There is an appointed time for everything. That has certainly been true with evangelism explosions that have always followed revolutionary upheavals caused by technology.
There was a time for the Romans to build a military road system that revolutionized transportation. The first disciples used the roads as a communications network for advancing the gospel throughout the Empire.
There was a time for Johannes Gutenberg to build a movable-type press, a revolution in printing and mass communication. The printing press allowed everyday people to possess their own Bibles in their own native languages.
There was a time for Guglielmo Marconi to prove the feasibility of radio waves to transmit sound that revolutionized international communications. Churches seized the opportunity to broadcast sermons live across long distances.
There was a time for a group of great minds to build a system for transmitting pictures that revolutionized the way information was shared around the world. Christian broadcasters harnessed the power of television to bring the gospel into the living rooms of billions of people.
There was a time for a global collaboration of builders to create a worldwide communications network, revolutionizing the way we communicate with each other, and just about everything else. Every Christian with a computer or mobile device can now use the Internet, and the most powerful technology tools ever created, to do “every good work” of the gospel.
What’s next?
In many cases, the Internet has made getting the gospel out the door via media far more efficient, and less costly.
That has not been true for streaming video technology, (Amazon Instant Video, Apple TV, Hulu, Netflix, MobiTV), that seems to be all the rage in delivering online content.
We are talking about streaming and online video networks, not video downloads.
Streaming video’s cost structure has kept all but a handful of mostly large organizations from developing new business or ministry models around the technology.
The costs of bandwidth, storage and transcoding (learned a new term) have been high. The costs have been variable, rising in proportion to usage. And the returns from investing in streaming video have been modest at best, when compared to text and graphics-based Internet media.
On the business side of things, that is all about to change. The costs of bandwidth, storage, and transcoding are falling rapidly. Like other tech revolutions, gospel communicators will again be in excellent position to benefit from this next wave of massive change in technology…for three reasons.
Churches have:
1) Scalability, the ability to add streaming media outreach and regional expansion of the gospel without an upheaval in operations.
2) Minimal production costs, as many are already producing countless hours of video content.
3) A platform not dependent on technology efficiency or performance, rather on the power of the Holy Spirit. Church communicators can easily integrate live streaming ministry with all their resources to impact a region for Christ and to help followers through discipleship.
A growing number of new video production ministries are also uniquely positioned to capitalize on these advances.
Funding video platforms
There is a time to tear down and a time to build. Ecclesiastes 3:3
Online video networks still have to be paid for. We are about to see an increase in marketing and advertising partnerships and creative donor development initiatives. Collectively these approaches will enable Christian organizations to generate resources to take advantage of live streaming’s capabilities.
Is the time approaching for another revolutionary change in communication technology? The infrastructure is there, the costs are dropping, and mass audiences are assembling around streamed events. The video delivery of worship and the gospel being preached needs to be in thick of it.
It is time to get ready for the surge in gospel proclamation that always follows great advances in technology. Another hundred-year wave approaches.