BURBANK, CA – It took a book written in 1986 to awaken Christians to the need for a new approach to foreign missions. That book was Revolution in World Missions.

As Great Britain and colonizing countries began granting wholesale independence to former members of their commonwealths, those nations were forming a new wave of nationalism to establish, maintain, and preserve both ancient and newly established identities.

Millions of copies of Revolution in World Missions have been published to help Christians become aware of how nationalism had already become a challenge to traditional approaches to foreign missions. It had become obvious that training and empowering indigenous church leaders to serve in their home countries might become the only way to share the Good News of Jesus Christ.

Embracing Change

Christians are often reluctant to embrace change. This may be due in part to our commitment to stand firm and immovable on the fundamentals of our faith and the Word of God upon which they are based.

However, we, of all people, need to be the ones who are most keenly aware of current and changing cultural conditions. The Apostle Paul was committed to becoming all things to all men so that some might be saved. The Gospel had to be preached to the Jews in a different way than to Greeks or Romans. That required special skills in understanding and communicating in their diverse languages and cultures.

Best-selling author Eric Metaxas described the need to understand, operate within, and utilize the current culture to communicate effectively.

‘If you really love someone, you will figure out how to communicate with them, just as Jesus did.”

That was what Paul did. That’s what K.P. Yohannan did through his book Revolution in World Missions. They taught us how to communicate in a loving way with people to let them know about Jesus.

Metaxas went on to make his point that “for us, that has to mean speaking the language of media and entertainment.”

Changing the Culture

Phil and Kathleen Cooke are leading a movement that addresses that need. Phil has noted that “the need to share our message never changes, but how we share it does. This is the moment to embrace the digital age.”

The Cookes co-founded the Influence Lab as a catalyst to “change the perception of Christianity in today’s media-driven culture. To make that happen, we’re mobilizing a powerful global strategy to teach and train the next generation of pastors and leaders how to effectively use media to share the Gospel in today’s digital age.”

Influence Lab is already an acclaimed leader for utilizing media to change the way we share the Gospel.

Nearly the entire global culture is riding on what was once called “the information highway.” We may dislike how our families and friends have fallen captive to the media culture but would it not be more beneficial to learn how to meet them where they are in the language they understand?

This generation of believers needs to learn to communicate effectively through the media forms that are both available now and are constantly and relentlessly emerging.

Do you really want to reach souls for Jesus through the Gospel in this new age of media? Then, speak the media language and use media resources. Media has become the heart language of the entire world. We need to learn it.

Learn how you can do that by visiting the Influence Lab.

Read more news on Faith Based Organizations and Revolution in World Missions.