What is the greatest challenge facing our churches today? That was the topic of a recent conversation my friend was having with his aunt. You see my friend is not a minister. He is a young Christian, a church researcher, and a marketing genius. His aunt is a highly successful business professional in midlife. She lives on the West coast, and has little to no connection with the institutional church.

She listened to my friend go on an on about the challenges facing churches, and then she interrupted him to ask a question: “Did you know that in the U.S. vitamins are a $3 billion per year business?” He was not aware of that statistic. She then asked him, “Did you realize that aspirins, however, are a $14 billion per year business?” He was not aware of that fact either. “Do you know why aspirins gross more income per year than vitamins,” she instructed her nephew, “because people have to deal with the pain before they can move on to real health and strength.”

The greatest pain our churches face today centers around communication. In a high tech world that values direct connection and immediate communication, the church has lost its way. We do not communicate well. Communication has always been a struggle for the church, yet throughout history creative minds offered solutions. Stained glass windows communicated the gospel to the illiterate of medieval Europe. Gutenberg’s press provided mass distribution of the Bible for the first time in human history. Baptists harnessed the power of radio in the early twentieth century to share the gospel message with the masses.

Today, we have at our disposal the most powerful communication tool ever to have existed, but we have yet to harness the power of communication. Therefore, does the church need aspirins or vitamins? We need both, but we must deal with the pain before we can increase our health and strength.