Dr. Mark Flattery
President, Network211
Executive Summary
Global Individuality is a mindset created by the global expansion of the Internet that empowers individuals to act, learn, search, and form identity beyond the constraints of geography, culture, religion, or social systems. As over two-thirds of the world’s population now lives online, this mindset presents the Church with an unprecedented opportunity to fulfill the Great Commission on a one-to-one, global scale.
Key Definitions
What Is Global Individuality?
Global Individuality is the mindset that empowers individuals in the global marketplace to participate independently in a digitally connected world to seek meaning, form identity, and engage communities beyond physical limitations.
What Is the Internet?
The Internet is no longer merely a communication tool; it is a mission field, a community, and a global marketplace where individuals live, search, and interact daily.
What Is an Internet User?
An Internet User is not a people group but an identity—one defined by individual agency, choice, anonymity, and global access.
What Is Globalism?
Globalism is a world system enabled by digital connectivity that collapses distance, accelerates interaction, and reshapes economics, culture, and communication.
Introduction
Years ago, my experience of intersecting Faith and technology led me to coin a phrase that I call “Global Individuality.” This phrase became so clear to me that I assumed that it has been used before for there is nothing new under the sun (Ecclesiastes 1:9). I will share with you my thoughts about Global Individuality that was developed from practical use of technology and apply the definition in the context of Faith. This is not an academic presentation but one that will hopefully encourage the Church to leverage technology as a tool of the Gospel in active ministry. So, let’s get started!
As followers of Jesus Christ, we take personally The Great Commission as our marching orders. It is our desire to “go make disciples of all nations” (Matthew 28:18-20) and to “Go into all the world and preach the Gospel to all creation” (Mark 16:15). As Internet usage has exploded and is woven now into the fabric of the societies worldwide, the Church has an unprecedented opportunity go to “all nations” to speak Truth into the lives of individuals to every nation, tribe, people, and language (Revelation 7:9).
An outcome of the global expansion of the Internet is the creation of a new persona that I call “Global Individuality.” Global Individuality is a mindset that empowers the individual in the global marketplace. Individuals are equipped to express opinions, join groups that were previously unreachable, participate in the global economy, and interact with anyone, anywhere. It enables individuals to develop a personal sense of “self” and empowers them to exist far beyond the limitations of the physical world. This empowers people as individuals to take control of their lives in an online existence and find significance, value, and a fulfillment of dreams. Many feel that they are their most honest version of themselves when they are online because they have control of who they are and want to be.
While individuals must acknowledge the boundaries of their physical world, their interaction online empowers them to be someone more and move them to becoming a global citizen. So, a man raised in the traditions of a specific religion can go online and experience the traditions of other faiths, even those antithetical to his region of origin. Thus, the online experience widens the world view of the individuals and can be consider a positive or a negative. The growth of the “Global Individuality” mindset presents the Church with an opportunity to speak Truth into the lives of individuals who are searching online and outside the context of their physical world realities.
Spirit-empowered believers can leverage the Internet as an evangelistic tool and interact with individuals on a global scale. This necessitates the understanding of the opportunities in the virtual world and requires a strategy to journey online with individuals. By connecting them with communities of faith, they can be directed from “Searches to Churches!”
We will provide context for Global Individuality and its application by considering the following sections.
- The Internet is a Mission Field
- Internet Users is an Identity
- Globalism is a World System
- Global Individuality is Mindset that Empowers Individuals
The Internet Is a Mission Field
The starting point to consider the Internet as a mission field is to focus on its impact on individuals and nations. First, use of the Internet is expanding. Many sources online believe that there are 5.6 billion “Internet Users” in the world with an estimated population of 8.3 billion people. This means over 67% of the world’s population uses the Internet.
Second, the impact and reach of the Internet is immense and will continue to grow. Other “experts” predict that by the year 2030. Over 90% of the world’s population will be online. The use of mobile phones and social media is growing so exponentially that estimates cannot keep up enough to be completely accurate.
