A picture is NOT worth a thousand words...

Everyone has heard the saying that "a picture is worth a thousand words".

But is it really? Are pictures and words that interchangeable?

I have been doing a lot of photography lately, and I have not been actually "blogging" (ie, typing) in a while.

I love sharing photos, I have a passion for visual communication and I believe that there is power in the picture.

But

Photos and text are not the same. They can be used to facilitate understanding between each other, but they are far from the same.

Words- Left Brain. It is something you read, process, understand, and form opinions about.

Pictures- Right Brained. There are many more feeling evoked on this side of things.

Consider September 11

If you read an article about the horrible attack on New York City that day, it would produced some emotion and empathy, but not as much as when the entire country watched the same video feeds and pictures of those planes hitting the Twin Towers. Those pictures would elicit words and you would have things to say about it, but everyone had an emotional response.

And, I would guess that if you saw a picture or a shot from that September day, those emotions would come flooding back in. As I type this I can vividly remember images and they bring emotion.

That is why people want to photograph their weddings, birthdays, and special events. Picture burn something into our memory.

Shane Hipps spoke at Catalyst this year on the main stage and in the labs as well. During his sessions, he described his work experience with Porsche. He described how he left the company because they were basically selling a false gospel. They were saying (without using any words) that if you were going to be happy, and if your life was going to have meaning...then you NEED a Porsche. They did not even need to tell you that. There was no processing necessary. The commercial told you all of that just by flashing some pictures.

There is power in pictures.

I am not saying that there is not power in words and oral communication, there is. Every Sunday in pretty much every church in america (and around the world) someone get up, reads scripture and talks about it. Words have power.

But so do pictures.

SO, here is my question to attempt to sum all of this up.

Are we (as the church) using the power of pictures and visual communication the best we can?? If not, how can we use the visual realm to bring God glory and honor?

Just some thoughts on my mind as I try to unload everything from Catalyst.

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