Media, Messages, and Me
Opening Devotion
Read Psalm 119:105.
What is Media?
1. List as many forms of media as you can think of in one minute. What are some common characteristics in your list? By combining those characteristics, how might you define media?
2. Does a common purpose exist for media? What purpose do media serve? In other words, what message(s) does media communicate?
3. Are certain media better suited for certain messages? Provide examples.
4. List several ways (positive and negative) in which media has affected your life prior to Stanford. In what ways might the media affect your stay at Stanford? How is media necessary for your life at Stanford?
5. How has media influenced society's ideas about social interaction in the family? About the government and public offices? About the public square?
6. Comment on this "chicken and egg" thought: The media only reflect society's conditions.
7. How have changes in media affected the Church? How is the media essential for the life of the Church?
Media: A Way of Life?
Media inspires, entertains, persuades, and communicates, providing us with pertinent information about the world around us. The amount of information available to us is increasing almost geometrically; the amount of knowledge is doubling every 20 years. As one testimony to this, it is said that by mid-1998 over 325 million web sites were open.
1. List several examples of media that are readily available to you.
2. Many of us use very little of the vast amount of media available to us. Comment on the various types of media available and their value to your student life.
3. Do you and others feel like you are being bombarded by media? Explain.
4. Who makes decision about kinds of media available to you as a student? Are some decisions made by default rather than through an informed and deliberate process? Are some people "media-deficient"? In the information age, are some media essential? Which ones? Why? If society is responsible for providing essential media, what else should accompany that provision?
5. What guidelines do you have or could you adopt to help you make informed and deliberate decisions about media selection and usage?
6. Imagine that your dorm room or you apartment is filling with smoke. You have time to grab only a few items. What would you grab? Are they media? Why rescue media?
No Medium Medium: The Word
It is assumed that God reveals Himself through media; this we will study in depth in section 5. Scripture testifies to itself that God's Word is the most important message to ever be communicated through media. For example, 2 Kings 22 records the account when God's Word had been neglected. In the restoration of the Temple undertaken by King Josiah, the workmen discovered the "lost" book of the Law. Distressed that God's Law had been neglected, Josiah immediately ordered that the book be read to all the people. To his horror he discovered that he and his people had not been living according to God's Word. Also, consider Jesus' words in John 5:39.
1. Which Commandment focuses upon "media"? What media are they? What are the media to communicate?
2. To what end does God reveal Himself in the Word? Read John 20:31 and 2 Timothy 3:15-17.
3. What might be considered the ultimate in media presentation according to Hebrews 1:1-2 and John 1:1-18? To what end?
4. Through Jesus' life, death and resurrection God has touched our lives forever. He sent us the eternal message that He loves and cares for us. In Christ we are declared acceptable to God. What motivation, then, does the Church have to employ various media? Which media can communicate the Good News? What disadvantages exist for certain media? What are some impediments that stand in the way of media communicating God's Word?
Maximum Impact
1. Paul reminded Timothy (2 Timothy 1:5, 3:15) of his instruction in the Word. What are some early memories that you have concerning your instruction in the Word?
2. How can you be encouraged to set aside time for the Word?
