But first, let's think a moment about how scripture has always had a "multimedia" life. It begins as the spoken word, largely, as prophets and holy men speak to the people of their day. It has then been transformed into text, extending the reach of these messages well beyond their first audiences. But it lives in more than the written word. A grand tradition of adapting scripture to the various arts manifests the vitality of scripture. Indeed, one measure of the success of scripture is the degree to which new generations not only read it and discuss it, but use it to express their own faith, their own experience -- in written expression, and in other ways.
Publication or dissemination no longer depend upon privilege or money or even special skills. And the formats that have impact are not always the well-produced media of large corporations. The personal has reach, and can simply trump high-quality productions built in a media factory. The "rise of the amateur" and of "user-generated content" combined with the various social networks have made it possible to make scripture come alive in fresh, personal ways.
Beyond Film
Of course, ever since the dawn of film there have been adaptations of the Bible that have manifest scripture to new audiences in a vital new format. And while Christians may differ (and occasionally wince) at how their notions of Christ or Biblical events are handled on film, that medium has helped spread the word. Today's new media take this even further and allow for scripture truly to be democratized -- perhaps not in the way hoped by Tyndale (who wanted every plow boy to have a Bible in his hand), but certainly in the way Tyndale acted (translating the holy word into the modern idiom of his day).
The way the new media handle scripture differs from film, though, in a very important way: it is more personal. The social media are successful because people connect with people -- and especially with everyday people, not just glamorized celebrities or authorities of any sort.
Take, for example, Mary Margaret Douglas, a young girl retelling the story of Jonah from the Bible in the embedded video above. From the Bible (a text) a children's film version of the story was created which the young girl watched until she memorized it word-for-word. Then, from the pulpit of her church, she retold the story. It is a fair bet that this unprofessional, home video-style recording of this girl at church has been seen by far more people than the audience of that Bible video from Golden Books. Why? Perhaps it is we like cute young humans doing incredible things. Perhaps it is the delivery style of this little girl. Perhaps it is in part the clever adaptation from the Bible done by the screenwriter of the video she imitates. But I think its success is due to it being created, appreciated and then shared by everyday people who like the message and enjoy the method by which it comes. This sort of video, multiplied and varied according to the talents of lay believers, might as a genre do more collectively than any Cecil B. DeMille Bible epic ever could.
Sacred literature continues to be adapted to film, but may have a more significant form when morphed into the new media of our day. We Latter-day Saints believe that God speaks to His children "in their weakness, after the manner of their language, that they might come to understanding" (D&C 1:24). The popular and creative media of our day make a vital language we should speak. No matter how misused these media may so often be, it is still no blasphemy to spread God's word in these personal, inviting, contemporary ways. In fact, it is something modern prophets are counseling us to do.
“I exhort you to sweep the earth with messages filled with righteousness and truth," said Apostle David A. Bednar in a recent address promoting the use of social media, "—messages that are authentic, edifying, and praiseworthy—and literally to sweep the earth as with a flood.” He specifically drew attention to independent efforts made to use the social media for good, including the Instagram Book of Mormon 365 project. In both this global impetus and this focus on the Book of Mormon, Elder Bednar echoes and updates the words of former church president, Ezra Taft Benson.
Flooding the Earth with the Book of Mormon
In 1988, church president Ezra Taft Benson proclaimed, "The Book of Mormon is the instrument that God designed to 'sweep the earth as with a flood, to gather out [His] elect.' (Moses 7:62.)"
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| Ezra Taft Benson urged Mormons to do more with the Book of Mormon |
The time is long overdue for a massive flooding of the earth with the Book of Mormon for the many reasons which the Lord has given. In this age of the electronic media and the mass distribution of the printed word, God will hold us accountable if we do not now move the Book of Mormon in a monumental way.
We have the Book of Mormon, we have the members, we have the missionaries, we have the resources, and the world has the need. The time is now!
(Ezra Taft Benson, "Flooding the Earth with the Book of Mormon," 1988).
