Leaders: what kind of culture are you fostering in your ministry? In a world ever more primed for speed and convenience, should the church lean into the trend or cling to more grounded values? Engage this piece from Craig Detweiler, and respond in the comments.
-Paul
Jeff Bezos is a brilliant man and a remarkable marketer. He realizes that in the wake of Steve Jobs’ death, the role of technologist-in-chief is up for grabs. And while Google is offering us Glass and Facebook and Twitter are aggregating our friends and followers, Amazon is appealing to a different felt need””for speed. By turning 60 Minutes into a platform to announce “drone delivery,” Bezos shifted the news cycle towards Amazon on the same day that Christians have traditionally initiated Advent. While people of faith were shifting into a season of waiting and anticipation, Amazon offered the promise of “Prime Air” that could go above and beyond UPS or Federal Express to deliver our choices in an even faster, more convenient manner””via octocopters.
It doesn’t really matter when this innovation will arrive. By getting us talking and thinking about the virtues of Amazon’s delivery methods, Bezos enjoyed a miraculous public relations coup.
Good article.
It is SO easy to be lured into an expectation of instant gratification through the internet, not just Amazon and Amazon Prime. It’s hard to stop and ask the questions as to how the instant availability of so much of what I need (or merely want) changes me and us. What a challenge for the church to promote waiting and sacrifice when our culture pushes us to always desire More… Faster… Better… NOW!
(Full disclosure: I AM an Amazon Prime member. The free Kindle books each month and the free shipping on almost any order make it worth the membership cost as long as I resist the temptation to buy a lot of extra stuff “just because the shipping is free”!)