As someone who has a overwhelming preference to read from something printed on paper and held in the hands, reading off a computer screen is a sacrifice.
I no longer purchase newspapers daily, but read their content from their websites. When I was younger, Brisbane had up to three daily newspapers, one published in the afternoon. I can remember when the afternoon newspaper published a Saturday evening edition.
But now Brisbane has only one daily newspaper. Technology and information transmission being what they are, newspaper circulations are not strong and income is problematic. Some time in the future newspapers will succumb to a new form. Journalists will still write, material will be published, but the days of a printed copy being thrown over fences early in the morning are numbered.
Even now when you watch movies from the eighties and early nineties that feature offices, the sight of typewriters on desks looks antiquated.
Rather that bemoaning this transition we need to remember that what is essential is the information, not the format in which it comes to us.
Christians can sometimes mistake the means for the end. The unchanging message of the Gospel and the means of worshipping that God gives us continue, but we have freedom in expressing them in contemporary manners.
Sometimes we forget that and the form becomes all important. One of my experiences is that churches that have forgotten or set aside the historic Gospel become focussed on traditional forms, with costumes, rituals, candles and other additions assuming a central position. The choice is made to jetison Scriptural authority in order to have modern appeal, but then traditional trappings are maintained.
Some folk visit our church and find that we are not ‘Presbyterian’ in the way they remember it. They expect a snapshot of past tradition, not a living faith.
The Church has been at the forefront of utilising developments in communication technology to carry their message. Printing, recording, broadcasting, motion pictures and information technology: their development saw Christians at the forefront using these means for outreach.
I want children to come to our church and hear a timeless message, not wonder at antiquated means being used to convey it.
One day they will ask: ‘What’s a newspaper?’
But they should never have to ask: ‘What was a church?’
In a lighter vein, here’s an article called 9 Things You Didn’t Know About Newspapers from the website 10,000 Words. I got pointed to the site by someone named Gordon Cheng. Basically it’s just some facts about newspapers that you probably don’t know. Learn them while you’ve still got time.
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