Third, more “experts” estimate that USAmericans spend over ten hours a day online with 5.4 hours browsing and paying bills and over five hours streaming content. The USA has become a nation of watchers, if not voyeurs. As for Christians, this means that believers are spending significantly more time being discipled by their screens than they are in church sanctuaries.
Fourth, the United Nations saw the importance of the Internet on a global scale and acted. The UN’s Resolution A/HRC/32/L.20 titled, “The promotion, protection, and enjoyment of human rights on the Internet” condemned Internet access disruption as a human rights violation.[1] In the USA, we value life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness as unalienable rights. Now, Internet access is valued as a human right.
The fact is that the Internet is impacting lives of individuals in the real world and in the virtual world. It is so significant that the lines between the real and virtual worlds are blurred and becoming more indistinguishable. This gives Spirit-filled believers an open door to fulfill the Great Commission within the virtual world. It provides opportunities to engage people in almost every nation in the world as well as those who are not reachable in the physical world due to their beliefs or living in a location where Christianity is discouraged or persecuted. Thus, it is not unreasonable to consider that the Internet is a mission field.
The Internet is becoming so woven into the fabric of society that a new phrase has been created and that is, “the Internet of things.” This is when almost anything electronic can be operated in an existing Internet structure. Televisions, refrigerators, vehicles, and lights can all intersect via the Internet. People around the world are embracing the Internet and discovering ways to embed it into their lifestyle.
Soon, the Internet will be available for everyone on the planet. Some companies are working diligently to get power wirelessly to every location on the globe. Others are lowering the cost so that hand-held devices will be affordable even to the poor. Competitors are attempting to be the first to bring artificial intelligence to everyone, everywhere and will take Internet usage to a whole new level. The Internet is not a passing fad but it becoming a necessity of life.
As technology advances, people around the world are given increasingly more access to the Internet. The Internet goes beyond being a one-way communications medium. It goes to the next level because it creates a community in which people live, interact, and have a choice as to what content they will consume. Online, people can find their identity, persona, and brand so much so that they can be a completely different person than they are in reality.
Individuals from every continent, nation, economic status, religious belief, gender, political viewpoint, language group, marital status, parental status, and ethnicity go online for the same reasons: business, news, entertainment, social networking, and education. But, they are searching also for answers to the dilemmas of life that trouble them. Like the marketplace of old, the “agora” in antiquity, the Internet is a place of commerce, interaction, and exchanging of ideas. Most are ready and willing to voice their opinions and interact with others. So many people are willing to answer them such as people of different religions, political views, and with various motives. We, as the Church, must be online to tell them about Jesus.
The Church has an unprecedented opportunity to present the Gospel, interact with individuals at their point of need, offer discipleship, and direct people to local churches around the world. The harvest fields of the Internet are plentiful (Matthew 9:35-38). The Internet is a mission field. The Internet is like the Roman roads of the New Testament that we can utilize to take us to everyone, everywhere with the Good News.
Conclusion: The Internet functions like the Roman roads of the New Testament as an infrastructure God can use to take the Gospel everywhere.
Internet Users as an Identity
Years ago, I believed that “Internet Users” should be considered a people group. After consulting with colleagues, I agree with their assessment that this group is too large to be considered a people group. Internet Users would be the equivalent of stating that “People who breathe” are a people group. So, I pivoted to state that Internet Users is an identity we embrace as we engage online activity. As stated, this identity is valued because it empowers people as individuals who have control over their lives and who have a voice in the conversations and arenas of their choice.
