Media & Opportunities

Lights, Camera, Action…these are some of the most repeated words in the making of any movie. God said, Let there be Light… The Bible is action packed with amazing stories of struggles, victories and Hope. It teaches us life affirming values. I get absolutely inspired by the structural setting of John 4. We often tend to under appreciate the way the author crafted this story – for example read John 4 with a camera mans perspective – What do you see? How many cameras do you see? I can almost imagine a spatial camera over the Samaritan woman when she runs back to her village in great excitement and can hear the sound track play at the background that resonates with celebrative emotions appealing to our senses. Then I see another camera almost at the same time focusing on the disciples when they return to Jesus with food – The point is so vivid here – the Samaritan woman took some time to understand what ‘Water’ was all about and these 12 disciples are unable to understand what ‘Food’ really means. This entire passage is a literary masterpiece. I wonder why Christians cannot make movies that will grab the attention of the viewers intellectually, emotionally and aesthetically. It is refreshing to see some great movies coming from the basket of Bollywood movie. Whether it is Chak De India or now the 3 Idiots these movies have the creative element to communicate some life affirming principles.It is time the Church in India should encourage young people to break way from the dichotomy we have created between “secular and sacred’ We need to encourage this young generation of Christians to seriously engage mass communication, digital communication and the world of media more seriously. There is almost an urgent need to engage the world of media and entertainment with values that demonstrate the nature and character of God. We don’t have to sound religious to make a valid point. “New Media” is becoming a very popular term for technologies that help us to communicate digitally. The Internet, and more importantly Web 2.0 applications, are rapidly changing the way we do business, build relationships, and entertain ourselves. But often we neglect to use these tremendous gifts as effective tools to enhance our personal witness to the nations. With rapidly increasing ties between countries and cultures, we would be guilty of apathy or indifference if we didn’t take a serious look at how these new technologies might be used to reach the unreached peoples of the world.