The Rising Flood

How? Technology has made it possible for information to reach us by many more ways than before. You can’t ignore it, just like you can’t ignore the sound of a handphone ringing in a public place. It’s in your face—all the time—more pervasive and intrusive than ever. Noise pollution is a way of life for Singaporeans.

Where is the Church in all this? Given how that the Church in our region seems to have no media presence at all, some might be forgiven for thinking: what has the Church got to do with the media? Do we have to do anything about it?

Are there issues? There certainly are. Media itself is neutral. It's just a tool. But the messages are not. Nothing is objective out there. Advertisers want our money. Politicians want our votes. Charities want our contribution. Do we give it to them? Events and issues are being debated. What is our stand?

Time to Choose

If you are one of those who think that IT and media proliferation do not pose a challenge to Christians, welcome back—I hope you had a nice vacation on Mars.

But seriously—wake up! Through the media, we are presented with choices everyday. If we are not sensitive to these choices, we will be swept by every tide of popular opinion. As St. Paul says in his letter to the Ephesians, that would be like “children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the cunning of men, by their craftiness in deceitful wiles.” (Ephesians 4:14)

But we are not only called to reject apathy and respond to the challenge of the media. We are called to use it for the glory of God, to evangelise. It’s one thing to cope with the negative; it’s another to accentuate the positive. There are so many possibilities and opportunities here and we should be riding the wave not just staying afloat.