Pastor Joe Burnham, a classmate from the seminary and good friend of mine is a missionary in Denver. He has a number of projects going and one of them is just now coming online – literally online – on the internet. It’s called “Life in the Fishbowl.” In Joe’s own words, the site has two major goals:
- An online community that combines content distribution with social networking to engage the broader online community in conversations on faith, to connect non-Christians with Christians and breakdown misconceptions that prevent dialogue, to nurture all people in the faith, and to expand the Kingdom of God in both the virtual and physical realms.
- A place for people who don't go to church but are searching, doubting, or have other questions, to engage in intelligent and non-judgmental conversations about the faith
In other words, the site is a safe, virtual place to learn about Christianity, to breakdown misconceptions that hinder dialogue, and engage in discussions about the faith without having to actually step foot into a church (something many find very difficult to do.) Ultimately, the goal is to move those people to place in their lives and their faith where they will connect with other Christians and participate in physical world communities – i.e. congregations or house churches. The site is possible due to the generous support of the Lutheran Church Extension Fund, the Rocky Mountain District of the LCMS, LCMS World Mission, and individual donors.
The site gets its name from the idea that a fishbowl is a microcosm of life. Anything living in a fishbowl is dependent upon all the other living things in the bowl. The actions of one fish impact the lives of the other fish. Likewise, each of us live in a fishbowl. Our actions and the actions of others make an impact upon those around us in our community. Because we are so interconnected, we need to frequently ask the question, “What’s the best way for me to live my life in the ‘fishbowl’”? The website is a place for people to interconnect and tackle that question together.
Joe has asked me to be a content provider. So, at least once a month, I will be writing about the Christian worldview response to current events. The site went live on Easter Sunday. You can jump into the tank and swim around at www.fshbwl.com or click on the link on this website’s links page.
