When Your Message Tells People Don’t Come

Nearly fifty years ago Marshall McLuhan’s book Understanding Media coined the phrase “the medium is the message.” In the five decades since we have been struggling to fully come to grips with all the ramifications of different forms of media and how it is used. Adding to the complexity is the speed at which media is changing, and the options that we now have at our disposal. Over the last six months I have had seemingly dozens of conversations with church leaders about the usage of new media (for our purposes, internet stuff), especially social media, in the church world… in each of these conversations I seem to come back to McLuhan.

It has been exciting to watch churches engage with the internet over the last decade (especially the last five years), and watch how they leverage the tools available to them to advance the cause of Christ… or not. While many churches are doing amazing things through their use of web pages and social networks, some churches are missing the boat completely… and sending a message opposite of the one they are trying to communicate.

Last week Katya Andresen nailed in it on her blog:

Remember: Communications is not about what you say, it’s about what people hear.

Your message is no match for the mental machinations of your audience’s mind.

If you don’t get what makes that mind tick, you’re not communicating. You’re just talking.

So what does this have to do with churches and new media? Everything. Keep reading