Page 20 - church magazine 2018
P. 20

W                                 hen we






                                                                                                   look at the
                                                                   point). Believe it or not, both were cut- A
                                                                                                   pages of the
                                                                                                   New Tes-

                                                                                                   tament, we
                                                                                                   see the writ-
                                                                   ings of St. Paul. Do you know what
                                                                   he was writing with? A pen. Do you
                                                                   know what he was writing on? Paper

                                                                   (technically papyrus, but you get the


                                                                   ting-edge technologies back in the                       ccording to Barna research,          L                        ike St.
                                                                                                                                                                                          Paul, the
                                                                   day. From our humble beginnings,                         the most common way Mil-                                      21st-
                                                                   the church has always found ways                         lennials (18 to 29) are blend-                                century
                                                                   to communicate the Gospel message                        ing their faith and technol-                                  church       I            n short, technol-
                                                                   through any and all means avail-                         ogy is through the digital                                    has an                    ogy needs theological

                                                                   able. Now it's our turn to shape the                     reading of Scripture. It’s an           unimaginable opportunity                        guidance;  it cannot
                                                                   next era in church history. You have a                   escalating trend, considering           in social media to extend                       serve very well as its
                                                                   role in determining where the church                     there are just as many You-             the borders of God's King-                      own god.   And the-
                                                                   goes next and it largely depends on                      Version (the free Bible phone           dom online. The methods                         ology. has its own
                                                                                                                                                                                                          internal imperative to address
                                                                   your response to two words: social                       app) downloads as there are             have changed, but the mes-
                                                                   media. But the underlying power in                       Instagram downloads. And                sage remains the same. Social         technology ; Therology is is

                                                                   social media is not the technology or                    BibleGateway.com has become             media requires a new way of           a reflection on the ultimate
                                                                   the platforms or Gangnam style. The                      one of the top Christian web-           thinking. It moves the church         sacred, center of life,meaning
                                                                                                                                                                                                          and value and it cannot rest
                                                                   power comes from human beings con-                       sites today.Seven out of 10             from her position of the dis-
                                                                   necting with one another all around                      of practising Christian Mil-            tributor of religious instruc-        in silence or error with respect
                                                                   the globe.                                               lennials (70%) read Scrip-              tion to participatory and open        to technology , the dominat-
                                                                                                                                                                                                          ing force in contemporary
                                                                                                                            ture on a screen. One-third of          source.
                                                                                                                                                                                                          life.
                                                                                                                            all Millennials say they read
                                                                                                                            sacred Scripture on a phone
                                                                                                                            or online, demonstrating how
                                                                                                                            broadly the digital trends are
                                                                                                                            shaping this generation.














      20                                                                                                                                                                                                                       J AN  2018







   church magazine 2018 .indd   20-21                                                                                                                                                                                              20.01.2018   02:50:28
   15   16   17   18   19   20   21   22   23   24   25