Millennials and the Demise of Print: Five Implications for Churches -- by Thom Rainer

From Thom Rainer's post

As the president of an organization that has huge investments in both print and digital assets, I watch the trends related to the two closely. Current discussions focus on a few basic issues. First, digital communication is pervasive and growing. Any metric will affirm that reality. Second, print as a form of communication is suffering in most areas. Third, print will have occasional rebounds that will give print adherents hope that it is not going away. In the past couple of years, for example, print book sales have stabilized.

But a recent article by Henry Blodget in Business Insider shed some fresh perspectives on this issue. He notes the allegiance to print media is highly influenced by the age of the readers. Simply stated, the older you are, the more likely you are to like, or even prefer, print. Of course, that information is really stating the obvious.

The Stark Reality of the Future of Print

But Blodget notes recent research that is almost breathtaking. The research looked at media preferences for different age groups. The stark reality of the future of print is most noticeable in the 16-to-24 age group and the 25-to-34 age group. The Millennials have absolutely no loyalty to or preference for print media. Blodget’s words are worth repeating:

“Media consumers in the 0s, 10s, 20s, and 30s have no such print alliances. To them, the idea of printing on a dead tree and then trucking it to houses and newsstands seems ludicrous, old-fashioned, inconvenient, and wasteful. To these folks, paper-based publications are a pain to carry and search, easy to misplace, and hard to share, and the information in them is outdated the moment it appears. For those who weren’t raised on paper, digital is superior in almost every way.”

Wow. Those words are painful for an old print adherent like me. But facts are our friends, and I would rather deal with reality than deny reality.

Five Implications for the Church

Of course, after I read the article, my mind traversed quickly to implications for local churches. I see at least five at this point.

1. Churches not fully acclimated to the digital age need to do so quickly. It’s a matter of gospel stewardship. There is no need to compromise biblical truths, but there is a great need to be relevant.
2. More of our congregants will be turning on their Bibles in the worship services rather than opening them to a print page. Some pastors view this practice as troublesome. One pastor recently commented to me: “How do we know if they aren’t looking at sport scores or something else?” We don’t know. And we don’t know where their minds are wandering if they don’t have a digital device with them.
3. Church leaders should view this change as an opportunity to be more effective missional leaders. We would not expect international missionaries to go to a place of service without learning the language and the culture. The language and the culture of the Millennials are all digital.
4. Leaders must keep current with changes in the digital revolution. While old guys like me will never be as conversant with the digital culture as our children and grandchildren, we must do our best to understand this ever-changing world. What is current and relevant today may be dated and irrelevant tomorrow.
5. Social media is a key communication form for the Millennials; churches and church leaders must also be connected. I recently wrote an article on this issue. For now, a church not involved some way in social media is neglecting a large part of the mission field.

Implications and More Implications

I recently was reading a print magazine article to one of my grandsons who was cuddled in my lap. He saw a photo on the page and tried to swipe it like he would on an iPad. When nothing happened he declared my “picture was broken.”

That is the age and the era that are quickly approaching. The implications are many and staggering. But we in churches cannot be complacent. The very communication of the gospel is at stake.

So there I was...

Or I could say, "Funny thing happened on the way to Camp Henry..."

Paul Melucas, Gyu Tae Jang, and I had just finished up leading a luncheon on the first of the Army Values, Loyalty.  We also touched on the rest--Duty, Respect, Selfless Service, Honor, Integrity, and Personal Courage.  We also covered the Soldiers Creed.

On our way down to Henry, we were trying to work with the Daegu traffic and we got to a point when the 8 lanes funnel down to 6.  We were in the far left lane in order to turn left at the next light when a bus a few vehicles in front of us slows down, weaves around something and continues on.  The car in front of us did the same thing.
As I pulled up to the spot, there was something on the left of the lane, leaning against the center divider.  At first I thought it was a bag of something, and then I realized it was a dog.

So, as I started,...  "There I was", trying to decide what I needed to do about this.  There was a crowd of people on the curb to our right, three lanes over, who were thinking the same thing.
I thought about what was the right thing to do, thought about safety, and then decided that I would check on the dog, hope for the parting of traffic, and then go from there.

The dog looked a lot like a dog that we use to have who is now living with the Bruners.  I let the dog smell the back of my hand, and realized that he had probably already been hit.  He did not nip at me or anything.  So I scooped him up and went into football running back mode figuring I would be dodging traffic to get to the curb.

Curiously, (God-thing maybe) our unit ministry team went into "split-ops."  PFC Melucas was flagging down one lane of traffic, and a bus was blocking the other.  Jang stayed with the vehicle in case our curb stop got extended.

I got the dog to the curb and then saw that he had some blood on him.  I turned to a civilian, asked if he spoke English, and in perfect English he said, "no, I do not speak English."  I asked him if he could call a "dog doctor" and he smiled at me and said yes, and was already pulling out his phone.

I think the dog was about to be mugged with love and so we scooted back across traffic and got in our car.  When we came back by a couple of hours later the dog was gone, hopefully being cared for by professionals.

