The buzzword that seems to be in everything you read or hear regarding ministry and media is “relevant.”
That is not surprising in the fast paced world we live in today.
When your work and message is relevant, your media organization or church will stand out in a world filled with chaos, confusion and conflict.
Think about what you see and hear around you today that is relevant, and compare it to what is less so, and you will get the idea of why this is important.
Relevancy of the medium: Ten years after Steve Jobs promised to reinvent the music industry with the iPod, digital downloads have overtaken physical sales of singles and albums for the first time in the US, according to an annual report by Nielsen and Billboard.
Relevancy of the message: Several studies cited by Relevant Magazine claim that young, unmarried Christians are having premarital sex almost as much as their non-Christian peers. The thematic messaging that worked in the 1980‘s may not be satisfying the desperate need of young Christians today.
Definition of “relevant”
So, what does staying relevant mean to those using creative media and media platforms to influence the culture with truth?
I think it means you are committed to not letting the world get the upper hand in its use of media to bombard this generation with counter-Biblical messages.
You are staying tuned in to what’s happening in the culture and are constantly asking questions. Are we creating the absolute best content we can that speaks to the needs of our time? Are we fulfilling our unique mission and mandate in the creation of our content assets? Are we speaking creatively through every message with a God-given authority?
Staying relevant today means leveraging technology to repurpose and grow your existing assets. It means you are moving, or planning to move, into the new digital world. You are pushing the boundaries of both content production and the ways content is distributed. You recognize that technology is giving you more capabilities to reach more people far from God than at any other time in history.
It doesn’t mean your jumping on every new widget or app that comes down the pike, but you instinctively know that you ought to be wherever people are to present messages in a way and in a form they expect. If they’re mobile, they should be able to find you. If they’re on a tablet, you should be there.
It doesn’t mean that you are only focused on the cool people, the college student, or the wealthy baby boomer, but if you have relevant Christian media outreach, you’re remembering the poor, the imprisoned, the homeless, those who live in nursing homes, the elderly, and the tiniest baby.
You are working with content curators and aggregators who have created platforms to help you dramatically increase your influence and that can take your messages into hard to reach areas and to distant people groups.
A relevance that never changes
This is a trustworthy saying, and everyone should accept it: “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners.
1 Timothy 1:15
If you use media to distribute gospel messages outside your building, you have a media outreach platform.The platform gives you access into peoples lives. The platform is the conduit for your messages to touch those who may not be reached any other way.
As we’ve discussed many times, when it comes to media consumption, the world has changed. That means our media ministries and media organizations will have to change if we want to remain relevant in the digital age.
As stewards of a relevant message that never changes and never needs to be watered down, it could even be said that we have a responsibility to do so.