This is a reflection piece inspired by a podcast interview I listened to recently. The guest on the podcast said we are entering what he calls a “Neo-Medieval Period.” This basically means that the current trend in American culture is moving away from reading insightful literature and towards visual stimulus. In a sense we are becoming less literate as a culture. Below are a few of my reflections on the idea. There are three things I would like to reflect on: 1. The trend toward infotainment 2. Underdeveloped critical & analytical skills 3. How to use this for the kingdom
1. Trend Toward Infotainment
Ravi Zacharias shared a few years ago a conversation he had with a journalist while in flight back to America. At the end of the conversation, the journalist said Ravi was in a good position, because he was seeing the true reality in places around the world. The journalist admitted that his job would never allow him to portray the full truth. The only thing the media were interested in were edited soundbites (that presumably fit within their agenda’s narrative). There was no real opportunity for revealing the whole truth.
From 24/7 news channels, to reality TV, to multi-media tools in the classroom, our culture has lent itself to more sensational forms of stimulus. This has had devastating effects on churches and gospel presentations, because it is easy for churches to get bogged down in the way they’ve always done things. “If it worked in the 1950s, 1960s, 1990s, it should work now,” is often a prevailing philosophy. It is plain to see that in many ways, parts of the American church are decades behind where the current culture is. Why is this worth investigating? Because if churches hold to the methods that worked 20, 50, 80 years ago as sacred instead of asking how to reach today’s unbelievers where they are, then we are not being faithful to the Great Commission.
People have instant information in the palm of their hands. They can touch a screen and change their stimulus in a second. The masses today are not reading long thought out treatises of theology and Biblical morality. They are not listening to lectures on doctrine and Christian living.
Most people in today’s culture rely more on passive sensory input-usually visual stimulus in the form of infotainment. Want someone to consider an idea? Animate it in a video that is 5 minutes or less and give it a sensational title.
Don’t get me wrong, I know for most of society’s history has been full of people in the most advanced cultures that don’t spend their time reading up on topics that require a lot of mental concentration. In fact, even in the 1950s, more people were concerned about going to work and paying bills than they were in understanding how to live a Biblical life. However, there was more credence lent to those who did take the time to study. There was a degree of quality control that informed people’s worldview and their lifestyle decisions. That was because there was limited amount of exposure to divergent ideas.
Today, with the advancement of technology, there is also an advancement of media and exchange of ideas. Now since there is so much information that no one can possibly digest it all, they have been conditioned to respond to the things that grab their attention on an emotional level.
Today There Is Lower Critical and Analytical Skills
The safe spaces and trigger warnings in universities are two examples of a diminishing mission to challenge minds in the educational world. Universities were once places where diversity of thought could be developed, articulated, and debated in a respectful manner. Now, they are places where outlandish/ one-sided views are celebrated and anything opposite that are ostracized with violence and protests. Look at the recent University of California-Berkley campus protests. These are not expressions of people devoted to meaningful, reasoned dialogue. These are expressions of emotionally charged intimidation motivated to destroy any expression of opposing views. This reveals an attitude opposed to reasoned dialogue.
I would posit that due to the 1st entry, people are making emotional decisions based on emotional arguments coming from infotainment sources with partial knowledge of facts. There is definitely a driving force behind that, which I won’t get into.
Why is this an issue? Because the populous is getting their information from skewed sources that maximize the visual and sensational elements of modern media. There is an overall lower development of critical and analytical skills. Where in the past there were driving forces to keep information complete and integral to the betterment of society, today those sources (news, internet, YouTube, colleges, etc) are profit driven. Developing critical thought by examining the facts objectively is no longer the motive of authority figures and influencers of public opinions. Now it has devloved into clickbait and emotionalism–much like our first medieval period. Back then, people didn’t read, so things had to be spelled out in images and short phrases (look at any medieval church or painting and that’s what you’ll see). Visual stimulus and emotionally rousing speeches are what attracted attention in the medieval period, not long treatises on dogma. Today it is becoming the same.
There is one difference, however. Back then people knew they were ignorant and went to the more learned people for understanding. They had a lot of practical wisdom, but not a lot of education. Today people have a false sense of knowledge because they have un-scale-able mountains of information. They are not taught how to process information and gain living value from their knowledge. Today’s people know very little and think they know a lot. They are conditioned to ask deep questions dismissively and are not taught how to process the long answers to those questions. We could sit and groan about how bad things are getting with all of this. Or we could ask ourselves, how do we carry out the Great Commission effectively in this culture.
How Do We Use This For The Kingdom
One thing can be said of God’s interaction throughout Biblical history. He is willing to meet people where they are. Many churches today are trying to reach the culture today based on the culture they tried to reach decades ago. In the later part of last century, even the most ardent of lost people had a degree of Biblical knowledge and an understanding of Biblical morality. There was a starting point for the conversations that had a common ground of a Biblical worldview. Today, many people have never been in a church, never seen an open Bible, and only have a soundbite media exposure to what Christianity is.
But wait! There’s hope. Using the same methods the world has been using, we can bring the knowledge of Christ to the masses. We can make short infotainment soundbites that stimulate the motions and appeal to the senses. We can do it with the positive message of the Gospel in good ways.
We can match style for style in the modern world to appeal to a less literate, less analytical public. Much like the 1st Medieval period, we can use images to tell our stories in a way that people can relate to. Our goal is to be like our Father in heaven, reach people where they are for the kingdom of heaven. Today, they are in a visually stimulating, emotionally driven connectivity to media. We can meet them there.
What are some ways that we can reach people where they are? What kind of relatable material can we use to connect with human hearts? How can we use tools like YouTube and Facebook Live to spread the love of God and the message of salvation? What are some ways we can make technology work for the Kingdom, where the world is finding ways to make it work against the kingdom?
What are your thoughts? Let me know in the comments below.