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Jesus Christ is the Word of God. John’s gospel is clear: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. ... And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father’s only son, full of grace and truth.”

That Word was incarnate as a human being to show us who God really is and to teach us the way of salvation. Christ’s life, death and resurrection, Christ’s teachings and the apostolic witness to the power of all that he said and did are conveyed in the 27 books of the New Testament.

Part of what gave Christianity its success in the first century A.D. was the way in which its message was conveyed. Never before had God entered human history as a person—this was a brand new way of communicating with humanity!

Then the truth of Christ was conveyed to the people of the Roman Empire in a second new way. The Word of God was put into the words of gospels and letters. Christianity had a written message that could be shared.

The apostles spread the witness about Christ in person, but eventually there was a written account that reminded people and taught people who had never heard one of the apostles in person. The use of these writings, and eventually the whole canon of Scripture compiled into the Old and New Testaments, gave Christianity a vehicle of communication that no other evangelistic religion had. Jews had written books as well, but they were not inviting outsiders to become part of their faith community.

The Bible was such a powerful vehicle that when Roman soldiers were persecuting the Christians they sometimes sought to destroy the congregation’s books while arresting its leaders. Other religions of the Roman Empire did not have books that carried its message in this way.

The Reformation began in the 16th century, soon after the invention of moveable type and the modern era of printing. Martin Luther and other leaders of the Protestant churches used this new method of communicating to reform Christianity.

John Wesley and the Methodists used cheap methods of 18th-century printing to communicate the gospel, and their efforts led to the evangelical revival in the English-speaking world.

We now are in a similar period of technological change in the practice of communication. The Word of God was expressed in the words of hand-written letters, then printed books and now must be “pixeled” in digital communication.

Pixels are the elements of light that make up a video screen, whether attached to a television, a computer or a projector. The quality of an image is based on how many pixels per inch make up the picture.

Thus, to say, “The Word is pixeled,” is a way of saying that the message is being conveyed in a new medium.

The changes are all around us. Books are turned into movies and reach a wider audience. Movie trailers are shared on the Internet. People get more news from the Internet and television than from newspapers and magazines.

Images have been a method of communication in our Christian practice for centuries. Early on, images of Jesus were drawn on catacomb walls. Later, churches had murals of the gospels and then stained-glass versions of Bible stories. Printed books had drawings to illustrate them. Now digital communication allows a new interaction between words and images to communicate our message.

Our message is still the same. Our mission is still the same. Changes in technology and in human culture mean our tactics must be different. The Word must be pixeled.

Yesterday, I preached at an Ecumenical Worship Service in Topeka. It included Lowman UMC and several other congregations in their neighborhood and focused on a blessing of the palms. It was a powerful way to begin Holy Week!

My message focused on following the leader. Holy Week is a time of recommitting ourselves to the triune God as the leader for our lives. Who you follow does make a difference. Many in modern society are practical atheists—they follow their own desires or thoughts. Others follow false gods of various sorts.

Christians are by definition those who acknowledge God the father and seek to be obedient to his will. They are disciples of Jesus who wish to serve others. It is of deep significance that Christ calls us to follow him, and his path was one of sacrificial service for the good of others. We are also empowered by the Holy Spirit whose work of inclusive love and inspirational evangelism leads all of us to change lives and transform communities.

May this Holy Week help all of us to recommit to following the leader revealed in the Bible.