Media in Church and Mission

Summarizing the Dimensions of Christian Communication

Too many today are borrowing uncritically from the world of secular marketing and seem to be blithely unaware that the gospel is not a consumer product to be sold persuasively to a waiting world. There is a great temptation to be so focused on felt needs that the gospel ceases being the narrow way and becomes, instead, a broad way to human fulfillment. Unless real caution is exercised, masses are attracted and churches become filled with those to whom Christianity is only a veneer over an otherwise secular life.

Søgaard succeeds in driving home the sometimes forgotten point that strategies, no matter how skillfully they are conceived, are des­tined to failure unless it is fully recognized that the Holy Spirit is the ultimate persuader. There is, in short, a mysterious interworking between strategies and the ministry of the Holy Spirit. An imbalance on either side of this equation is untenable.

The majority of the chapters offer practical insights into how such media as audio cassettes, radio, film, and television can, if properly used, play an important role in conversion and spiritual growth. But the author never loses sight of the fact that the single most important medium is face-to-face communication in the context of the local Christian fellowship.