In 1776 two world-changing works were written, the American Declaration of Independence and Adam Smith’s Wealth of Nations. However, the writers of both of these pieces were probably not even aware that the other had been written until the next year. When Japan bombed Pearl Harbour, the next day president Roosevelt made an announcement on radio. However in this generation things are different. We all watched together with horror as the World Trade Center towers crashed to the ground, and when the plane crash-landed into the Hudson River in New York last year, someone on one of the nearby boats sent a twitter message from their phone which was relayed around the world alerting media and others to this event. Now we can know what is happening around the world instantly. Young people today are saturated with information. They are still people with the same intrinsic and spiritual needs as anyone else, but the methods needed to reach these people are going to differ from the methods needed to reach the generation before them.
This is the challenge that Paul faced and outlined in 1 Corinthians. Not everyone was the same sort of person as he was. Some were Jews, but some weren’t. Some had spiritual backgrounds but some didn’t. They all needed to hear the same gospel message, but how Paul packaged the gospel for these people was not going to be the same. Paul considered how he could preach the gospel in such a way that the Jews could understand and receive the message, and that those without the law could understand and receive the message. He even said that he became all things to all people so that by all means some may be saved. So what would Paul do to preach the gospel to 21st century young people? He would become a 21st century young person. He would try walk in their shoes, try to see the world through their eyes, and find out the way that they see and experience the world, and so find a way to help them to understand the real message of the gospel.
And I believe this would mean that Paul would use short films to connect with today’s young people. The average high school or university student watches 120 films a year. What’s more, these films are highly influential in these students developing values and opinions. One of the most influential and visited sites on the internet today is Youtube, which is almost entirely videos of less than 10 minutes in length. Stories have always been a powerful medium. Jesus told stories to encapsulate spiritual truth. Probably the most famous example of English literature is a bunch of stories written by William Shakespeare. Today, the stories that shape our society are increasingly being told on our screens. And not just our TV screens. Six in ten people in the world now have mobile phones, and many of these mobile phones are equipped for video.
The current generation is also increasingly visual. Originally all languages were very visual – each letter or character was a picture or representation of something. Throughout history the only language to have retained this link to the original meaning of the characters or letters is Chinese. But now this generation that is growing up is returning to a more visual orientation. Look at you computer – where you once saw a label ‘USB’ above your USB port, you now see an icon, same with Bluetooth. ON/OFF has been replaced by an icon. In many countries the words on road signs are disappearing, the images – colour and shape – convey the meaning. This means that today’s generation thinks much more in images than in either the written or spoken word, and consequently, image-driven communication is increasingly effective.
A short film is simply a story told through moving images. Given the narrative and visual orientation of this generation, I believe that Paul indeed would have used this strategy to become a 21st Century young person so that 21st century young people may be saved. What do you think?
