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--- en:operating_principles:dtm:publishing_church_growth_model:answering_objections [2026/05/24 04:28] – [This is a Western idea.] jpauldietrich
+++ en:operating_principles:dtm:publishing_church_growth_model:answering_objections [2026/05/25 04:11] (current) – [Objection: "Digital media has replaced printed media."] jpauldietrich
@@ Line 5: / Line 5: @@
 ===== Objection: "People do not read" or "Our culture is oral, not written" =====
-We should not decide in advance who will read and who will not read. God can create a willingness to read when literature is presented. But if no literature is presented, what will they desire to read? What God has clearly commanded for us to do, let us not neglect because of our human reasoning.
+Jesus repeatedly referenced written Scriptures. We should not decide in advance who will read and who will not read. God can create a willingness to read when literature is presented. But if no literature is presented, what will they desire to read? What God has clearly commanded us to do, let us not neglect because of our human reasoning.
 > The third angel’s message is to be given through this medium and through the living teacher. CM 4.2
-We do not dispute that many African cultures are largely oral rather than written. But this fact does not diminish the importance of literature.
+We do not dispute that many African cultures are largely oral rather than written. But this fact does not diminish the importance of literature. People will read what interests them. Try to calculate how much time you or your friends on social media, some of which is pictures and some of which is reading. We don't have a problem reading what interests us.
 > Let more time be given to the publication and circulation of books containing present truth. Call attention to books dwelling on practical faith and godliness and to those that treat on the prophetic word. **The people are to be educated to read** the sure word of prophecy in the light of the living oracles. They need to know that the signs of the times are fulfilling. PM 95.1
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 In Martin Luther's time, literacy rates throughout Europe were around 5-10%. The recent invention of the printing press made his German translation of the Bible available. The availability of this Bible created the desire for literacy. The invention of the printing press also enabled Luther to print and distribute his own writings. "Luther, after the publication of his 95 Theses, became the best-selling author in Europe, and his writings accounted for nearly 20% of all purchased publications in Europe during his lifetime (by the way, this makes him the best-selling single author per capita in western history).... Within a century of Doctor Luther's death literacy rates in Europe rose from perhaps 5-10% throughout Europe to around 60% in Protestant countries."((https://brandonthegrey.blogspot.com/2017/10/random-facts-literacy-language-and.html))
+One literate person may share a tract he reads with many illiterate people, thus extending the influence of literature across the illiterate.
+Why not include pictures, illustrations, diagrams, charts, etc., to attract attention and to help people understand what they are reading? Literature for the less-educated may contain more graphics than literature designed for those who read very well.
 ===== Objection: "We are too poor." =====
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 Jesus does not ask a person with little money to finance an evangelistic campaign. But He does ask them to glorify Him with what He has given them, whether it is little or much. See [[what_do_you_have_in_your_hand|What Do You Have In Your Hand?]]
+> Then one poor widow came and threw in two mites,  which make a quadrans. So He called His disciples to Himself and said to them, "Assuredly, I say to you that **this poor widow has put in more than all those** who have given to the treasury; for they all put in out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty put in all that she had, her whole livelihood. Mark 12:42-44
+Poverty did not stop the Waldenses from continuing the publishing work. Poverty did not stop the early Adventist pioneers from establishing the publishing work in [[spirit_of_sacrifice|A Spirit of Sacrifice]]. Povery had not stopped many a literature evangelist who is dedicated his life to this work.
 Why not dedicate a garden to God's literature work? Promise God that all money from produce sold from that plot of soil will be used to purchase literature. Why not buy a few chickens or other animals as your literature fund? Try it out and see how God blesses your project.
-===== "This is a Western idea." =====
+===== Objection: "This is a Western idea." =====
+Who invented writing? Did not the idea come from God? In the Bible, God repeatedly gives messages and commands for them to be written down. By speaking, then writing the Ten Commandments, God showed the importance of combining the two methods.
+The command to write did not come from America, nor from Europe. The Bible was written largely in the Middle East in various cultures. Moses wrote, the prophets wrote, kings wrote, Jesus quoted from the written Word, Publishing Ministry is not a Western idea: it is soundly a Biblical idea. See [[biblical_origins|Biblical Origins of Publishing]].
+===== Objection: "Digital media has replaced printed media." =====
+Phones can be distracting. Alerts, messages, email, and calls pop up at any moment.
-Who invented writing? Did not the idea come from God? In the  Bible, God repeatedly gives messages and commands for them to be written down. H
+Read [[why_publishing_digital_age|In this Digital Age, Why Publishing?]]