If everything said about computer technology were true, today we would have world peace, affordable video telephones, and tasty, nutritional pizza delivered within ten minutes of your e-mail order.
The hype surrounding computers is so overblown that skepticism is natural, but don't write off the "technology of the future" just yet. A raft of emerging hardware and software may soon allay your skepticism and enhance your ministry in innovative practical ways.
I sat in a Silicon Valley conference room earlier this year and watched a multimedia company president load a CD-ROM version of the film "Top Gun" into an ordinary Macintosh computer. The movie played smoothly, the sound crisp. But for the small monitor screen I might have been watching a video on the VCR at home. This bit of magic relies on an MPEG compression card. This card is available now, though not widely known, but word in the industry is that by Christmas the MPEG card may be a standard feature. It is plausible that people you know may spend New Year's Eve watching a favorite movie on their new computer.
Another advancement involves the World Wide Web. Software appearing this summer may well surpass the popularity of MPEG cards. Here's why. Until recently publishing on the Internet required being (or hiring) a computer expert. With Adobe PageMill and similar software packages, making your brochure, article, photo, or product listing accessible to the world approximates the ease of word processing.
These and other advancements adhere to a principle expressed in the Federal Express commercial: Point, Click, and Ship. Point-and-click is a simple but powerful equation for generating profits. Big money is made when companies shape fabulous new technologies to the user, rather than challenging the user to conform to the technology. One shining example is Ceneca Systems, which sold the PageMill source code to Adobe for $50 million before the public had ever seen the software or Ceneca a profit.
Christian leaders should look forward to the ways these and other new computer technologies will help bridge generation gaps. Until now, computer and Internet literacy have differentiated older generations from younger. The more mature chuckle about how little they know. Fresher faces exchange e-mail addresses along with phone numbers.
But point-and-click ease creates common ground in churches and ministries for less experienced users and those reared on technology. The possibilities are ever-expanding. If the young people in the church feel alienated, suggest they develop a church web site. Offer to produce a few pages yourself, if not kick in the cash to purchase the hardware. One person from the group might surprise you with a captivating computer slide presentation to accompany your sermon--if you let her creatively point-and-click.
The point of all this is not to high-tech your ministry, nor to suggest your work can't go on without new technology. It's to use whatever tool is at your disposal to increase unity in your congregation, ministry, small group, or family. Given that today's technological advancements must bow to point-and-click simplicity before donning shrink-wrap, your best question may not be "if" technology, but "which."
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