{"id":20553,"date":"2018-11-29T09:38:22","date_gmt":"2018-11-29T17:38:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dminlgp\/?p=20553"},"modified":"2018-11-28T19:06:47","modified_gmt":"2018-11-29T03:06:47","slug":"the-end-of-the-world-or-a-path-to-follow","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/the-end-of-the-world-or-a-path-to-follow\/","title":{"rendered":"The end of the world or a path to follow?"},"content":{"rendered":"

It all sounds so ominous. The transformation of Western society at the hands of four of the most powerful and influential businesses ever. The development of the digital age, the ubiquitous \"\"influence of the computer and the internet have collectively opened up the door for the rise of what Scott Galloway calls \u2018The Four Horsemen\u2019 to infiltrate our lives nearly completely. They have managed to capture the market in four distinct areas – communication (Apple), retail sales (Amazon), information (Google), and social connection (Facebook).[1]<\/a> In so doing they have gobbled up the competition, subtly convinced us that we cannot live without them, and managed to gain the support of the federal government, often bypassing laws meant to protect competition.<\/p>\n

Before we get too carried away with behemoth bashing, does the growth of these entities sound familiar at all? A few nerdy people get together in an out of the way place and come up with some revolutionary ideas. They develop a strategy to promote their ideas and utilize existing resources in a radical way to spread the word. The ideas catch on, slowly at first and not without significant opposition at times, but eventually they are endorsed by the government and permitted to influence policy and conduct in a manner previously unimaginable. Eventually they become so big and influential that entire cultures are altered by their very existence. Over time the ideas are\"\" institutionalized to the point that people can no longer imagine life in their absence. Eventually though the institution becomes increasingly inflexible and out of touch with the surrounding culture, it grows out of favor and is maintained and utilized by only a few devoted followers. We could be talking about the Sears Roebuck Company and their famous catalogue (the booster seats of my childhood) but, the scenario might also describe the rag-tag group of Jesus followers, the world conquering ideas they spread and the institution they ultimately founded.<\/p>\n

While it may be prudent to spend some time contemplating the power and influence \u2018The Four\u2019 will have over our futures should they continue unabated in their quests, it may also behoove us to consider how they have capitalized on current cultural forces, particularly in regard to the main demographic that appears to be abandoning the Church, that is the emerging generations. Galloway\u2019s own purpose for writing this book is so that;\u00a0\u201cthe reader can gain insight and a competitive edge\u201d,\u00a0<\/em>[2]<\/a>\u00a0something that the Church seems to have lost. How has the Church, once the most powerful of cultural institutions, become a shadow of its former self, competing with Sears for fastest door shuttering? Maybe it became comfortable, believing that it was \u2018too big to fail\u2019. Perhaps it lost the ability to remain nimble, failing to keep up with the changing cultural climate. For churches, it clearly requires more than simply using trendy contemporary music (if your community is one that uses music at all) or presenting topical and eye-catching messages. Like Sears obtaining some star endorsed clothing brands on the racks, these and other similar remedies may temporarily stem the tide but represent little more than dressing up a dinosaur.<\/p>\n

The fastest Christian growth is occurring in the global South, where the institutional church is less established and small, organic cells are regenerating themselves, reminiscent of the spread of the Gospel in the first few centuries.[3]<\/a> These Christian cells have many similarities to the provisions of \u2018The Four\u2019. They are community focused (Facebook), adept at addressing felt needs (Amazon), able to \"\"provide pertinent answers to specific and personal questions (Google), and are recognized as being established by an iconic founder, also providing opportunity for transcendent worship experiences (Apple).[4]<\/a> Whether they were intentional or not these Christian communities in the global South have tapped into several of the very desires that \u2018The Four\u2019 are attempting to satiate sans spirituality. Meanwhile, the Western institutional Church seems to carry on as though nothing has changed in the last 50 years and continues to \u201canswer questions that the world is no longer asking.\u201d[5]<\/a> While there does appear to be growth in some realms of Western Christianity, there are signs that much of this is nothing more than consolidation, the movement by emerging generations from older and more traditional worship centers to younger and more contemporary ones.[6]<\/a> Like people who have stopped shopping at Sears now frequenting Kohls instead. It\u2019s a little more hip (maybe), a little less lethargic (possibly), provides a little more contemporary style (arguably), but is still ripe for destruction by Amazon.<\/p>\n

We could utilize this book as it seems the author intended to be aware of the trends and thus \u201cprovide economic security for [readers] and their families\u201d<\/em>.[7]<\/a> We could also see it as a warning and use it to bolster opposition to the monstrosities that are \u2018The Four\u2019. Or we have the opportunity, as lovers of the universal Church and members of this course, to use the text for our own purposes and find within it nuggets of wisdom applicable to revitalizing the Church in a manner not unlike what is occurring in the global South, permitting it to once again to meet the innate desires of people everywhere in a way that has far more eternal value than anything \u2018The Four\u2019 has to offer.<\/p>\n

[1]<\/a>Galloway, Scott.\u00a0The Four: The Hidden DNA of the Tech Giants<\/em>. New York: Portfolio\/Penguin Pub Group, 2017.<\/p>\n

[2]<\/a>Ibid P. 12<\/p>\n

[3]<\/a>Several websites and articles confirm this from both the Protestant and Catholic perspective.<\/p>\n

a. “LatestNumbers Confirm Global South as New Catholic Center of Gravity.” Crux. October 22, 2017. Accessed November 28, 2018. https:\/\/cruxnow.com\/global-church\/2017\/10\/22\/latest-numbers-confirm-global-south-new-catholic-center-gravity\/<\/a>.<\/p>\n

b. Colson, Charles. “The Rise of Christianity in the Global South.” CBN.com – The Christian Broadcasting Network. March 03, 2015. Accessed November 28, 2018. http:\/\/www1.cbn.com\/spirituallife\/the-rise-of-christianity-in-the-global-south.<\/p>\n

[4]<\/a>Galloway, Scott.\u00a0The Four: The Hidden DNA of the Tech Giants<\/em>. New York: Portfolio\/Penguin Pub Group, 2017.<\/p>\n

[5]<\/a>Spong, Dr. John. “The Future of Christianity.” Lecture, Wellington, New Zealand, June 17, 1998.<\/p>\n

[6]<\/a>Fields, Jenn. “Here’s What’s Bringing Millennials Back to Churches.” The Denver Post. June 06, 2016. Accessed November 28, 2018. https:\/\/www.denverpost.com\/2015\/11\/28\/heres-whats-bringing-millennials-back-to-churches\/.<\/p>\n

[7]<\/a>Galloway, Scott.\u00a0The Four: The Hidden DNA of the Tech Giants<\/em>. New York: Portfolio\/Penguin Pub Group, 2017. p. 12<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It all sounds so ominous. The transformation of Western society at the hands of four of the most powerful and influential businesses ever. The development of the digital age, the ubiquitous influence of the computer and the internet have collectively opened up the door for the rise of what Scott Galloway calls \u2018The Four Horsemen\u2019 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":98,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[1411,1409],"class_list":["post-20553","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-scott-galloway","tag-the-four","cohort-lgp8"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20553","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/98"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20553"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20553\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":20561,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20553\/revisions\/20561"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20553"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20553"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20553"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}