How might we bring the Book of Mormon to life in our own amateur, personal, multi-media way? How can we do something, now, to flood the earth with the Book of Mormon via social media? How can our own personal experiences with the Book of Mormon find their way to those unfamiliar with the power of this scripture?
I'd like my students to respond with their ideas.
A simple way in which we could share thoughts and stories of the Book of Mormon probably do not stray far from what we are already doing. Many, many times on Social Media I see and hear of hard times that friends and acquaintances are going through. I think that perhaps we can relate our experiences with stories of the Book of Mormon--and share the versus applicable with our stories, and follow that by how God has delivered us or offered us second chances. We can relate our lives with lives of those found in the Book of Mormon, and we can share the messages and lessons we have learned through social media.
ReplyDeleteLizzy, that's a great idea! What if we developed a list of categories for common problems or issues, then indexed verses, concepts, or stories from the Book of Mormon relating to each of those? Then, it could be a way for people to easily apply the Book of Mormon to specific problems.
DeleteI really like this idea. This is a way to share the Book of Mormon without being super churchy or weird or pushy about it.
DeleteI think that we should post our daily findings of our scripture study on the internet. We could show how this scripture means so much to us in this time, and why it is important. Maybe we were struggling with this exact thing, or we felt like we weren't forgiven. We don't have to publicly announce our personal problems (we'd sound whiny) but we could say how this presented comfort to us.
ReplyDeleteI also like the idea of those pictures on the internet that say "Need comfort? Read Genesis whatever" and then there's a huge list of all the different things we could read if we reached that point. I like the idea of making one of those out of our individual section.
Also, what if we created our own blogs, used scrictly for sharing the Gospel, the Book of Mormon, the modern scriptures from General Conference?
DeleteI like the thought of the "Need comfort" picture. We could have a lot of different ones...like "need comfort", "need help", "need joy" or different things like that--and then present corresponding passages of the Book of Mormon that can give comfort, help and joy.
DeleteCreating a separate blog is an interesting idea, and might make it easy to share scriptures or inspirational messages because it would be aimed exclusively at a specific audience. However, I wonder if it would be better to integrate authentic and inspiring messages into the existing social media platforms that we use to leverage the connections we already have.
DeleteI like the idea of flooding the earth with the Book of Mormon, but in a personal way; a way that people who are not familiar with it, can feel enough intrigue to read even a few verses. This could be done, as others pointed out, by sharing an everyday worry, to which many can relate, and link that to the parts of the Book of Mormon that contain the answers, or the words of comfort, that we all need. I'm not saying that we shout our problems to the world, just that we share experiences of how this scripture has changed us and our lives for the better. We all have friends or acquaintances (members or not) who need to become familiar with our personal experiences with the Book of Mormon.
ReplyDeleteI think that this is a very valid point. Whatever we do we need to make it personal. Family, friends, associates will take whatever we post more seriously and more to heart if we make it clear that it is a personal thing and not just a means of conversion.
DeleteAnd I like Tori's idea above, about starting our own blogs used strictly for sharing the gospel. Other options would be to start a Youtube Channel, an Instagram account dedicated to sharing the gospel, etc.
DeleteI agree. relating the Book of Mormon to a problem or concern we are facing is an honest way to share our beliefs about the Book. In addition to starting a channel or website, we could have a hash-tag to our posts. #BOManswers #AnotherTestiment..something like that
DeleteI think that we are in such a visual world today that words alone will not be enough. I know that I am an avid reader and love to learn through reading, but many now are so lazy they pick and choose the status' they will read on Facebook. I think that integrating a favorite scripture from "The Book of Mormon" with an image could help create intrigue in the minds of those who see the post. This might involve an overlay of text on an image, a bold caption accompanying an image, etc. I think that adding a visual element will help in the spread and response of the project.
ReplyDeleteThis is a similar idea as Tori's--in that we have a caption or phrase on the picture. I think these are a great way and things that can then easily be shared through social media. (You know, you've seen them on pinterest, instagram, and Facebook). If we post these photos, but include whatever we want to say in the caption--maybe about our personal experiences, I think it could be quite powerful, and something that cycles on.
