I’ve been looking at the leaks of Apple’s upcoming announcements for hardware & software. Looks like some cool stuff coming, but more consolidating what can already be done under their own roof. That said, it got me thinking about all those years of doom back in the 90’s and beyond. Apple is now one of the most valuable companies in the world at nearly a trillion dollars in a tight and fluctuating race with Amazon, Alphabet (Google), and Microsoft, each constantly inching each other out. Remember when Steve Jobs cut a deal with MS as a means to barely stay afloat? How the mighty have fallen! And how did this shift happen? Seems pretty obvious: Apple embraced mobile & Internet early. MS focused on the desktop, making them the Kodak of the silicon valley. Even Windows 8, which tried to be mobile, essentially tried to cram a desktop system onto mobile devices, whereas Apple is showing how it needs to happen, gradually bringing mobile to the desktop.

What can churches learn?

Now, think about most churches, especially Lutherans. We’re notoriously behind the curve. We take a wait-and-see attitude with just about everything. At best, we look at corporate strategies and mimic them. At worst, we refuse to learn from the private sector and act like the Amish, just stopping innovation a few years later than they did.

We seem to think that, since the message of the Gospel doesn’t change, we need to use the same means of transmission that we’ve used for the past 500 years. But why 500? The reformers embraced the printing press, the hot new technology of the time. Yet as we find ourselves in the biggest communication shift since, we’re slow to embrace it. Yeah, most churches have websites (Yeah, most. Not all. That’s like not being listed in the Yellow Pages 50 years ago.) that look like they were designed 20 years ago. Few churches have a social media strategy. Few churches take a hard look at technology and communications trends and try to get ahead of the curve and thus always lag behind. But churches are in the communications business!

“But technology is expensive!” Some is. But social media is free. And truly social social media that focuses on relationships and interactions instead of ads for events and services doesn’t require paying for boosting posts — those posts boost themselves thanks to social media algorithms. And churches are in the relationship business!

How can we know what’s next?

But predicting the future is hard without a vision of seraphim and God’s throne in the temple! (Isaiah 6) Which direction is the curve heading? It’s not difficult to figure out, and it’s the same geeks who brought us the technology that are leading the charge in the next big change. Mobile technology has isolated us. Social media has made it worse by providing pseudo-relationships. Everybody is hungry for real relationships, middle-of-the-night-crisis friends. And where do we see that happening? Dungeons and Dragons is more popular today than ever. Why? Because the best part of the game is sitting around a table with a bunch of real people, swapping stories, telling jokes, and getting to know each other. Yes, technology has infiltrated the game, but D&D Beyond and other online tools have made it easier for people to connect using pencil and paper on a table, using the technology as the tool it should’ve been all along: help to make it easier to bring people together. This is how the church should work!

Even as western culture becomes more unchurched, the church is uniquely poised to offer the culture exactly what it’s looking for, along with what they’re not expecting: hope, peace, and eternal life. If we use technology to assist in building real-life friendships, we just jumped out ahead of the curve. Even Apple isn’t there yet, although they see it. Then again, that’s what the church did 500 years ago and 2000 years ago. The same strategy has always worked. It’s time to get back to being what God designed us to be, and He has provided great tools to help us!

How will your church use technology this year to facilitate in-person interaction? Leave a comment below!