“This is a massive issue—perhaps the biggest meta threat facing the church in the 21st century.”

Quite the statement. But it’s true: in the fight to form Christians, churches are struggling more than ever to compete. “The church is increasingly just one voice among many speaking into a Christian’s life,” Brett McCracken writes. “A church’s worship habits may occupy two hours of a Christian’s week. But podcasts, radio shows, cable news, social media, streaming entertainment, and other forms of media account for upwards of 90 hours of their week.”

Yes, you read that ratio correctly. And in the pandemic it’s only growing more extreme.To be sure, the formative power of echo chambers—and the threat of wolves—is not new. What is new in the internet age, though, is that “any given sheep is now vulnerable to literally millions of wolves, whose overt or subtle dangers are only ever a few clicks away. It’s impossible for any pastor to be aware of all the wolves.” (This is why TGC believes the search bar is the spiritual battleground of our day—and why we’re laboring to offer hope for the searching.)

For church leaders in these daunting days, McCracken proposes three principles: (1) media habits should be a discipleship focus, (2) formation beyond Sundays should be prioritized, and (3) church should be about more than getting “content.”

Read the whole article. Is there reason to be alarmed? Yes. But as we rise to meet this challenge, there is also reason to hope.