DeleteI've always liked the idea of being able to share my stories about the Book of Mormon with others through testimony. We've all heard of the accounts of people finding a book of mormon with a testimony in the front pages. We did this when we were younger in sunday school. This method usually helps the reader to put more importance into their reading, knowing what it means to others. Im not sure how we could incorporate that into social media besides posting a video of our testimonies all preceding an invitation to read the Book of Mormon. I do think that would be a good idea and would spread quickly.
ReplyDeleteI think that a video could be cool though. We could have like a string of views of different people's hand written testimonies--and then maybe incorporate us sharing our testimonies verbally into the video?
DeleteI agree. I think this is much more approachable by non-members as well, since it can be very intimidating to approach a book of scripture. Many of my friends would be much more interested, I think, in hearing my personal testimony of the Book of Mormon, than reading or hearing about the Book of Mormon itself. I think this would then lead my friends to actually read and search the Book of Mormon itself.
DeleteI like your idea. People can understand how to come closer to God by learning from the different stories in the Book of Mormon. Being able to share that online or make a video to make it more personal would be helpful so people have a better understanding of why the Book of Mormon is important.
DeleteI like this idea of a personal invitation from each of us to read the Book of Mormon. We could each make our own brief video with our personal testimony of the Book of Mormon, like you said. We could go one step further each try to tie the testimony back to a specific need of the audience like someone stated earlier. For example, one person could be: Need Comfort? Need Peace? Need Hope? Need Light? Need Truth? And have a corresponding scripture to aid that need along with a personal witness.
DeleteI like the idea of sharing the testimony of converts from my mission on Facebook or other social media. I think seeing the testimony of real people who have found out about and accepted the gospel is one of the most powerful ways to get people interested in the gospel. I think this is because these converts, like the non-members who are reading or hearing or watching these testimonies, have not been born in the church and find it weird from the outside. I think this is also because these non-members don't know how to approach the church and they don't want to be dragged into or forced into something that might not be what they want.
ReplyDeleteI really like this idea as well. On my mission, my mission president made a facebook page where recent converts would share their conversion stories. Something else that was cool was that we would get recent converts to write down their conversion stories to share with others but keep for themselves to reflect on why they joined the church if they were going through a hard time.
DeleteI agree. Converts can have such a powerful influence with their added testimony. There may be some converts in our class. But would we also seek out others to have them be apart of our film?
ReplyDeleteI think a neat way to "flood the earth" with the Book of Mormon would be to post quotes from the Book of Mormon on outlets such as twitter or facebook. If people maybe shared a little context and their favorite verses from the Book of Mormon, people would want to read it. It would also be great if people would share the free eBook (http://amzn.com/B00BNGXNW2) link where people could just download The Book of Mormon for free.
ReplyDeleteI agree with many who have posted previously that we should share how the Book of Mormon specifically helps us in our daily lives. Some of these include, advice and counsel we receive on parenting and family relationships, how to receive peace during times of trial and tragedy, how our prayers can be truly answered by God.
The link to the download is a solid idea!
DeleteThat would be an easy link to include in a tweet or put in an update
DeleteThis is mostly to get a chuckle from you, but I had some friends who after the hype of the Ice Bucket challenge tried to get a Book of Mormon Scripture challenge going. They would read their favorite scripture from Book of Mormon then after words hand the book to someone else and another person would dump green jello on them as you would the ice bucket. Involving Jello brings another aspect of our culture into the picture. I am not suggesting something like this, because I think we want this to be a positive and spiritually uplifting opportunity. Dumping green jello is almost a mockery I think. Funny idea but not appropriate for truly sharing the gospel i believe.
ReplyDeleteThat said my dad has started to record and make videos of missionaries as they arrive home to the airports. He captures the experience of the families and the missionary as they are reunited after their service of 18 months or 2 years. I am at a wall as to how to incorporate this into spreading the Book of Mormon. Maybe there is a way to involve converts and their testimonies that come from the Book of Mormon brought to them by the missionaries? I am not sure if this is making sense but maybe this sparks someone else's creativity.
