Greetings, Scholars. Let’s explore where we might use our Talents to the glory of God’s Kingdom.
Welcome back to the Reformer Newsletter: Scholar’s Edition, where holders of a ReformerNFT can take a deeper dive into various projects and activities in the greater Web3 world. You have joined this community to contribute to our collective mission of building for Christ’s Kingdom, and we will use this newsletter as a platform to enable that.
Recognizing a time of opportunity
Since the ministry, death, and resurrection of Jesus, believers have recognized two great truths:
Trials and troubles are a guaranteed part of our lives, and the chaos felt when the world appears to be falling apart will cause many to doubt their core beliefs.
Paradoxically, times of trials, trouble, and doubt have provided the best opportunities for the Kingdom to grow.
Jesus spoke directly to this in the Gospel of Matthew-
You will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See to it you are not alarmed, for this must take place, but the end is not yet…and you will be hated by all nations for my name’s sake. And then many will fall away and betray one another and hate one another. And many false prophets will arise and lead many astray… And this Gospel of the Kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.
Matthew 24:7, 9-11, 14
If we step away from a narrow view of falling crypto markets and collapsing NFT prices and view the greater socio-political/economic trends we can see such chaos, doubt, and grief around us. There is war in Europe, a promise of unrest across much of Asia and the Middle East, and in the US the leaders of the world’s largest economy are pursuing a policy of “the financial beatings will continue until inflation improves.”
As Disciples of Christ we know what must be done: to faithfully execute His command to make disciples of the nations, to hold our hope in His promise of peace that surpasses understanding, and to confound the principles of the world by showing love to both friends and enemies. Within the Reformer Community we believe that this can be accomplished across Web3 platforms and utilizing the new tools being developed in the world of the “Metaverse.”
Below, we highlight some people, projects, and organizations who are doing interesting work in this space. Some may be explicitly faith-based, some not. Regardless, we want to highlight the work being done and encourage you to be a light in these dark times. We’re gonna make it… Christ told us so.
Reformers Project Spotlight
This week, the Project Spotlight from across the Reformers community is… this newsletter.
We are experimenting with various formats and cadences for these newsletters, and the form we are moving to is this:
Pilgrim’s Edition: bi-weekly for the entire Reformers community. Intended to engage a broader audience interested in learning how we might leverage new digital tools and infrastructure (call it Web3, the Metaverse, etc.) for the purpose of expanding God’s Kingdom. Introduce the Christian community to new tech practices, and simultaneously introduce the crypto creator community to Gospel Truth and Christian principles. See obligatory Venn diagrams below…
Scholar’s Edition: weekly for NFT holders only. Meant to empower that growing community to get involved in more projects by highlighting the good work being accomplished. Encourage Reformers to go forth and do great things. “What would that look like in Venn-form?” you ask…
As with all good projects, we are still prototyping, testing, learning, and iterating. The key to that iteration is feedback- so please let us know your thoughts in the Discord!
Do you have a project you’d like to highlight in the next Scholar’s Edition? If so, drop a DM to Johannes Talbotus and Pr0ph3t to let us know.
Web3 Project Highlights
LAMINA1: Neal Stephenson, the author who coined the word “Metaverse” (in 1992), wrote a novel about cryptographically-enabled digital currencies (in 1999), and tops my list of potential candidates for “who is Satoshi Nakamoto?” has just announced the launch of a new company- LAMINA1. This company will build a new blockchain which will provide the base layer for an Open Metaverse (and an implied competitor to Facebook Meta?). The founders’ vision is to create a space “that privileges creators, technical and artistic, one that provides support, spatial computing tech, and a community to support those who are building out the Metaverse…make space for and support the people doing the work, and good things will happen.”
Speaking of the Metaverse… what is it? I recommend checking out this article from a16z which outlines core building blocks and the tradeoffs facing creators in the space. TL:DR… the Metaverse is not a VR version of the game Second Life, but the infrastructure-layer that enables digital property rights, self-sovereign identity, open source development, and interoperability of tools.
If we view the Metaverse as an infrastructure upon which we use Web3 tools to build and reform institutions, what does that mean for Christians trying to get a position in this space? Do we create a Metaverse of our own? Or do we recognize opportunities to get involved early in the Metaverse and become key contributors and stakeholders?
StoryDAO: An interesting project which seeks to give “individuals the opportunity to collaborate with established Hollywood writers and artists to create and co-own the next generation of culturally relevant story franchises.” What could this mean for investing in and contributing to artistic ventures? What could this mean for the future of intellectual property and content ownership?
To learn more about StoryDAO, I’d also recommend checking out this episode of the Not Boring podcast to listen to an interview from the founders. (Note and warning: there is some explicit language on this podcast)
With the high quality production and critical success of the crowd-funded telling of the Gospels in “The Chosen” (full disclosure, I have not watched it yet, so this is not an endorsement!), does this financial model represent the next best hope for Christian artists producing high quality content?
Community Updates and Announcements
Join the Reformers Radio hour on Twitter Spaces this Monday, June 27 at 8:00p ET where we can discuss NFT NYC 2022.
Speaking of that event, how about this picture? Turns out, this “protest” was a publicity stunt for an NFT project. But, c’mon, using the “God Hates NFTs” slogan paints believers in a weird light. What do you think? Is it fair to cast Christians as always existing “in opposition to something” and not as groundbreakers, explorers, dreamers, risk-takers, and reformers?
The Call
The Reformers is a community of Christ followers who want to continuously explore new tools which can extend the reach of His Kingdom. If you want to lean in and support that mission, check out a Reformers NFT, become a patron of the community, get news and updates to start building with us, and help us run this race with endurance.