There is a movement afoot among Christians (unlikely to be those reading this column, I’ll grant you) who want to take us back to simpler times.
Stressed and distressed and unable to keep step with the inexorable advances of science and technology, they wish for a time when there were only 4 TV channels to choose from instead of 1000's through cable TV and the Internet, for a time when books not DVDs filled people's bookshelves, for a time (sans email, sans fax) it took a leisurely week to get a reply to your carefully handwritten letter, for a time of reading by candlelight while the gas lamps dimly light the cobbled streets outside, a pipe clenched in our mouth puffing away, leatherbound volumes filling the mahogany shelves of the study (OK, too far" ).
The desire is understandable.
It can be stressful (or the positive alternative " exciting) dealing with our rapidly changing world. There's even been a word coined for what people are feeling " technostress. And who hasn't wished at one time or another to unplug and disconnect from the onslaught of digital interruptions and invasions of our time? However, going back in time to the 1950's or going Amish or sticking our heads in the sand till it all goes away isn't the solution. Certainly not for Christians…
Christians have been at the cutting edge of technology previously and have even driven new technologies, the best example being the printing press and Guttenberg’s goal to get Bibles into the hands of ordinary people. (And yes, I know the institutional church of the day wanted to stake Galileo, etc., but I'm talking Christians, not organisational entities.) With the unprecedented technological acceleration happening now, shouldn't we do the same as our forefathers? Drive innovation or at least get on board with it to take the great news of Jesus Christ to more people?
And there's no need to throw the baby out with the bathwater. There's a lot that is good in our Christian history and tradition and practice that can be salvaged (and modified) for the New Millennium. But ye olde worlde is passing, and the appeal of ye olde worlde is to an increasingly shrinking and dying group.
This is why I'm much impressed by that venerable organisation, the BGEA (Billy Graham Evangelistic Association), and their mission statement:
"To spread the gospel by any and all means."
Bring it on!
Andrew is Sydneyanglicans.net's resident digital scholar and the pastor of the Asian Bible Church (ABC), a congregation of St Andrew's Cathedral, Sydney, and the organiser of the Queen’s Birthday Convention.