Here is the link for his video and there are about 6 or 7 others with missionaries coming home.http://youtu.be/omSMU8KqNe8?list=PLbOvr4SyTGXL7MSyhRe8PIoaTDKfREAQS
I like the idea of getting recent converts involved! That would be so cool to get a compilation of testimonies on the Book of Mormon from them. Could be in video format? Would that be to difficult to obtain?
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DeleteI find that often people are attracted to other peoples positive energy because that positive energy helps them feel good. I feel like a good way for me to use social media in sharing the gospel and also helping others become more familiar with the power of the scripture would be to share positive experiences I have in life and link those experiences to a passage or principle in the Book of Mormon that relates to it. I could do this using social media avenues such as Facebook and Twitter. For example, I could comment on how faith has been a positive force in my life because it has helped me gain happiness through having a testimony of the Atonement. I could then share a scripture from the Book of Mormon that highlights faith such as Enos 1:8 or Ether 12:6 or Mosiah 3:12. Doing doing this would help others reflect on the positive experience I have in my life and how the Book of Mormon influences those experiences.
ReplyDeleteI think a way we could flood the earth with the Book of Mormon via social media would be to post a link to the Book of Mormon in my news feed and invite others to read it. I could also ask my member friends to do the same, this would widen the area for individuals to see it and possibly follow the link and read the Book of Mormon.
Jeremy--what you suggest is true. It may be an obvious method of how we can flood the earth with the Book of Mormon, but it may be something we don't often do. I remember when I was on my mission, we would carry around 10 Book of Mormons at a time to hand out to people, and now, that we are every day people, we can't do that, we should utilize what we have--the internet to share with everyone. We could share where we are in the Book of Mormon, or what we learned that day in Sunday School, or how a certain verse applies to us today.
DeleteElder Bednar encouraged members to share messages that are “authentic, edifying, and praiseworthy” on social media. To me, this command invites us to be examples online of truth and goodness even without outright sharing scriptural quotes. We can use social media to invite others to service opportunities or activities with the Church. Non-members will be able to become familiar with the Church in a non-threatening way, while joining together with members to follow Christ in selfless service. This will help dispel the aura of mystery that surrounds Mormonism in the eyes of many. Also, I think having high standards for what we post online can make a huge difference. Non-member friends will see the pictures of their friends anxiously engaged in clean, praiseworthy pursuits—going on missions, studying at BYU Jerusalem, serving others. They will see clearly the contrast between their LDS friends and some of their other friends that post statuses laced with profanity or pictures of themselves partying. This clear dissimilarity will generate interest about what exactly makes Mormons so unique and then they might look at Mormon.org or let in the missionaries that knock on their door. I know that this is not as direct a route as straight-up sharing the scriptures, but the length of a conversion does not matter so much as the end result. Many of my friends are non-members, and their good opinion of the Church has come only after years of me striving to set a good example. I think many of them--most of whom are strong Christians or equally strong atheists--would put their guards up at seeing a Book of Mormon quote and not be spiritually receptive to the message. But I think that this gradual sharing of good—and not always explicitly Mormon—messages can be effective in bringing others to the knowledge and truth of the gospel and The Book of Mormon.
ReplyDeleteThis is an EXCELLENT point. I think people are often drawn to the light of Christ that shines if we are living how He would have us live, without having to share outright doctrine material. I'm not against doing that and think for the sake of our assignment we need to do something directly with the Book of Mormon, but you are so right: Creating a consistent Christian online presence will do more to bring people to the gospel than a couple random scriptures or General Conference quotes will. Not because they're not true and not because they're not powerful, but because our non-member audience may not know how to receive it (sometimes scripture language or Mormon lingo, aka: agency, covenants, temple, etc. is really confusing for people who are not members of our church).
