From Michale Duduit’s www.preaching.com
Snack culture — what does it mean to preaching?
In a series of features called “Snack Attack!” in the March 2007 issue of Wired magazine, we learn about the newest cultural trend — entertainment in bite-size portions. Nancy Miller observes, “Music, television, games, movies, fashion: We now devour our pop culture the same way we enjoy candy and chips — in conveniently packaged bite-size nuggets made to be munched easily with increased frequency and maximum speed. This is snack culture — and boy, is it tasty (not to mention addictive). . . .
“Today, media snacking is a way of life. In the morning, we check news and tap out emails on our laptops. At work, we graze all day on videos and blogs. Back home, the giant HDTV is for 10-course feasting — say, an entire season of ’24.’ In between are the morsels that fill those whenever minutes, as your mobile phone carrier calls them: a 30-second game on your Nintendo DS, a 60-second webisode on your cell, a three-minute podcast on your MP3 player.” (Click here to see the beginning of the article series; you’ll need to click on several items in the “Snack Attack!” box to read the complete series.)
So does this mean preaching now has to come in 3-minute increments? Let’s not get carried away — for every 2-minute iTunes download there’s also a season-long package of 45-minute “Heroes” episodes that young adults devour. So what does the snack culture trend say to preaching? Some possible implications and applications:
~ People will watch and listen longer if they are engaged. So get them engaged.
~ While sermons don’t have to be reduced to three-minute spots, why not pick out some short sections of your messages and make them available for download via podcasting? One message could produce several worthwhile downloadable insights.
~ When preaching a series on a topic or theme, why not use brief video snippets at the beginning of the next message to give a brief update on key ideas that have already been shared in the series thus far? (Like 30 or 40-second items from the past two Sundays?)
~ Want to get young adults digging into some biblical or theological issue? Take two-minutes on Sunday to whet their appetite, then direct them to your church website where you provide text and links to more resources. Give them tools to learn on their own.
~ Use the web to reinforce your messages. Why not a brief daily email devotion that picks up on texts and ideas from last week’s message? (My church does this and it’s read by hundreds each day.)
Got some ideas of your own to share? Pass them along to me at michael@preaching.com and I’ll put them together for an upcoming issue.
Wired contributing editor Steven Johnson concludes: “Snack culture is an illusion. We have more of everything now, both shorter and longer: one-minute movies and 12-hour epics; instant-gratification Web games and Sid Meiers Civilization IV. Freed from the time restrictions of traditional media, we’re developing a more nuanced awareness of the right length for different kinds of cultural experiences. . . . Yes, it sometimes seems as if we’re living off a cultural diet of blog posts and instant messages — until we find ourselves losing an entire weekend watching season three of ‘The Wire.’ The truth is, we have more snacks now only because the menu itself has gotten longer.”
http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/15.03/snackminifesto.html