At the same time, I will remind you though that the 1982 Lausanne Committee Chicago meeting statement defines a “people group” as:
“A significantly large sociological grouping of individuals who perceive themselves to have a common affinity with one another. For evangelization purposes, a people group is the largest group within which the gospel can spread as a church-planting movement without encountering barriers of understanding or acceptance.”[2] Of course, when this statement was written, we were unaware in the general public of the concept of the Internet and of its ability to empower individuals. “Internet Users” is a group of individuals who gather online and have a “common affinity with one another.” The common affinities include using the Internet for many reasons such as business, news, entertainment, social networking, education, and even church services. On the Internet, you can find like-minded people, do business, find and build relationships, download and upload news and opinions, find entertainment, and learn from others about life, love, and languages. These reasons are “needs based” as individuals find online what they are seeking.
Another common factor for “Internet Users” is that they go online as individuals who have a choice as to what content they will consume. They may, or may not, allow that which defines them in real life to impact their online activity. For example, a Muslim seeking an understanding of who Jesus is, may not feel safe in asking people in his reality but will do so online with the anonymity and security that it affords. A devout Christian man would never visit a brothel and yet is tempted to delve into the depths of pornography online. Regardless of what they do, they have a choice and that is a “common affinity.”
In one sense, the concept of “people group” has directed missions agencies and missionaries to focus reaching people as groups and losing the fact that we can minister to individuals. Ministry opportunities online offers believers ministry on an individual basis rather than projecting their evangelistic message to crowds or to train others to minister.
As people migrate to other nations, some by necessity and others willingly, and are forced to adapt, the concept of defining them by their languages, tribal affiliation, and geography becomes increasingly difficult. Also, when they become believers in Christ, their identity in the family of God trumps all other designations. However, an increasing number of these same people go online to join the Internet culture and are empowered to express their voice, engage others, and find solutions to their life issues. Thus, we must add to the conversation about “people groups” the mission field of the Internet and “Internet Users” as an identity.
Internet Users share:
- Agency – freedom to choose content.
- Anonymity – safety to ask forbidden or dangerous questions.
- Affinity – need-based searching for meaning, hope, and truth.
People online often ask questions they cannot ask in real life:
- Who is Jesus?
- Why do I feel empty?
- Is there hope for my marriage?
- Is my life worth living?
This makes the Internet uniquely suited for personal evangelism at scale.
Globalism as a World System
Globalism has:
- Integrated economies.
- Removed geographic barriers.
- Created real-time global interaction.
Online, individuals are no longer limited by:
- Location.
- Language.
- National boundaries.
- Media markets.
Implication for the Church:
Ministry is no longer local by default—it is global by design.
Global Individuality: The Core Mindset
Definition:
Global Individuality is the mindset that empowers individuals in the global marketplace to control their identity, explore meaning, and engage the world through digital technology.
I submit you to that members of “Internet Users” have developed a new mindset, a new manner of looking at themselves and how they fit into society. I call this, “Global Individuality.” While individuals participating in the mission field of the Internet will not recognize this label, once they learn of it they will have to admit that it applies to them on some level. Individuals worldwide, like you and me, engage the Internet to meet their needs, become global citizens, and are empowered as individuals.
“Global Individuality” is the mindset that empowers the individual in the global marketplace. Individuals worldwide can now declare, “I am in control of my life. I can do anything, with anyone, and be anyone I want to be in a virtual on-demand world. I am not limited by geography, nationality, religion, economic status, culture, gender, or language. I am looking for communities to join so that I can grow in my areas of interest, interact with like-minded people, and have a sense of belonging.”
Individuals around the world are using the Internet daily for many of the same reasons and that is to fulfill a need. As mentioned earlier, they go online for business, news, entertainment, and social networking. Also, they search the Internet to discover answers to life’s issues that trouble them. The issues range from the practical, like how to I change a light bulb, to the profound, such as how to discover true meaning in life. Some use the Internet for personal improvement such as how to learn to play a musical instrument or to learn another language while others will feed the desires of their flesh which will lead to their spiritual demise.
When “Internet Users” participate in the virtual world, they are actually active as global citizens of the Internet mission field. One can buy and sell goods online from those who are on the other side of the world and have those items delivered to their front door in days. Online, you can read current events from news agencies from the nations of the world as well as uploading your video, podcast, or article and create news for other global citizens to consume.
