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| Apr 10 |
The importance of printed media
30% of all new Christians said that no media played any role in their conversion. This shows that personal relationships are the driving force in evangelism, and that media can only play a supporting role. 10% said that radio (3%) or television (7%) played a role. This is remarkable for two reasons. First of all, it’s a low percentage. And second, there is much more Christian radio than Christian television. Yet television is influencing more people. The big surprise however was that 60% of the converts said that printed media played a role in their conversion. 17% mentioned an evangelistic tract. For every positive mention I ever heard about the evangelistic value of tracts, I am sure I heard at least ten negative ones in my life. Yet in Thailand evangelistic tracts were influential in the conversion of almost twice as many people as radio and television combined! The other 43% mentioned a book. This consisted of three equally large subgroups. The first group meant the Bible. The second a Christian book. And the third group mentioned both the Bible and a Christian book. Why would printed media be so much more effective in evangelism than broadcast media? Radio and television are much more intense, aren’t they? I do not know what the answer is. But I have two pretty good guesses. First, radio and television are literally broadcast. But Christian books are precision casted. They are mainly given in interactions between people. So they are better suited to support evangelism in personal relationships- and that is the main way that the Gospel spreads. Secondly, printed media offer the opportunity to re-read something that grabbed your attention. You can lay it down and come back to it later. That is another significant advantage while thinking about the important question whether or not to follow God. What an eye-opener! Even in a country like Thailand, where reading is not all that popular, printed media prove to be the most effective media in evangelism by far. It would be interesting to know how it is in other countries. Does anybody know? 6 Responses to “The importance of printed media”Leave a Reply |
In my research how people come to the Lord in Thailand, I also looked at the role of the various media. That gave rise to some surprises.
So, your research confirms that the Scripture (the Word in whole or in part) combined with personal relationships is the most effective tool for evangelism. Seems like not much has changed in that regard for 2000 years;-)
Good post, Marten!
Marten
It would be interesting to know the size of your sample group as well as their level of education. It would also be helpful to know how much of the book that they received they actually read i.e was their conversion mainly due to the literature or more due to the relationship and influence of the giver of the literature? In my (limited) experience, Thai people do not read very much and pastors struggle to get their congregations to read their Bibles and to apply the scriptures to their own lives – and these are people who already have some idea of what the Bible is about and are able to put it into a context. I have found with Thai friends who make an effort to read the Bible ( or other Christian literature) that they struggle to understand it, as their own worldview is too far removed from the Biblical one and like the Ethopian eunuch, they need some help to make sense of it all.
Sample size: 3000+, confirmed by follow-up study with a sample of 100.
Education: Average of all Christians, which is higher than general population, but still many with just primary education.
If it was a Christian book, they read all of the book. If it was the Bible, they read parts of it.
It was not mainly the literature. It was mainly the Gospel shared in a relationship, in which litterature played a part- as I already indicated in the article.
Thanks for clarifying Marten. I find it surprising and rather disappointing that not more (higher than average educated, literate) people indicate that literature played a role in their conversion, if it was tied to a relationship with a Christian. I find it hard to imagine how anyone in the world could be evangelised, discipled, taught or trained without there being some exchange of at least the written Scripture and possibly some other Christian literature too. It stands as a bit of an indictment against Christians in Thailand, and a weakness in the church’s outreach strategy, that only 43% of converts indicate the influence of books (Bible and/or other Christian literature) in their conversion – unless of course the other 57% did in fact receive such literature from their Christian friend/s, but did not or could not read it or understand it (which means, by implication, that literature is not that effective in evangelism, or that it is being used by Christians in an ineffective way).
That’s a way of looking at it. Of course the even likelier explanation is that they did receive literature and read it, but were not significantly impacted by it.
60% influenced by printed media to me still is a high number, certainly compared to the other media (by the way, choice was limited to one media). It indicates that Christian publishing is a very important supporting ministry for evangelism. And if you are arguing it is mainly supporting and personal relationships are way more important, I do not take issue with you.