I guess you just never know when you may be immediately challenged with the exact thoughts you share with others.

A Christmas "What-if"

I am including here a sermon/devotion that I shared for our Christmas Eve service. It asks, and gives a potential answer to the question of the shepherds the night Jesus was born.

Have you ever considered that the largest display of angels demonstrated in preparation for Jesus' birth was to a group of shepherds?

Here is the devotion with some added notes...


I hope you are open for an abnormal Christmas Eve devotion. Because I think we need some abnormal.

If you don't care for it, it is on me and please understand, I did not ask anyone ahead of time for permission.

If you do appreciate the thoughts this evening, then give the credit to God, and The staff here because they asked me to share it.

I am challenging you to change your Christmas greeting. "Merry Christmas" is really a shortened version of "Have a Merry Christmas" and Happy Holidays doesn't really count.

I challenge you to change it. It is kind of like when someone says how are you? Next time that happens, stop and actually tell them, and see what happens. It will freak them out.
This year try, "have an abnormal Christmas." And see what happens.

We have become too comfortable with a story that many of us have heard all our lives and picture in our minds from Christmas plays, cartoon specials, and Christmas songs.
This thought came to mind when my oldest son, back from college, asked when we were going to have a "normal" Christmas and we started to question what is normal. You see Christmas has become about what media and the songs tell us. This is not a “rant” on what Christmas has become; it is a challenge to our view of it all.

This Christmas we are getting set to pack-up our house, last Christmas I was in Afghanistan, the Christmas before that we were at Walter Reed delivering Christmas cards, the Christmas before that we were in Boise, ID with me getting set to head to South Carolina.
But the Christmas songs would have you believe that Christmas is about family coming together, eating far too much food, and one even suggests telling “scary ghost-stories.” I’m not sure about that one.

I’m not against family coming together of course,…

But it is only in the classic Christmas CAROLEs that we are reminded of Christ, and the gift He is, and the gift He desires.

When I was growing up we still did Christmas plays in public school. We watched a Charlie Brown Christmas every year, and you can almost picture the setting with all of the players and surroundings. But in the midst of all of it, I wonder if we have missed something.

Have you ever wondered about the shepherds in the story.

I would like for us to look at a little bit of history, and ask a “what-if”.

We may be missing a little bit of the story. There is significance to the presence of the angels, and why they came in mass to the shepherds.

--Appearances of the angels concerning the birth of Christ.
JOSEPH: Matt 1:18 -- The birth of Jesus Christ came about this way: After His mother Mary had been engaged to Joseph, it was discovered before they came together that she was pregnant by the Holy Spirit. 19 So her husband Joseph, being a righteous man, and not wanting to disgrace her publicly, decided to divorce her secretly.
    20 But after he had considered these things, an angel of the Lord suddenly appeared to him in a dream, saying, "Joseph, son of David, don't be afraid to take Mary as your wife, because what has been conceived in her is by the Holy Spirit. 21 She will give birth to a son, and you are to name Him Jesus, because He will save His people from their sins."
ZECHARIAH: Luke 1:8 -- When his division was on duty and he was serving as priest before God, 9 it happened that he was chosen by lot, according to the custom of the priesthood, to enter the sanctuary of the Lord and burn incense. 10 At the hour of incense the whole assembly of the people was praying outside. 11 An angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing to the right of the altar of incense. 12 When Zechariah saw him, he was startled and overcome with fear.
MARY: Luke 1:26 -- In the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, 27 to a virgin engaged to a man named Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin's name was Mary.
SHEPHERDS: Luke 2:8 -- In the same region, shepherds were staying out in the fields and keeping watch at night over their flock. 9 Then an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified.  10 But the angel said to them, "Don't be afraid, for look, I proclaim to you good news of great joy that will be for all the people: 11today a Savior, who is Messiah the Lord, was born for you in the city of David. 12 This will be the sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped snugly in cloth and lying in a manger."
    13 Suddenly there was a multitude of the heavenly host with the angel, praising God and saying: 14 Glory to God in the highest heaven, and peace on earth to people He favors!
    15 When the angels had left them and returned to heaven, the shepherds said to one another, "Let's go straight to Bethlehem and see what has happened, which the Lord has made known to us."

Why the shepherds?

As is highlighted here, http://www.jesus.org/birth-of-jesus/shepherds-and-angels/why-did-the-angels-announce-jesuss-birth-to-shepherds.html these were very likely not your ordinary shepherds. According to other research that has been done, these were possibly shepherds who were tending to the temple flocks. This would be the sheep who were intended for the temple sacrifices. When the angel encourages these men to go and see the Child, he in essence is encouraging them to go and inspect the Lamb of God in the same way that they are tasked with inspecting the lambs for sacrifice.

It was a VERY ABNORMAL NIGHT. The message of the angels concluded with the clear message that this is a gift of God to those He favors. His favor rests on those who have given themselves to Christ, and accepted that gift.

Christ is truly the Lamb whose sacrifice covers our sins forever, if we know Him. Do not let Him stay as a baby in a manger. Recognize Him as the Savior and Lord of all. Do you know Him truly?