There is a place you can go through life without anyone knowing who you “really” are. You can do things that you would normally be totally scared to do as they could damage your reputation, ability to work, or even cause you physical harm. Social pressures to be a certain way or act in a particular way are removed. You have the freedom to create yourself in anyway you want and present yourself as any kind of person you want to be. What would you do? How would you act? What places would you go?

I am not speaking about a psychological experiment or even the Internet in general but about a place online called Second Life. This virtual world allows you to create yourself in any way you can imagine. So how are people “living” in this virtual world? Some are making life long friends who may (or may not) meet in the outside world. Others are living lives that they feel they can not in the “real” world. Moral and ethical values (and lack there of) have moved from the “real” world into this virtual reality. I’ve even read that Second Life recently had a “terrorist” attack.

But in this “world” where you can have total anonymity, there are people who are using this cover to seek out answers to the spiritual questions that they have. That’s why its so cool to hear about a church who has decided that this will be one of their mission fields and have “bought” 16 acres and “built” a church. LifeChurch.tv has spent quite a few hours developing a safe environment for people who are seeking answers to their questions and are searching for them in this world made of ones and zeros.

People who are in need of knowing God’s love are everywhere including the “virtual” worlds. If we are to reach the whole world, these places are to be included.

To know more about Second Life, see Wikipedia’s page
To know more about LifeChurch.tv’s virtual campus on Second Life, see their blog