The Googlie: A Progressive, Faith-Based Perspective

“Change isn’t incremental; it’s exponential.” 

If this statement makes you think of Obama’s campaign slogan, I sure hope change is exponential!  Actually, this statement comes from Leonard Sweet, a Methodist pastor, professor, and new media communicator. I heard him speak at a conference for faith-based communicators last week (I work for the media department at my job) and his talk was about strategies the church needs to use to effectively spread the Word.

Though his statement is actually about the speed at which our world changes technologically, it made me think of how necessary mass media in the faith-based progressive movement is.  After all, that’s what evangelism is: Mass media. And when Congregationalist ministers chastised Wesley for inciting “emotive responses,” from his followers what media strategy did he use? Not the one where everyone shuffles into church, sits in uncomfortable pews and listens to a lecture from a stodgy old man with a cushy job.

Instead of using the “old media” of the day, John Wesley used “new media”: Circuit Riders. They traveled around the country, living short lives away from their families through harsh weather and with little pay in order to share with others the message of Jesus.

It was incredibly successful. Methodism spread faster than wildfire, and mainline denominations teetered on the brink (the same trend we see today).

That said, encroaching 2009 requires the progressive faith-based movement to continue to be ahead of the game in efforts to communicate a message of faith coincided with new kinds of values. We have been doing a better job lately, but a 2007 “Media Matters” study called “Left Behind” says that we are significantly trailing conservative evangelical Christians, where “the overwhelming presence in the news media of conservative voices leads the implication that a religious voice is a conservative voice.”

It’s our job to change that, people!  Exponentially!  Leonard Sweet calls tech-savvy people “googlies,” who, by their innovation, rapidly change the way the world works. Lucky for us, the Obama campaign has led the way. Now we can say no one will ever run a campaign the same.

Democratic “values voters” need to find new ways of communicating clearly and effectively why our values matter, so our faith will no longer be co-opted by the Right.