THE MESSAGE: A SPIRITUAL PERSPECTIVE
As Steven Pinker noted in The Stuff of Thought, “The nature of reality does not dictate the way that reality is represented in people’s minds…And the ability to frame an event in alternative ways is…the source of the richness of human intellectual life.” When we consider the Christian message and its central figure, Jesus Christ, Pinker’s observation takes on an even greater meeting. Jesus Himself famously asked His disciples, “Who do you say that I am?” For the Christian, this is the most important question in human life.
As we consider the impact of new media on the Christian message, there is no avoiding the spiritual dimension of this message. Like all spiritual perspectives, the Christian religion rests on faith in the truthfulness of certain claims, particularly claims about the nature of human life, the existence of God, the direction of history, life after death, and many other transcendent questions. This diversity of claims has a central, unifying message in the gospel of Jesus Christ. To this message we will turn our attention…
…But first I’d like to offer some baseline thoughts to any non-Christians reading this (candidly, I hope most of my readers are non-Christians). Whether one believes in a particular form of Divine revelation, or a syncretistic combination of forms, or a lack of such forms, one’s beliefs about these fundamental questions are faith-based and spiritual. Thus, everyone brings certain spiritual biases and assumptions to the party.
In my case, I believe the Bible is the one and only source of inerrant self-revelation of God to man. This is a foundational doctrine of Christianity. I recognize that my Muslim friends hold this view regarding the Koran, while other faiths believe spiritual revelation arrives through other means, such as the pursuit of detachment from natural things.
Likewise, the naturalist or secularist perspective—so dominant in modern science, philosophy, education, and mass media—clings to deep spiritual assumptions, even when its adherents argue against the existence of Divine Revelation or its relevance to public life. All of us are spiritually-minded, even the most intense atheist or naturalist. Therefore, I hope my non-Christian and even my anti-Christian friends will consider this portion of the essay applicable to them, even if it arises from one Christian’s perspective.
The universality of spirituality is critical to understanding new media. The creators of any media content hold certain spiritual assumptions which will inevitably be communicated to the audience in some way. Because life’s transcendent questions are universal, they create a rich source of inspiration for media content. This should not cause us to be defensive, but to pursue Contextual Dexterity in order to understand one another better. The greatness of American religious freedom is that this is our common spiritual heritage.
Fact is, the new media marketplace is intensely diverse and pluralistic, and all participants from all worldviews should expect to engage competitively with other views. This can be done with candor and (hopefully) grace. Christians should take the lead in this, for it reflects a key differentiator of the Christian message—the call to love one’s neighbor, and even one’s enemy.
As new media accelerates spiritual engagement between various worldviews, the cream will rise to the top. If one particular piece of Divine revelation is indeed from God, then the content arising from adherents to that revelation should be different. It should be inherently authoritative, coherent, and correspondent to life as it really is. The Word of God claims this very thing for itself.
The Word Made Flesh
How will the Internet hinder or accelerate the advance of the gospel? With the natural implications mentioned above as the backdrop, I believe new media can accelerate the advance of the gospel if more Christians pursue Contextual Dexterity. CD is a technical way of saying Truth with Love (I use this term from the title of Brian Follis’s great book on Francis Schaeffer). We certainly do not need to use my term. But we do need to enter this window of opportunity and become Christian sages in the areas to which we are called.
Here’s why: If the gospel functions as the unifying theme of all Biblical teaching, we should allow its redemptive them to bring unity to the diversity of topics which a Christian communicator should address. Using new media in this way can magnify the Word against a diverse, disconnected backdrop that lacks a true unifying theme that will ultimately bring harmony to all areas of one’s life.
Here’s how: The center of our message and our example should be the “Word Made Flesh.” In this concept, we see the proper unification of both the natural and spiritual.
John’s gospel begins, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” John identifies the Word as Jesus Christ, the promised Savior of the world. He is the Word become flesh. Not a word. Not the words. The Word is our message. The writer of Hebrews tells us God has spoken to us through His Son Jesus, who is the exact imprint of God’s nature, the One who upholds the universe by the word of His power. Jesus is the medium of God’s self-revelation.
Combining these teachings, we see that McLuhan stumbled onto something glorious when he stated, “The medium is the message.” Jesus is the Word of God. He is the medium and the message of God to the world.
Jesus makes this connection in John 15. In verse 4, He tells His disciples, “Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me.” A few verses later, He tells them, “If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples” (emphasis added). To abide in Jesus, His words must abide in us.
The Bible teaches a fundamental connection between Jesus and the Words of Scripture. This makes the Christian message both textual and human. If our use of new media does not reflect both faithful orthodoxy and humble incarnation, we have missed the mark.
Conversely, we will hit the mark when our use of new media flows from our spiritual rootedness (i.e., “abiding”) in the gospel of Jesus. From this posture, we can trust the teaching of Jesus of Luke 12:12, that the Holy Spirit guides the words of His people when we are called upon to declare and defend our faith.
When we drill down further into the Biblical concept of The Word, again we find unity and diversity in an unbreakable partnership. Scripture is a collection of books written over 1500 years by dozens of authors. Yet, it is a unified whole that combines a wide range of genres, writing styles, audiences, and situations around the central message of God reconciling sinners to Himself through the mediating work of Christ.
This unity-in-diversity, rooted in the Trinity, should be the hallmark characteristic of all Christian messages using the new media. So many of the issues of our time can be resolved with a right application of unity-in-diversity.
Consider Jeremiah Wright’s fiery words about race in America. There are deeply naturalistic roots behind the idea of race. Darwin’s Natural Selection created a biological basis for slavery. Farrakhan’s Nation of Islam believes white people were created by an alien scientist. Do the answers offered by these worldviews to the problem of racism in America ring true?
