called Jesus: A Theography (Thomas Nelson, 2012), which is like 500 pages, telling
the story of Jesus from the beginning to
the end. But for some people, they can’t
pick up the book. They can’t read the story
from beginning to end. It’s just too long.
FT: In Viral you describe Gutenbergers
and Googlers. Gutenbergers are those
shaped by the technology of the printing press and Googlers are shaped by the
technology of the Internet. This is a clear
generation gap. Can you explain?
LS: I see a spectrum. There’s still Gutenberger in me. There is a continuum. They
are not concrete categories. They are basically metaphors. Google is coming out with
Glass, taking our connection to technology to a new level. We are talking about
changes happening so quickly. I think the
generational divides broke down with Gen
X. There are young people who are still
Gutenbergers and people in their 70s and
80s who are a part of the TGIF culture. For
me, it’s more cultural than generational.
FT: Is there a place for give and take between Gutenbergers and Googlers? Or is it
an inevitable move from one to the other?
LS: We must revere our ancestors and respect the things they have done. We did not
go through things of the past for no reason.
We had to learn something. At the same
time we are not here to preserve some pure
form of Christian culture. There is that mentality out there that our primary purpose is
to preserve this church culture. I argue it's
not about church culture, but about the
gospel being encultured in every culture.
So I am not trying to preserve some sort
of church culture. I am arguing for baking
fresh bread. There is fresh bread every day.
FT: There have been some high-profile
cases of abuse aggravated by cyberbully-ing. What opportunities are there for the
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