| In our lifetimes our society has gone through one of the most significant changes in the history of mankind. We have seen the coming of the space age, the calculator generation, and the computer whiz kids. We have seen unbelievable advances in science and technology. We have lived through the first walk on the moon, and the rapid transportation and mobilization of populations. But the challenge before us as Christians is whether or not we know the changed society well enough to understand it and relate to it. Have we considered how the church must relate to that society, and whether or not it is doing so? John Naisbitt, author of MEGATRENDS: Ten New Directors Transforming Our Lives, writes: As a society, we have been moving from the old to the new. And we are still in motion. Caught between eras, we experience turbulence. Yet amid the sometimes painful and uncertain present, the restructuring of America proceeds unrelentingly . . . The restructuring of America is already changing our inner and outer lives. Here are some examples: (1) Although we continue to think we live in an industrial society, we have in fact changed to an economy based on the creation and distribution of information. (2) We are moving in the dual directions of high tech/high touch, matching each new technology with a compensatory human response. (3) We are restructuring from a society run by short term considerations and rewards in favor of dealing with things in long term time frames. (4) In cities and states, in small organizations and subdivisions, we have rediscovered the ability to act innovatively and to achieve results. (5) We are giving up our dependence on hierarchical structures in favor of informal networks. Naisbitt outlines five more equally important "megatrends" in our society today, but the above examples are sufficient to alert the church to the primary issue: How do we relate, communicate, minister, exist, and grow in this kind of changing environment? Look at the trends: no longer is our economy and welfare dependent upon building machinery which we sell all over the world. We have become creators and processors of information. No longer will machines simply replace people, but people must be trained or changed to relate to the highly technological nature of their environment. No longer can we eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow isn't important; rather, we must be future-oriented and make decisions today which will affect the generations to come. No longer do the structures dictate what is right and wrong, but they must be recreated to communicate right from wrong in a changing society. Has there ever been an age so tailor-made for the church? Ministry in the Information Age Yet, most of us in the church will be forced to admit, upon honest reflection, that though we feel these changes in our bones, it seems as if there is very little that we can do with them or about them. When it comes to the proclamation and ministry of the church, the safe thing to do is what we have always done. The safe way to exist is to be what we have been, a part of the structure and fabric of the community, but somewhat unrelated to it. The secure strategy for maintaining a congregation and building in our neighborhood is to be exactly what that congregation and community wants us to be. The problem is that our thinking, our attitudes, and consequently our decision-making have not caught up with the reality of things. Like so many other important changes in our lives, this change to an information age is so fundamental yet so subtle that we tend not to see it, or if we do, we ignore it. To do so is to jeopardize our present and our future. Out of touch with the present, we are doomed to fail in the unfolding future. This is true for the church as an institution as well as for the businesses and society structures around us. Somehow we must release the death grip of the past and deal with the future. We must understand this new society and the changes it brings. We need to rethink our goals and objectives to fit the new nature of what we are all about. This profoundly new age, in which we are called to be communicators, demands that the Christian community at large, and the institutional church specifically must make a new attempt to creatively and effectively use the media in the presentation of the historic Christian faith. The Media in Ministry The experts say right now in the United States alone there are more than 8400 radio stations, and more than 980 commercial and noncommercial television stations. Statistics show that at least 96 percent of the homes in this nation are equipped with television sets, and that about 98.5 percent of American homes have at least one radio on the premises. As people we watch at least 5-7 hours of television each day, and listen to the radio between 3-4 hours per day (switching dials 2-3 times in that period). Children on the average watch at least 20 hours of television each week, and by the age of 16, they will have seen well in excess of 300,000 commercials. These statistics are not new but the questions they raise are important: "What are the far-reaching impacts of the media culture? What basic differences do all of these communications technologies make in the lives of individuals and in the structure of our society? How do Christians react to the birth of an electronic culture? What is the responsibility of the church in a world influenced and formed by these media?" While there may be some disagreement on all the questions and their answers, there seems to be general agreement among most communications researchers that the more personal the medium, the more effective it is likely to be in the communication process. Thus, the one-on-one encounter of two people engaged in conversation is superior to the one-way broadcasting, which, in turn, has advantages over the printed media. What does this mean in terms of the ministry of the local church considering a media ministry? It means that no one can be as effective in reaching the people in your community as you can be as a local church. The personal contacts your church has with its neighbors and friends have greater potential to influence and communicate than do the national networks and religious broadcasts. But the potential effectiveness of the media must not be overlooked. Especially when accompanied by a personal presence in a community, the media can substantially influence the way in which people think and respond. Let me restate the conviction that nothing can replace or match the effectiveness of a local congregation committed to personal evangelism in a community. The personal presentation of the gospel story accompanied by a life that demonstrates the truth of what is spoken is the single most significant force in the growth of the church throughout the ages. However, when the local church recognizes the power and potential it has to use the media as a complement to and expansion of that personal presence in a community, the effectiveness can be measured immediately! Recognizing that we now live in an information society, the church can become the institution and the "person" to give meaning and purpose to those attempting to find their way in this age. When one examines the history of the church and its involvement in the media it is encouraging to see a greater interest and concern today in the local congregation. Laymen, along with pastors and denominational executives, are beginning to push for action on behalf of the church with respect to the mass media.
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