If someone is saved in Second Life, are they saved in First Life too?
Many of you know of the phenomenon of Second Life, but for those who don’t, the easiest way to explain it is that it is an online world where you can live out your life as someone else. It is kind of like being in a cartoon with a real person behind every character you meet. And you can fly. For more details, see the description on the Second Life website. There are now over five million (yes, million) participants in Second Life.
There seems to be a growing movement by different ministries to begin doing evangelism in Second Life, seeing it as a way to interact with people who may have no interest in going to church in this world. One particular ministry I have been following is LifeChurch.tv, who have been early adopters and innovators in many different areas of technology. They held an Easter service in Second Life this past Sunday, but I have yet to hear of any feedback on how it went. The picture is a representation of their building within Second Life.
So, back to the question, if someone is saved in Second Life, are they saved in this life? I don’t think so. After all, the persona used in the virtual world has no soul. However, by by exposing a participant in Second Life to the gospel, it may spur the person behind the avatar to search for answers back in real world. And in the case of LifeChurch.tv, they have the perfect real world answer: an online campus of their church! Of course, that leads to more questions, but that will be covered in another post.
Lessons From Babel 
Hey Dave, thought I would pipe in. It was a crazy weekend for the Second Life preview. We had 3 planned experiences, but only one went for the full time. Our video server went down. Still we had people who stuck around and waited. Then they stayed for another 1.5 hours to watch the video. This is not like a church experience I have EVER been a part of. It was straight nuts. We had some cussing during the message, some talk of things I can’t mention, some talk of Satan…it was just crazy. These are the people you so want to reach, but never think it is possible because of their perspective and their hearts. These are people who would not even come to our Internet Campus for more that 2 seconds, much less an actual building, stayed for over 2 hours and watched a message about what Easter is all about….awesome! I don’t know exactly how God is going to use this, but already we have seen a message go to those who would have never heard…who would have never listened.
To your question, I believe real commitments to Christ can be made anywhere at anytime. This is a question of the heart of the person who prays for salvation, it is not determined by their location (physical church, bathroom, living room, airport). Salvation is by faith, and that can happen anywhere. This Second Life idea is crazy and can be uncomfortable for many of us, but there are real lives tied to those avatars (and there are some crazy looking avatars :)). As we continue to use technology and go into unknown territory, we ALWAYS have to make the main point the main point. This stuff (Second Life, internet) is just the tools. Jesus is the answer….period. We use these tools to reach a real soul. I believe that if we can somehow introduce real people to the love of Jesus (whether through their second life, the internet, or their real life), he can do exceedingly more than we can ask, think, or imagine.
Can’t wait to read more. Thanks for your dedication to research this interesting paradigm in church tools and methods.
Brandon Donaldson
Internet Campus Pastor (LifeChurch.tv)