Ministry in an

Ministry in an

The Theology

The Living God who speaks

The Living God who speaks

"And God said…”

Genesis 1:3, 6, 9,

14, 20, 24, 26

The living God’s living images“Then God said, “Let us make mankind in

our image, in our likeness so that they

may rule over the fish in the sea and the

birds in the sky, over the livestock and all

the wild animals, and over all the

creatures that move along the ground.”

Genesis 1:26

The living God’s living images“You shall not make for yourself an

image in the form of anything in

heaven above or on the earth

beneath or in the waters below.”

Exodus 20:4

The communicating God: Word

“In the beginning was the Word, and the

Word was with God, and the Word was

God. He was with God in the beginning…

The Word became flesh and made his

dwelling among us.”

John 1:1, 14

The communicating God: Image

“The Son is the image of the invisible God,

the firstborn over all creation.”

Colossians 1:15

The communicating God: Multimedia

“In the past God spoke to our ancestors

through the prophets at many times and in

various ways, but in these last days he has

spoken to us by his Son…”

Hebrews 1:1-2

The multimedia God

Incarnation

The subverting God

Cruciform

The subverting God“In your relationships with one another,

have the same mindset as Christ Jesus:

Who, being in very nature God,

did not consider equality with God

something to be used to his own

advantage;”

The subverting God“rather, he made himself nothing

by taking the very nature of a servant,

being made in human likeness.

And being found in appearance as a man,

he humbled himself

by becoming obedient to death—

even death on a cross!”

Philippians 2

The subverting God“For the message of the cross is

foolishness to those who are perishing,

but to us who are being saved it is the

power of God.”

1 Corinthians 1:18

The subverting God“When I came to you, I did not come with

eloquence or human wisdom as I

proclaimed to you the testimony about

God. For I resolved to know nothing while

I was with you except Jesus Christ and

him crucified.”

The subverting God“I came to you in weakness with great fear

and trembling. My message and my

preaching were not with wise and

persuasive words, but with a

demonstration of the Spirit’s power.”

1 Corinthians 2:3-4

Speaking as God

Accommodating the

audience (minding the gap)

Speaking for God“What we have received is not the spirit of

the world, but the Spirit who is from God,

so that we may understand what God has

freely given us…”

Speaking for God“This is what we speak, not in words

taught us by human wisdom but in words

taught by the Spirit, explaining spiritual

realities with Spirit-taught words.”

Speaking for God“The person without the Spirit does not

accept the things that come from the Spirit

of God but considers them foolishness,

and cannot understand them because

they are discerned only through the

Spirit.”

1 Cor 2:12-14

Speaking for God

Incarnate, cross-shaped,

image bearers minding the

gap

The subverting God“Though I am free and belong to no one, I

have made myself a slave to everyone, to

win as many as possible… I have

become all things to all people so that by

all possible means I might save some.

1 Corinthians 9:19, 22

Speaking for God“You yourselves are our letter, written on our

hearts, known and read by everyone. You

show that you are a letter from Christ, the

result of our ministry, written not with ink but

with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets

of stone but on tablets of human hearts...”

Speaking for God“And we all, who with unveiled faces

contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being

transformed into his image with ever-

increasing glory, which comes from the

Lord, who is the Spirit.”

2 Corinthians 3:2-3, 18

Speaking for GodMay I never boast except in the cross of

our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the

world has been crucified to me, and I to

the world… From now on, let no one

cause me trouble, for I bear on my body

the marks of Jesus.

Galatians 6

Ministry in an

The Reality

1980Digital Natives

8 HoursOnline. Everyday.

10 HoursFactoring in multi-tasking.

Mythbusting

“Media aren’t just channels of

information. They supply the stuff of

thought, but they also shape the

process of thought.”

Nicholas Carr, The Shallows

Neuroplasticity, media

ecology, and idolatry

No ‘neutral’ mediums

Neutral mediums?

“We shape our tools, thereafter they

shape us.”

John Culkin

Neuroplasticity, media

ecology, and idolatry

“Our conventional response to all media,

namely that it is how they are used that

counts, is the numb stance of the

technological idiot.”

Marshall McLuhan

Neuroplasticity, media

ecology, and idolatry

Those who make them will be like

them,

and so will all who trust in them.

Psalm 115:8

Mythbusting“Do not conform to the pattern of this

world, but be transformed by the

renewing of your mind. Then you will

be able to test and approve what

God’s will is–his good, pleasing and

perfect will.”

Romans 12:2

Ministry in an

The Theory

The Task“Discerning what characterizes the

socially constructed worlds people around

us inhabit places us in a better position to

address the generation God calls us to

serve.”

The Task“Doing so, however, necessitates that we

conceptualize and articulate Christian

beliefs—the gospel—in a manner that

contemporary people can understand.”

The Task“That is, we must express the gospel

through the “language” of the culture—

through the cognitive tools, concepts,

images, symbols, and thought forms—by

means of which people today discover

meaning, construct the world they inhabit,

and form personal identity.

Grenz & Franke,

cited in TheoMedia

Know the mediums

“The medium is the message”

Marshall McLuhan

Know the mediumsWhen we go online, we, too, are following

scripts written by others—algorithmic

instructions that few of us would be able to

understand even if the hidden codes were

revealed to us. When we search for

information through Google or other search

engines, we’re following a script.

Nicholas Carr, The Shallows

Know the mediums“What are the rules of the medium and

what are the underlying messages and

patterns that emerge from those rules?“

John Dyer,

From the Garden To The City

Know the mediums“In Jesus Christ, there is no distance

or separation between the medium

and the message: it is the one case

where we can say that the medium

and the message are fully one and

the same.”

Marshall McLuhan

Know the myths

Know the costs

If it’s free you’re the

product, not the customer

If it’s free you’re the

product, not the customer

Pick your platforms

Own your platform?

Ministry in an

The Practice

Logos alone?

Remember there are no

non-verbal cues in typed

text.

Remember there are no

non-verbal cues in typed

text.

Even with emoticons.

Subvert self-seeking myths

by deliberate “decreasing”

“He must become greater; I must

become less.”

John 3:30

Value presence (over

absence)

“I have much to write to you, but I do not

want to use paper and ink. Instead, I hope

to visit you and talk with you face to face,

so that our joy may be complete.”

2 John 1:12

But absent presence is

valuable

The perils of clicktivism

The perils of clicktivism

Matthew 6 and the ice

bucket challenge

The perils of clicktivism

Matthew 6 and the ice

bucket challenge

The perils of clicktivism“Be careful not to practice your righteousness

in front of others to be seen by them. If you

do, you will have no reward from your Father

in heaven. So when you give to the needy, do

not announce it with trumpets, as the

hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the

streets, to be honored by others.”

The perils of clicktivism“Truly I tell you, they have received their

reward in full. But when you give to the

needy, do not let your left hand know what

your right hand is doing, so that your

giving may be in secret. Then your Father,

who sees what is done in secret, will

reward you.

Matthew 6:1-4

All things to all people to

win some…

Who is it for?

It’s public

Remember the ‘media’ in

social media

It’s public

And permanent…

It’s media

Pick your audience.

It’s media

Pick your message.

It’s media

Stay on message

Democratise

Put the ‘social’ into social

media

New Media = everyone is

an editor

Curate and create.

Be generous

Pursue costly relationships

Be generous

The medium communicates

the value of the message.

Up the cost.

Write with clarity, read with

charity

Take it offline

Ministry in an

Good Books