DeleteIn my opinion, I agree with Savannah, I feel people are much more attracted to things that are visually appealing to them. Posting text and such in social media is great, but to really catch people's attention I feel like we need a visual representation. Maybe we can create some kind of interactive way to link short video clips, charts, short writings/stories, within a blog that we could easily share the blog link across social media mediums. A way to mix the feelings and stories that we and others have about the Book of Mormon with a visual aspect that will catch people's eye at first and then hook them into reading the content. With something that is visually appealing and easily shareable, we can flood the Book of Mormon across the whole Earth. What we can make I don't know at the moment, but I feel like this should be the basic premise of how we should go about this kind of project.
ReplyDeleteI'm thinking that a JImmy-Kimmel type interview setting asking people about the Book of Mormon could be entertaining and informative, but it could also be irreverent or just not funny if it wasn't done well. Thoughts?
ReplyDeleteI think we can bring the Book of Mormon to life by each taking the time to spotlight someone who exemplifies one of the principles, qualities or commandments taught in the Book of Mormon in their life. We can each interview that person, ask them about their relationship to the Book of Mormon, ask them to recount an experience where their testimony of this sacred text has influenced their actions, ask what verse most influences their life, etc. Then we can choose the best quote and use that in the video and then also include a cool visual in the video with the scripture they mentioned. This puts a human aspect behind the words.
ReplyDeleteWith social media I think we can try to live lives that follow the path Christ would have us walk with Him and documenting them consistently. The biggest turnoffs when I see Mormon social media posts are when they try to be preachy, judge people, criticize other organizations/beliefs/churches and/or are not tied back to the gospel of Jesus Christ. I believe in taking a stand and not being shy about our beliefs, but we need to be intentional in how we do it. Using the hashtag #sharegoodness with inspiring/religious posts on instagram builds a solid base of thousands of uplifting posts people can be directed to if they click on your photo.
Another HUGE thing we can do is send people private messages. Someone posts they're sick, got dumped, feel lonely, etc.? Send them a message! Tell them you're thinking about them, maybe pass along a funny video or a Mormon Message. The number one way to do missionary work is to be a friend with the guidance of the Spirit. Personalizing your message and your efforts will get you far and make a lasting, positive impact on the people you reach out to.
Mandy-- I think you show an excellent idea....its not just enough to cyberly share what we are learning and feeling to help other people, but to express to someone of their demonstration, quality, or expression of what the Book of Mormon teaches us. Its not only important to obtain the word, but also, to reflect it and be a living member--to accept all the invitations the Book of Mormon offers us and live is.
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ReplyDeleteWith social media, there are thousands of ways we can share about the Book of Mormon. One way that we can make personal but yet benefit others about the Book of Mormon is through small and simple methods. One way that I have enjoyed sharing my Book of Mormon findings is through a simple facebook status. The most important thing we can do is make the Book of Mormon, not just a book of history, but OUR story, our lives, our trials, and our success. And so, a recent status of mine said: "Alma, a father in the Book of Mormon taught me today something I want to work on: "to never be weary of good works." Growing up as the only Latter-day Saint, I found the need to defend the Book of Mormon often, and now, being in a religious community of Provo, the need to share the Book of Mormon should be through everything we do--texting, instagram, and facebook.
I really like this idea. Instead of making your post highlight religion, you make it more personal by adding depth to the character of Alma. I think this could draw people in because you aren't saying "this is what I learned in a religious book...." you are pointing out something you learned from an individual that shares common pains and joys. I agree with you that everyone could definitely make the Book of Mormon more pronounced in our everyday communication.
DeleteI really like this idea as well; people respond more if there is a direct personal connection to what you are sharing instead of just a random verse as your status. Whatever we decide to do has to have some personal element to it so that people will connect with what we are posting.
DeleteTwitter is a powerful tool. I literally see it everywhere. From the Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon, every sporting event, and even General Confernce. People keep an eye on what's trendings, because they want to be in the know and be a part of what's hot. Why is the Book of Mormon not a trending hashtag everyday? Shouldn't there be millions of Mormons that are reading it everyday? They could then be tweeting out something short that they felt or got out of their reading. Unfortunately, I feel most people feel like their one tweet won't make a difference, just like all the people out there that won't get out and vote, because their one vote won't make a difference. I feel all we should be doing is something small and simple everyday. Those are the thing that can and will make an impact in the world. So for me a simple tweet with the hashtag #theBOM could be a small ripple among my very few follows that could grow and spread even further, but if it impacts at least one, then I would feel good about it. We won't all change and impact everyone in the world, but if we all at least try and only impact one...imagine the possibilities.
