Beyond Digital Villages: Why Online Community Is Not Enough

Online communities can provide encouragement, teaching and connection—but can they replace people who actually know us?Prompted by Tony Reinke’s 12 Ways Your Phone Is Changing You, Kent, Alex and Frank discuss the difference between a digital village and embodied Christian community. They explore echo chambers, cultural and generational diversity, the awkward work of developing friendships, hospitality, corporate prayer and the temptation to consume community without helping create it.Real community includes people we would not necessarily choose. It requires time, inconvenience, disagreement and the willingness to remain present when leaving would be easier. Sometimes the person you wish would invite you is waiting for you to make the first move.What kind of community has shaped your life—and whom could you invite into it?