Exponential Times

“We are living in exponential times.”

That’s one of the opening statements from the video played at the opening of the Teens in Tech conference last week (organized by a 16 year old).  The stats are really interesting.  We haven’t verified the factuality of any of these stats (and the kids may not have either, and I couldn’t find the video on the Apple Universe Podcast site, which claims the credit), but this is a powerful example of youth surveying their global environment and thinking about the implications.

Here are a few of the shocker-statements that indeed beg for some thought—from kids and youth workers alike:

The top 10 in-demand jobs in 2010 did not exist in 2004.

The U.S. Dept of Labor estimates that today’s learner will have 10-14 jobs by the age of 38.

There are 31 billion searches on Google every month.  In 2006 this number was 2.7 billion.

It took radio 38 years to reach a market audience of 50 million.  Facebook only needed 2.

Yes, we do live in exponential times.  We’ve seen it in our youth ministries, as the wave from pagers (remember those?) to cell phones to smart phones swept through our groups over the past few years.  Many of us are still breathless in the wake of the exponential increase in text messaging alone since its breakthrough to the teen market, and struggle week to week with how to address/use/set boundaries around, let alone think theologically about, texting.

But here’s another angle: What could God be up to in these exponential times?  How do we help kids not only navigate the new technologies available to them, but also look for God’s activity in the midst of rapid technological advances?  How can their engagement with technology increase their engagement with the world and God’s heart for salvation and justice for all people?  How can they become catalysts for the shalom-wholeness of the Kingdom?  When I start to chew on those questions, I get pretty pumped about what’s ahead for the kids I know—and for youth ministry!

Here’s that video:

©2009 Fuller Youth Institute