ReplyDeleteThis is probably my favorite idea so far. Facebook is dying, and Twitter is on the rise, and that's because it specializes in quick thoughts in a vast community (the whole world). Why not have the Book of Mormon be a trending topic? Share a thought you learned from your scripture study and hashtag the Book of Mormon. It's simple, quick, and much less likely to get you blocked. Facebook has become a swamp of dumb articles and cheesy pictures, and people just aren't putting up with it anymore. It's still probably a great way to connect with old friends and family, and for that it would be perfect to share The Book of Mormon, in personalized messages. But quotes and pictures? I block people who post too many of those all the time. We wouldn't be any different.
DeleteOn my mission one of the themes was "flood Los Angeles with the Bom" And we did... Until the general office of the church called and told us we'd reached our limit! Interestingly missions have started to become more and more digital since that time, now doing missionary work through use of iPads and Facebook. Now we can openly and freely flood not just my mission but the whole world with the gospel by clicking "post."
ReplyDeleteI feel that for this to be successful we should not only post often, but post intelligently while applying missionary principles.
For one I feel that if we come off as heavy-handed with doctrine or stereotypically Mormon we will have little impact with those outside of our faith. If we can post in a way that is more genuine and allows viewers to connect more with us as people we might have more success.
I think photo albums when they are well put together get a lot of interest- I've seen a lot of non members comment on or like efy photos for instance. Maybe with a little bit added to the captions (links, a short hint at the spiritual setting) we could leave a sort of open door for those who browse our posts. Some will just ignore them and that's fine, but those that are curious could look into it and learn more
This is a good example I just came upon! Unfortunately not amateur, but it could be done independently. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f-5XfAcVvwQ
ReplyDeleteI just recently saw "Meet the Mormons" and it caused me to think about this idea of flooding the world with the Book of Mormon. I think at times people have the best intentions and they get really excited and passionate about their religion--which is wonderful--but they don't always pause and think about their audience. The movie itself was well made and interesting enough, but I was completely unable to connect with it and have no desire to ever watch it again.
ReplyDeleteI think that is something that we have to address as we try to put our thoughts and spiritual findings out there for everybody to see. Sometimes there comes a point when people unfollow you just to get away from the frequent church-y posts.
I firmly believe that videos are the best way to get people intrigued by the LDS church. My roommates and friends are constantly on social media sites watching funny/dumb/adorable videos then making us all watch them. I think it would be wise to not underestimate the power of facebook/twitter posts...but it is important to not overestimate them too.
There is a time and a place for all things. we just have to figure out when and where it is.
I think we should give summaries/lessons learned from our sections of the Book of Mormon. For example, I can tell about Captain Moroni and why the 2,000 stripling warriors had to rise up. We could then say some lessons that apply to us and so people can get the general idea of teachings in the Book of Mormon. I came across a lot of people on my mission and since that don't read the Book of Mormon because their reading level is a little lower and it is very hard to understand and get through. It might even give non-members a preview to its teachings and intrigue them to learn about Alma and the Sons of Mosiah or Captain Moroni and his valiant men.
ReplyDeletePerhaps the Lord’s encouragement to ‘open your mouths’ might today include ‘use your hands’ while sharing the gospel in social media.
ReplyDeleteAs LDS we have a lot of resources to share the gospel however, the key is to engage people with our own experience. Social media is fast becoming an effective way for believers to share the gospel message creatively. For example, recording a short video that involves reciting a poem while sharing our religious beliefs could not only capture the attention of many people around us, but also may help them come to Christ.
If we focus on what we do best personally, I think we can share the gospel in a way that will really appeal to people. Finding out what your talents are and using them for good will not only help others but allow you to develop the gifts that God has given you.
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