In Perelandra, the science fiction fantasy by C. S. Lewis, the primal battle between good and evil on a newly created world is fought by an unassuming scholar, thrust unwillingly into individual combat with personified evil. In the moments before their last, physical wrestling, his mind is wrestling with these thoughts:
The impudence, the unfairness, the absurdity of it! . . . What was the sense of so arranging things that anything really important should finally and absolutely depend on such a man of straw as himself?
At that moment, far away on Earth, as he now could not help remembering, men were at war, and. . .freckled corporals who had lately begun to shave, stood in horrible gaps or crawled forward in deadly darkness, awaking, like him, to the preposterous truth that all really depended on their actions. . . [and in years past] Constantine settled in his mind whether he would or would not embrace the new religion, and Eve herself stood looking upon the forbidden fruit and the Heaven of Heavens waited for her decision.
He writhed and ground his teeth, but could not help seeing. Thus, and not otherwise, the world was made. Either something or nothing must depend on individual choices.
from Perelandra, by C. S. Lewis
—when Ransom realizes his personal responsibility to fight evil personified
Thus, and not otherwise, the world was made.
Either something or nothing must depend on individual choices.
You are responsible for the effectiveness of your church communications, as this challenging quote from C. S. Lewis reminds us. Your church communications are effective if they make a significant contribution to, either through your personal outreach, individual ministries, or your church as a whole, people are coming to know Jesus as Savior and growing to maturity in their Christian lives.
Effective church communications can change the eternal destiny of individual people, enrich the lives of families and communities, and inspire compassion and service to a world desperately in need of sacrificial kindness.
You, as a church communicator have an immensely important calling.
It is incredibly hard to do all you want and need to do
Yes, times are changing and challenging, budgets are a worry, and church worship technology constantly demands you learn a new skill, but one thing that does not change is our commission from the Lord to reach the world with the gospel message and to make disciples.
We may know that in spiritual sense, but in this financially challenging time it is easy to want to cut back in this area, to retreat, to do less communicating until we have more time and money.
Cutting back is not the answer
The church will die without strong, continuous communications.
People do not attend events because you advertise them less. People do not grow up in the faith if you cut back on ministries, training, or service projects. Just because people are busy does not mean God is no longer a priority.
The Lord calls and gifts his people to do his work and to communicate about it so people will become involved. You may not feel like, you may not want to, you may be scared of the technology required, but no matter how old or young you are, no matter where your church is located or how small your budget, you can do all the communications you need to win your community to Jesus and to help your people grow in their faith.
Training yourself, other staff and volunteers in the church and creating your communications in print and online in-house does take time, commitment, and lots of hard work, but the results will be communications that will reflect your church and will more effectively reach the audience the Lord has called you to reach.
God honors you with this responsibility. Honor Him by fulfilling it.
Please share your thoughts, comments, questions!