Technology and the Church

Technology – Friend and Foe  Neil Postman “most people believe that technology is a staunch friend … it makes life easier, cleaner and longer … It’s gifts are not without a heavy cost … it creates a culture without a moral foundation. It undermines certain mental processes and social relations that make human life worth living”

Technology and the Church Exposing the problem that technology has created in communicating Theology, Doctrine, and the Gospel

Technology and the Church  What problem?  The History of our communication problem.  Text Me – Communication Today!  What are the current communication tools?  From Smoke Signals to Books to Twitter  What is the problem with today’s communication tools?  What should we then do?  Is this a fad or a paradigm shift in communication?

What Problem?  Remember When? People would travel from miles around to listen to a three hour debate.  Lincoln-Douglas Debates Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address was an anomaly Two hour sermons brought revival instead of a pink slip.  Chicago Newpaper Reporter re: Abraham Lincoln (1858) "Of his speech I will only say that it lasted three hours, and that during all that time the whole audience seemed perfectly wrapt in attention"  Timothy Turner “Consider the old preaching model…hearers came to church with a sober-minded sense of responsibility to pay attention to and to concentrate on the sermon … regardless of whether or not the sermon was effortless to hear or enjoyable to experience.”

I Don’t See a Problem…TV  I don’t even remember the 60’s and 70’s More than POT and LSD Sesame Street, the Great Educator  Not Lazy, just streamlined Active to Passive My Job to Your Job Work to Entertainment  Learning in the 80’s and 90’s Tell ME Why I Should Listen! Be Quick – Re-engage Me! Entertain ME!  Neil Postman “Our culture’s adjustment to the epistemology of television is by now all but complete; we have so thoroughly accepted its definitions of truth, knowledge, and reality that irrelevance seems to us to be filled with import, and incoherence seems eminently sane.”  Timothy Turner “Every adult in your congregation has watched 30-40,000 hours of TV … the people to whom you preach have a love affair with TV.”

Nothing u do 4 the lord is in vain. I have a hard time recognizing God in the middle of everything Nice shirt JVo The more I press in to Him, the more He presses me out to be useful Sometimes healing is painful To be selfless, humble He has given me so much … could you in your church? I Still Don’t See a Problem… twitter

Talk to Me!  The Technologies IM / Texting Blog  Personal  Facebook  Discussion  SharperIron Twitter  The Style Short Messages Coherency and Cohesion Optional Multiple Conversations  George Barna “technologies have begun to rewire the ways in which people (especially the young) meet, express themselves, use content and stay connected.”  TIME “the creation of Twitter … is as significant and paradigm-shifting as the invention of Morse code, the telephone, radio, television or the personal computer.”

Smoke Signals?  Communication Mediums Smoke Signals Books Twitter  Marshall McLuhan “The medium is the message”

What Should We Then Do?  Remember Step 1 Admit we have a problem  Challenge the Source of the Problem

Technology and the Church - Recap  History of our Communication Problem  Some Current Communication Tools  Problem with Today’s Communication  Fad or Paradigm Shift?

Bibliography  Gilley, Gary E. This Little Church Went to Market – The Church in the Age of Entertainment. Fairfax VA : Xulon Press,  Postman, Neil. Amusing Ourselves to Death – Public Discourse in the Age of Show Business. New York : Penguin Books,  Postman, Neil. Technopoly – The Surrender of Culture to Technology. New York : Vintage Books,  Turner, Timothy A. Preaching to Programmed People – Effective Communication in a Media-Saturated Society. Grand Rapids, MI : Kregel Resources, 1995.

To Continue the Discussion 