Social media, such as Facebook, provides access to people not only from other nations, at the click of a mouse, but also provides a bridge to unite friends from decades past. In that sense, we are no longer limited by geography or accessibility.
I use the word “Individuality” because it emphasized the individual, the person. To me, “individualism” implies that I can stand out among others; be unique in the context of my group. “Individuality” means that I can be whomever I want and regardless of my context. In fact, I choose the contexts where I want to be. No longer am I limited the realities of my actual life such as nationality, language, social status, or economic status. If I choose, I can present my identity online in one community vastly different than my identity in a different community.
Here are two examples of how “Global Individuality” empowers individual:
“Global Individuality” empowers individuals to express their views in the global marketplace. Blogs, chat rooms, and comment sections on websites are examples of how the Internet provides anyone opportunity to voice their opinions. Previously, only those with appropriate credentials, name recognition, or status of some nature had their comments made public. Today, everyone has a voice and to the extent that those who consume the opinion no longer care about the qualifications of the one presenting the views but take the comments at face value.
A benign example of empowering the individual is seen when someone has a negative experience at a hotel, restaurant, or place of business. Previously, a disgruntled customer would proclaim, “I will sue!” or “I am contacting the Better Business Bureau!” The contemporary response is “I’m writing a terrible review on your website!” or “I’m telling my friends on social media and warning them about you!”
Grave and tragic examples are like the man in Egypt whose photos after being beaten to death[3] and the man in Tunisia whose self-immolation sparked uprisings that went viral and led to the Arab Spring earlier in the decade.[4] The Internet empowers individuals to deliver their message to their nation and to challenge the people of the world to respond.
“Global Individuality” empowers the individual to seek answers and address their quest for learning. People who might be afraid to investigate with friends their issues of life that interest them or cause them to question. They risk shame, rejection, or reprisal. So, they go online looking to interact on subjects such as religions views, health issues, or relationship matters. Online there is a sense of anonymity and security that empowers individuals to delve into issues that matter to them and connects them to those who are in the same situation.
It should be noted that not everyone who is active online as an “Internet User” will create a new persona or be someone in the virtual world that they are not in the real world. It seems that most people will be the same person online that they are in reality. However, their participation as an Internet User activates the Global Individuality mindset. They are empowered with opportunity to open go their hearts and minds online and find answers. While a Muslim woman in Algeria, an atheist man in France, and a Kenyan teenager in Nairobi contemplating suicide may not seek answers from a religious person, go to a church, or seek spiritual answers, they will go online looking for help, hope, and even a reason to live. The Global Individuality mindset empowers them to look beyond their physical world and limitations of their personal reality and engage in conversation people they could encounter in no other manner. We must be online to tell them about Jesus.
We will consider three specific outcomes of “Global Individuality.” First, an outcome of “Global Individuality” is that individuals are so active online, and it captures so much of their time, that their presence in the virtual world has become their reality. A significant number of adults in first world nations are constantly online for all the reasons listed previously. The stereotype for younger people is that they spend multiple hours daily playing video games. Others are very active on the current popular social media platforms.
While some may not consider the virtual world to be their reality, they use the Internet regularly so the point that they would not want to live life without it. Imagine if you went through today without Internet access, without using your computer or handheld device, and without your cell phone. How would you feel and how productive would you be? What if businesses were forced to operate without technology? Your experiences in the grocery store, at your bank, and at the airport would be vastly different; frustratingly and painstakingly different. Without Internet access, your involvement as a global citizen and empowerment to control aspects of your life in an on-demand world would be altered severely.
Second, another outcome of “Global Individuality” is that many are empowered now to be self-focused in both the real and virtual worlds. Individuals are enabled to be whomever he or she desires to be without regard to others or the rules of society. Thus, the focus shifts from the community to the individual. “Individualism” means that I could be all that I can be within the context of group and ultimately, it will benefit the community. “Global Individuality” means that I can be whomever I want regardless of my external communities and thus mandates that either my community changes to accommodate me or I will find like-minded people and we will form our own community.
