The Gospel and Technology
“Life moves pretty fast. You don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.” - Ferris Bueller
Our church’s Web site and e-mails have been changing. Most of the change comes from my desire to find cost-effective tools that can improve our church’s message of grace. As a result, I’ve spent more time than I care to admit pricing products, building Web sites, crafting e-mail templates, and writing content.
Why bother? There were no graphic design classes in seminary. Jesus never blogged or uploaded content to YouTube. The apostle Paul’s letters didn’t have graphics. It would be easy to wash my hands it all and stick to preaching.
That’s, however, now what we see modeled in the Bible.
Paul used technology (letters) to expand the reach of the gospel. We also see Paul quoting non-Christian philosophers and poets. Paul used Roman legal systems to defend himself. The New Testament was originally written in Koine Greek, the everyday language used in novels, bills, receipts, and graffiti. You could argue that he used the best of the culture so that more people could hear about Jesus.
In his book, The Post-Capitalist Society, Peter Drucker says:
"Every few hundred years in Western history there occurs a sharp transformation. Within a few short decades, society rearranges itself. Fifty years later, there is a new world. And the people born then cannot even imagine the world in which their grandparents lived and into which their parents were born. We are currently living through just such a transition."
The church will survive this transition. Jesus promises that “I will build My church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.” (Matthew 16:18) Our calling is to be faithful to His message as we adapt to this changing culture around us. From letter writing to the printing press and onto the internet, followers of Jesus are called to adapt their methods, but never their message.
In the past few years, we’ve experimented with some new methods:
Livestreaming worship services: Starting as a COVID accommodation, Cascade CRC, like many churches now live stream our services online, so that people who can't attend in person can still watch. It has been wonderful that our shut-ins and traveling church members can still join us.
Online Bible studies and classes: Our new member’s class meets online. We’ve also used this for both completely virtual and hybrid (some people in the room, others online) classes.
Using social media: Social media is a great way to connect with people and share the gospel message. You can use social media to post Bible verses, share articles and videos about Christianity, and answer questions about the faith.
Weekly Emails with videos: I started the Casaced Loop and Wednesday’s Word emails as a way to increase communication and develop an appetite for God’s Word. The Wednesday’s Word emails always contain a brief video that offers a devotional thought.
Many things in life will change. Someday email and social media will be outdated and new communication methods will abound. Through it all, our commitment must be to share God’s unchanging message to an ever-changing, deeply-broken world.
For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes: first to the Jew, then to the Gentile. - Romans 1:16
With You;
