 percent) rarely or never feel as though there are people who really understand them. Two in five Americans sometimes or always feel that their relationships are not meaningful (43 percent), and that they are isolated from others (43 percent). This is data before COVID-19.

“[Loneliness is] not just making us sad: It can literally make us sick. Loneliness actually has the same effect on mortality as smoking 15 cigarettes a day, which makes it even more dangerous than obesity.”

Loneliness is being caused by “A spiritual drought. A generation raised online, surrounded by noise but starved of closeness, absorbing highlight reels while silencing their own pain.”

“Meaningful social interaction was seen as key to reducing isolation… more face-to-face conversations are needed.”

Sadly, 2020 data shows an overall increase in loneliness to 61 percent.

“If we are honest, we are losing our ability to build meaningful connections and friendships. As we continue to live in this world with frequent surface-level interactions, we find ourselves settling for distracting substitutes when really we long for more belonging. We just have no idea how to get there.”

Digital community can be compared to our country’s ubiquitous, highly processed food. You get the same calories, but with little to no nutritional value, and yet an addiction develops. Oreos, for example, are engineered to light up your brain like drugs would.

Digital community is similar: at its best, it can be a “treat” or a small addition or supplement to a real, analog community. But at its worst, it’s highly addictive, and empty of its “caloric” health benefit. Take “likes and comments,” they’re highly addictive because of the desire for attention and acceptance. Digital communities, instead of being a small supplement, have become substitutes for the real thing. Analog community is “less tasty, less addictive,” harder but “healthier” for us.

Digital community should (at most) be a supplement, not a substitute for analog community: real relationships with real people.

There is an academic study from earlier this year that found how social media can help older adults who are socially isolated feel less depressed and more positive, but it doesn’t work the same way for those who are experiencing emotional loneliness. People who feel lonely and use social media a lot may actually feel worse, compounding negative emotions. In other words, social media can be a useful tool for staying connected when someone lacks in-person contact, but it’s not a good fix for the deeper emotional problem of loneliness. There are times when, temporarily being isolated, digital connections can help maintain the connection with real relationships (travel, illness, etc.). However, again, digital community and connections are, at most, a supplement, not a substitute, for analog community.

2 Challenges to Analog Community

1. Digital Substitutes and Counterfeits
2. Consumeristic Approaches and Frameworks

Consumerist Approaches and Frameworks

A 2018 Pew Forum survey was conducted to discover why people attend church:

1. To become closer to God,
2. So children will have a moral foundation,
3. To make me a better person.

In the results, there is no mention of community or belonging to something bigger than oneself, nor is there anything concerning contribution to the kingdom of God and His mission on earth. This is clearly indicative of the modern American approach and framework toward the church as consumerism. The framework looks at the church similarly to any other company, organization, or club: how does this benefit me?

“This is the ultimate paradox of the digital age: at the moment in human history when technology allows us to be more connected than ever, we are so very far apart, to the point that our very understanding of ‘community’ has devolved into a sort of collection of isolated individuals.”

A whole generation of American Christians became so used to being spoon-fed, consumeristic, that they never learned to feed themselves. A.W. Tozer prophetically saw where this was going. He said:

“Why should believing Christians want everything pre-cooked, pre-digested, sliced and salted, and expect that God must come and help us eat and hold the food to our baby lips while we pound the table and splash—and we think that is Christianity! Brethren, it is not. It is a degenerate bastard breed that has no right to be called Christianity.” ~ A.W. Tozer

In a more recent work concerning discipleship and dealing with consumer Christianity, Canadian Pastor David Im writes:

“The drift into [Christian] consumerism starts when disciples see the church as something to watch instead of something to be. When they see churches being full of people, not family. When they come to take, not give. When church becomes optional, not central. And when everything in the church becomes transactional instead of sacrificial.” ~ David Im

Analog Community

Our task in the modern age of digital connectivity and consumeristic approaches to church is to become an alternative, a deep and genuine community of belonging, friendships, and sacrifice.

What does this mean? And what will this require of each of us? This is my challenge to our church: who can lead the way in doing the uncomfortable work of real relationships? In contrast with and being an alternative to digital communities:

“Digital communities are convenient and customizable…analog communities are different. When we show up, in the flesh, it’s not as easy to unfriend, unfollow, and block.”