Christian pastor and author Thabiti Anyabwile offers a Christian alternative. He has argued from his pulpit for a replacement of this idea of race with a Biblical idea of ethnicity. In the Biblical account, all humans are descendent from common parents (not of the one-celled variety). Adam and Eve bore one race of children—the human race. All distinctions based on skin color are a wrong view of diversity. Ethnicity is a fluid concept where diversity of looks, language, and cultural experience find roots in our single set of parents.
Following this concept of unity-in-diversity, I believe the effective use of new media should incorporate a wide range of strategies and styles, as suits the occasion. The broader the application of the gospel, the more the gospel is magnified. If the mantra is “truth with love” we will steer the right course, even in head-to-head engagements with other worldviews vying for influence. The truth and love of Christ—expressed so powerfully through His sacrificial life and death—finds no peer in this world. We should be confident.
Split the Difference
I see this confidence in the young people of my church in Gaithersburg, MD. This rising generation possesses theological training, faithful examples, and new media skills. I have seen my peers and younger with clear ability with a musical instrument, a camera, an Internet business, a blog, or an ability to freestyle a hilarious radio program at any moment. For many, their skills await an outlet to use these tools to further the Great Commission. Many also seem to await a resolution to the Fact/Value split in their minds.
In her landmark book, Total Truth, Nancy Pearcey uses the term “Fact/Value Split” to describe a false dichotomy that has arisen in churches over the years. This split tends to overemphasize our spiritual lives to the neglect of our calling to be salt and light in this world. Pearcey shows how kind of thinking tends to marginalize the Christian message into areas of personal practice, church life, and the family. Of course, we must not neglect these vital areas of our lives, but there is much more prepared for us to do (Ephesians 2:10).
I believe a generation of young sages across Christian churches is pent up and ready to emerge, once they are led through the Fact/Value split to see all of life from a Total Truth perspective. My hope is that more Christian leaders will help their young people theologically deconstructing this falsehood, while training them how to pursue a robust, comprehensive view of live that starts with Christian presuppositions that are fleshed out in response to every question one faces.
The Christian worldview is not a formulaic application of Scripture, but a rich intellectual life led by the Holy Spirit. There is great diversity of perspective across the body of Christ, and this indeed contributes much to the richness of human intellectual life. Armed with the unity that comes from a Christ-centered life and worldview, Christian sages can again be among the greatest contributors to all areas of intellectual life. From such positions of incfluence, we can “lift our eyes and see the fields are ripe for harvest,” (John 4:35).
I recognize that many people will reject this entire spiritual argument. This points to one of the hardest things for Christians to learn moving forward. I believe it will be a key to our effectiveness. If nothing else, we should be known as that odd bunch that respects and embraces those who reject us and our message. Church history is full of arrogance and self-righteousness towards unbelievers. If the culture of Christian new media rejects this deadly pride, the Christian message may have some wide open doors to a broad impact, perhaps launching a revival. If not, not.
A Word on Stewarding Christian Ambition
My hope is that more Christians will use the unique power of interactive media to be “quick to listen and slow to speak” (James 1:19). The world does not need more noise from untested or impatient voices. If Christ is our model, then God will work in “the fullness of time,” so we can pay our dues patiently. To quote my man Marty Jackson, “We need more people with shovels and less with clipboards.”
This is not to quell one’s ambition. There is much reason for godly ambition. There are and will continue to be myriad opportunities to use new media to communicate the Christian message. I am certain that it can bring transformation across all areas of life when applied properly. Reality is that the hardest problems are not easy to solve. Therefore, I only wish to call upon Christians—especially young believers—to use new media first as humble learners, to roll up our sleeves together and study the people and problems around us.
I suggest three tactics to start. First, Christian messengers should take the time and use the Internet to develop a virtual “board of advisors.” There are proven experts across the blogosphere to be engaged, voices that had no outlet before. For example, through a web search I recently discovered Daveed Gartenstein-Ross and his contributions to the Counterterrorism Blog. This was on a Tuesday, and by Friday I was also able to meet him personally and begin a friendship. His work is now contributing much to my thinking about radical Islam. He is now on my board of advisors.
Second, one should study those topics most relevant to one’s calling in the marketplace. Even if other topics seem more interesting, stay focused. Get wisdom. You need to know who the key players are in your field, what the underlying challenges are, and what solutions have worked in the past. Read Hugh Hewitt’s In But Not Of. Know your field of service. Find an “angle of attack” to apply the appropriate Biblical doctrines to resolve real problems (Dennis Peacocke of Strategic Life Training taught me this).
Finally, one needs to incorporate sound doctrine into the process. Get Grudem’s Bible Doctrine or Hodge’s Systematic Theology. Download sermons by John Piper, CJ Mahaney, Tim Keller, Thabiti Anyabwile and others. Most of all, open up your life and thinking to faithful friends and pastors in your local church. The Bible’s teaching on remaining sin should remove all self-reliance in this project. As we shift our focus to using new media, let us ever pray “Set a guard, O LORD, over my mouth. Keep watch over the door of my lips” (Psalm 141:3).
Here is the vision—the rise of new media opens the door to a generation of sages to speak up and reveal the coherence and authenticity of Scripture. By using new media to bring Biblical truth and love where people need it most, we will find a more willing audience and a strong platform to discuss what is weighing on our heats as the central Christian message—the good news of life in Jesus Christ.
A Word of Thanks
If you have read this entire essay, I thank you. I am still not nearly as concise as I would like. I hope that some nugget of insight in these words have served to enrich you in some way. Thanks.
–Mark