Young People and the Media
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Wherever you turn there is someone doing research - maybe I will try and do some, it seems it’s the way to go.
They do it all over the world too it appears. In Germany they have done a survey of young people and their media habits. I like this statement:
The young don’t read newspapers but, well, they do pick up free newspapers. They’ve traded radios for iPods but haven’t turned off the radio. They’ve gone mobile. They’ve gone to FaceBook. They
congregate, agitate, separate and confound.
But I am not at all keen on this one:
Young persons are constantly searching for new impulses and they experiment with innovative, multi-sensual media
Of course the reason I am not so keen on the second one is that it can create pressure for me and my youth ministry. How do I meet their apparent need for new impulses, where do I allow their desire to experiment in my weekly activities?
Of course, at times like these, I play the relationship card’ [which I believe has validity], where I say that the relationship I [and my team][ have with young people far outweighs these media survey results. Sure they may want to innovate and experiment - but deep down we all crave acceptance and that is shown through relationship.
I just hope it will be strong enough to keep them!
I agree whole-heartedly with you conclusions. It’s good to see others who hold to the idea that building relationships and building into people’s lives is the way that we should be ministering.
As far as communicating effective to this generation and their multi-sensual tendencies, a good friend of mine writes on this topic at his blog. Check out this article:
February 21st, 2008 at 10:53 amhttp://raydeck3.wordpress.com/2008/02/02/the-language-revolution-begins/
Thanks Brandon - the whole ‘building into people’s lives’ rather than simply providing pizza seems to be Biblical to me [although Jesus did feed them too - me wonders, was fish sandwiches the 'pizza' of the day?]
March 1st, 2008 at 4:12 pmOh, absolutely I would agree, Nigel. I think that meeting physical needs is a part of ministry. Jesus was constantly moving from the physical need to the spiritual. People came to be healed and they had their sins forgiven. The woman caught in adultery was protected from stoning, but also she was protected from her self-condemnation and freed from bondage to sin.
I believe the problem comes when we stop short of the spiritual. It doesn’t matter how much bread/fish or pizza we give out if we don’t dispense the truth of God’s Word with it. The people on that hillside were attracted by the prospect of a miracle and what the heard was teaching on The Bread of Life.
March 2nd, 2008 at 12:22 am