This is the hard work of real relationships; they require us not to orient our lives around our preferences or conveniences. People are challenging, sharing our lives together is hard and uncomfortable. It’s risky and messy. But the key is that we see this as a core element of our discipleship to Jesus, fulfilling His call for us to be His church, His body.

“Analog communities are not based on preferences but on presence.”

Romans 12:15 (ESV)¹⁵ Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep.

Romans 12:15 requires us to step into real community with real people and their real lives in real time and in real space. We have to become present to people in the highs and lows of their lives to fulfill Paul’s admonition here. This is not something a text or comment alone will satisfy.

Stories

Urias NICU [Pics]

Durant — Larra (postpartum)
Sherman — Joseph Quesada (Youth Pastor)
Sherman — Jay Howell (Critical Injury)

Conclusion // Integration

“There is a reverse correlation between the comfortability of Christianity and its vibrancy. When the Christian church is comfortable and cultural, she tends to be weak. When she is uncomfortable and countercultural, she tends to be strong.” ~ Brett McCracken

Evaluate and Pray: Where have I excused myself from real relationships with real people, using digital connectivity as an excuse to not engage in relationships?
Reach out to someone you trust, share with them the possible next steps that you could take in your discipleship, and ask them to help you select one. What do the two of you sense God is inviting you into as you head into the fall?
If this is your home church, analog community is a part of your transformation, and I would encourage you to stay connected over the coming weeks to become better equipped to take those next steps into the analog community of our church.

Stories

Larra Richardson (Durant): Larra, one of our staff members here in Durant, delivered her second baby earlier this year and experienced what many mothers experience in the highs and lows of emotions in postpartum: a sense that God was not near and that she was alone.

Larra recognized this and asked for people she trusts to be with her, even though it wasn’t comfortable, in the fight against loneliness, worry, and despair. They brought her food, prayed over her, checked on her daily, and sometimes just sat with her. Because she asked for real people to be with her and kept communicating with the Holy Spirit through all of it, she came out on the other side closer to God than before.

Larra said, “Over the following weeks, I asked the Lord, ‘Where were you, Lord? Why did I not feel your presence when I felt so alone?’ I was so grateful for the breakthrough, but confused by what I’d experienced. He told me ‘I showed up for you through my people. I sat with you, I interceded for you, I held you, I gave you My Word, I fed you, and I cared for you through the hands of my people. You encountered my healing through the community around you.’”

Joseph Quesada (Sherman): Joseph, one of our youth staff members in Sherman, shared the story of when he was 15, on the night his dad confessed his adultery to his family, Joseph immediately called his youth pastor. He thinks the call was around 12:30 am on a Tuesday, and he almost instantly picked up. He stayed on the phone while Joseph processed everything. The next morning, his youth pastor picked him up and took Joseph along with him through everything he had to do at the church, just spending time with him over the next few days, just letting him be angry, sad, and confused.

Joseph says this, “I can honestly trace much of the man I am today and my strong desire to be in ministry back to this time. Seeing Taylor not always have the words to say, but still being willing to be present with me and pull me out of that situation, remains a driving force in the kind of pastor I aspire to be.”

Jay Howell (Sherman): On February 10th, Jay Howell (from our Sherman campus) had a horrible auto accident while working in Utah, and was care-flighted to Salt Lake City. While in a coma, his wife and her dear friend, Crystal, flew out together to see him. Crystal, after a week with them in the hospital, came home to take care of their matters back home. After many surgeries and a month in the hospital, Jay and his wife wanted to go home for his recovery.

While exploring medical transport options, they found the cost was far too high. Their friends from Minnesota, Dave and Jennifer—who are a paramedic and a nurse—offered to fly to Salt Lake City and help. Since the hospital would only release him with medical support for the trip, their offer was an answer to prayer. They flew to Salt Lake, helped his wife prepare a rental van with a mattress, and drove him home, taking turns caring for him and driving. Once home, they set up the house, arranged his medications, and surrounded them with the love of Jesus.

Jay says this about the whole thing, “It’s incredible how God surrounded us with people who were willing to minister to us in such a profound and effective way, by being PRESENT!!!! My relationship with these beautiful people started out some time before, with me ministering to them, investing in them spiritually. Then they wound up helping us even more than they realized. God wants us to be sacrificial and present for each other, and my dearest friends certainly were that!