Indonesia: Christian leaders urge people to use technology to glorify God and build loving community

The Indonesian Bishops' Conference (KWI) and the Communion of Churches in Indonesia (PGI) urged Indonesian Christians to use new information and communication technologies, like social media, to glorify God and build a loving community.

This was said in a combined Christmas message delivered on November 21 by Catholic and Protestant leaders.

"Let us write down opinions, reflections, and sermons that soothe and reconcile the hearts of many people," the statement said, adding that "upload photos about the beauty of living together in the midst of differences that inspire people to care about others and the natural environment." 

The Catholic and Protestant leaders tell their followers to be calm and peaceful in public places to spread the values of fairness, simplicity, togetherness, and justice and to stop hate speech.

‘Let us also have the courage to fight hate speech and fake news that can damage the harmony of living together," the statement said.

In honor of Christmas, the leaders told their followers to be wiser and smarter on social media, more creative in preaching love, and more faithful in upholding moral and ethical standards in cyberspace, so that God's love would spread more and peace would be easier to feel.

"We should use the creative ways that social media gives us to preach so that we can move a lot of people to become ambassadors of love and peace in their homes, churches, and communities," the leaders said in the statement. 

Also, the leaders asked people to think of Christmas as a push to find "another way" that could also be seen spiritually. It means that after meeting Jesus, people no longer live life in the old way but in a new way, becoming a new person.

"Christmas also invites us to find new and creative ways to spread His love to others and all creatures," it said.

The leaders of the Indonesian Christian churches want Christians to walk together in their differences. They were inspired to do this by the stories of wise men from the East who were able to overcome challenges and difficulties on their way to find Jesus.

"As citizens of the nation and members of the Church, even though we are diverse—of different religions, ethnicities, groups, and cultures—we must always walk together so that we can face various challenges and difficulties of life," the statement reads.

"Diversity is a gift from God that must be gratefully received, nurtured, and developed. The diversity that we realize as a gift from God should encourage us to join hands in realizing a more dignified life together," said the statement.

"With a spirit of walking together, the statement said, we can "build a civilization of love in the midst of growing violence, knit harmony in the midst of widespread intolerance, popularize the culture of honesty in the midst of corruption crimes, and echo ecological repentance in the midst of rampant environmental damage," the statement said.

But walking together can only make us stronger if we have mutual understanding, acceptance, listening, and respect for our fellow travelers, who are all people who live in our country. We get rid of negative thoughts and destructive prejudices. 

"We develop a culture of peace and brotherhood," the statement said. 

Around 10% of Indonesia's population (approximately 23.5 million people) is registered as Christian (protestant and Catholic). Around 16.5 million people adhere to Protestant teachings, while another 7 million adhere to Catholic teachings. -Kasmir Nema