Ryan Gosling, the Metaverse, and VR Church
I recently listened to an episode of the Carey Nieuwhof Leadership Podcast where he interviewed D.J. Soto and Nona Jones where they had a conversation about the Metaverse, Web3, VR Church and What's Next Online and IRL. D.J. is the founder of VR Church, one of the first church's to be completely VR. And Nona Jones is the Director of Community Partnerships, North America and Faith Partnerships Global at Meta. As you might imagine, I had a whirlwind of emotions as I listened to this.
They contrasted the difference between Web 2.0 and Web 3.0. If these terms seem foreign to you, you are in good company. Web 2.0 describes the current state of the internet, it is user generated stuff like social media, YouTube, etc. Web 3.0 is the next iteration of the internet that focuses on decentralization and in D.J.'s summary, is a fully immersive experience. The Metaverse, existing on Web3, is a future place that D.J. believes people in the next decade will spend most of their time which includes attending church.
He made a striking remark on the podcast that the successor to the megachurch is the MetaChurch. I don't think this is a positive statement, as I do not think we have seen the megachurch prove sufficient in making apprentices of Jesus (for more on this just listen to This Cultural Moment podcast with John Mark Comer and Mark Sayers). Nona agreed with D.J. and said that "if we really do believe that Jesus is the answer to life's problems, then we have to be where the people are." At this moment, I paused the episode and thought to myself, "Will a virtual reality or augmented reality of church really replace the physical church and be a force to be reckoned with?". In my limited experience, after experiencing much zoom-fatigue during the lockdown in 2020, I was eager to physically gather in community and attend the Church.
This past Sunday I witnessed married couples praying together as they took communion, I witnessed fathers leading their children in prayer as they allowed the Eucharist to form and shape their families. There was just something precious about witnessing this real, physical experience. Â I am aware that not everyone is able to physically attend church due to extenuating circumstances, but my concern is regarding a statistic that Nona shared. She references to how 20% of Americans were attending church before the pandemic and only 40% of them have returned to physically attend church - this means 92% of Americans are not attending church on Sunday.
Listening to D.J. and Nona share on this podcast made my mind immediately jump to the movie Blade Runner 2049, where Officer K (Ryan Gosling) lives with and has an obscure, intimate relationship with AI hologram named Joi (Ana de Armas), a virtual hologram.
Though Officer K is a replicant, an artificial person, he is given meaning and purpose through his romantic relationship with Joi. Though she makes him feel human, the tragedy lies in the fact that this is an illusion. When I think of humans attending MetaChurch it reminds me of this illusion between Officer K and Joi. If something has the illusion of being meaningful, is it still meaningful? Also, as we have seen the negative psychological effects of social media on young adults, what makes us think Web3 won't be any different?
Pastor Alan Frow of Southlands Church in Brea, California tweeted a powerful response to Mark Zuckerberg's vision of church moving to the Metaverse:
"Mark, you have it wrong about the Church. We believe that God took on flesh and dwelt among us. That Christ was raised bodily in flesh and bone. That we are embodied souls who need embodied community."
I feel like there will be something intimate, sacred and ancient lost if the church moves completely to a virtual experience. Is this a new frontier that will breed new opportunities for the Gospel to go forth? Will our lives become even more disembodied, either as avatars in VR spaces or holograms using AR technology? What are your thoughts about the physical gathering of the Church as we are seemingly on the brink of this monumental change?
*As always, use discernment in what you choose to watch. The movie listed above contains objectionable content.