The Medium is The Message

In the book The Shaping of Things to Come the authors mention the idea " the medium is the message". This idea belongs to Marshall McCluhan. This idea has really intrigued me.

Essentially the idea behind this phrase is this: we shape our tools, and then they shape us. What McCluhan wanted us to look at was the reciporal effect that our tools and technologies have on us. They are not neutral things. They impact is deeply and we would do well to really think about what effects they have on us. These tools include the ones the church has traditionally used, such as sermons, buildings, preaching training. Now bring this idea to bear on personal spirituality and it means that our actions actually speak much louder than our words. There are clear nonverbal messages being emitted by our lives all the time. We are faced with the sobering fact that we actually are our message.

In simple terms do people see a clear picture of Jesus through my life. My study on how we are salt and light in Matt 5 led me to this connection. This doesn't mean I have to perfect, that is not going to happen, but am I showing them Jesus. Even the mistakes I make should show another charactertistic of God, his forgiveness. Showing Jesus is relational. There is that "R" word again.