Lausanne World Pulse – PUBLISHER'S MEMO – Goal: Creatively Integrate Evolving Technologies

By Doug Birdsall
June 2010

Over the centuries, the Christian message has remained a constant in an ever-evolving world. The message embodied in the very life and ministry of Christ has always been, at its core, the incarnational love of God for his people. However, the means to communicate and deliver the message has radically changed in the last century. The challenge now is how to continue being incarnational in delivering the gospel message with the ever-evolving nature of technology in the twenty-first century.

With the radical evolution of technology, the means by which this communication takes place has changed and multiplied exponentially. Immersed now in the digital age, global communications to a mass audience no longer takes place over weeks and months but in a mere blink of an eye.

Endless Options for Communications
Not only are we able to communicate via print media, telephone, radio, and television, but through email, vmail, gmail, hotmail, and redmail. We are bombarded with updates from news sources, corporations, governments, and individuals through SMS, rss, Twitter, Facebook, and MySpace. At the same time we are bombarded with endless entertainment options through CDs, DVDs, mp3s, and YouTube.

Over the last century communication has become exponentially faster and more interactive than ever. This generation is the most wired the world has seen, and yet the next generation promises to be even more so.

Communication is not the only area in which revolutionary technology has left its indelible mark. We have seen radical increases in the capacities and speed of global transportation; shipping materials and goods globally; preservation of perishables; production of foods, clothing, and other goods; and building and construction capacities. We have witnessed revolutionary developments in banking, money transfers, and micro-financing projects in the developing world. We have also seen leaps and bounds made in agriculture, aquaculture, medical procedures, and the capacities to sustain, extend, and improve the quality of peoples’ health and lives.

With all these advances, the peoples of the earth should be healthier, happier, older, and living fuller lives. Yet hunger, disease, war, loneliness, pain, and suffering continue to plague us. And even with all these advances in technology, the percentage of Christians today differs little from the percentage of Christians one hundred years ago.

Harnessing the Power of Technology
The challenge in evangelism now lies in how we can best utilize these different mediums effectively, especially in bridging the gap between those who have access to improved technologies and those who do not.

Doug Birdsall is executive chair of the Lausanne Committee for World Evangelization. He served as president of Asian Access from 1991 to 2007 and continues to serve on their board of directors. Birdsall is a graduate of Wheaton College, Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary and Harvard University. He is co-publisher of Lausanne World Pulse.