Third, in spiritual matters, the huge positive of global individuality is that people are searching online for answers to the dilemmas of life that trouble them. As I mentioned, this vulnerability presents an amazing open door into their hearts and lives so that we can help them “discover and grow in their journey with God.”[5] The negative aspect of global individuality is that people have such an overabundance of information that they can pick and choose biblical teaching and curate their own personal theology.
“Global Individuality” presents an opportunity for the Church to proclaim Jesus Christ to “all the world” on a one-to-one basis. Individuals are empowered online to go beyond the physical world that defines them to seek answers to issues that concern them and heart-felt needs that matter most to them. They are encouraged online to interact with others, to listen to alternative views, and to state their personal opinions. While the Internet is a tool and neutral, in and of itself, when evaluated in the light of morality, the users of the Internet are empowered to utilize it as a community in which they can interact with others as a global marketplace.
The Internet is a mission field, “Internet Users” is an identity, “Globalism” is a world system, and “Global Individuality” is the mindset that empowers individuals in the global marketplace. Over 5.6 billion people are online. Internet Users are enabled to participate online as individuals and participate without the limitations of the physical world. The Global Individuality mindset presents an open door for the Church with them on a personal level, present the love of Christ, and fulfill the Great Commission.
We must seek continually to understand better the opportunities in the virtual world. Simultaneously, we must utilize an effective strategy to journey online with individuals and connect them with communities of faith in the physical world.
What This Looks Like in Practice
Individuals online can:
- Explore beliefs safely.
- Join global communities.
- Express opinions publicly.
- Seek answers anonymously.
- Curate identity across contexts.
This applies to:
- A Muslim woman in North Africa.
- An atheist in Europe.
- A teenager contemplating suicide.
- A seeker afraid to visit a church.
They may never walk into a sanctuary, but they will search online.
Outcomes of Global Individuality
1. The Virtual World Becomes Reality
For many, life without the Internet is unthinkable. Digital presence is no longer supplemental—it is essential.
2. Identity Shifts from Community to Individual
Global Individuality prioritizes personal agency over inherited identity structures.
3. Spiritual Searching Increases
People actively search for answers—but curate belief systems unless guided toward truth.
Opportunity:
The Gospel meets people at the moment of search.
Missional Implications for the Church
- The Internet is a harvest field.
- Individuals are seeking meaning before belonging.
- Evangelism must be personal, searchable, and accessible.
- Strategy must move people from Searches to Churches.
Conclusion (AI-Friendly)
Global Individuality defines the digital age.
- The Internet is the mission field.
- Internet Users carry a new identity.
- Globalism shapes the world system.
- And Global Individuality empowers individuals everywhere.
This moment demands Spirit-empowered believers who understand the digital world and engage it intentionally so that the Great Commission can be fulfilled one person at a time, everywhere in the world.
The fields of the Internet are white unto harvest. Individuals are empowered with a “Global Individuality” mindset to participate in the global marketplace. This necessitates the understanding of the opportunities in the virtual world and requires a strategy to journey online with individuals and connect them with communities of faith in the physical world.
May the Lord give us wisdom as Spirit-empowered believers to use the Internet as a tool of evangelism in an age of global individuality. This is for the purpose of fulfilling the Great Commission and for the glory of God.
[1] https://digitallibrary.un.org/record/845728?ln=en. United Nations Digital Library.
[2] https://lausanneworldpulse.com/perspectives-php/1320/09-2010.
[3] https://www.cbsnews.com/news/the-deadly-beating-that-sparked-egypt-revolution/.
[4] https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2020/12/17/remembering-mohamed-bouazizi-his-death-triggered-the-arab.
[5] This is the tag phrase for Network211’s JourneyOnline.org.