High on the 1980s list of important books ranked a volume entitled Megatrends by futurist and social analyst John Nesbitt. In this work Nesbitt sketched the future society he anticipated, the society which even now is engulfing the present from the future. The author documented 10 "macro-changes" developing in Western society, and these he termed "megatrends."

Of the 10, one looms most crucial to the church of Jesus Christ -- namely, the transition from what Nesbitt called "forced technology" to a society characterized by a balance between "high tech" and "high touch." According to the futurist, each technological advance of the last few years has triggered in the hearts of people a desire for the corresponding change toward high touch. In his words, "The more high technology around us, the more the need for human touch."

But where can be found that high touch which people so desperately crave? Regardless of their affiliation, many people look to the church as the one place in the society where high touch ought to reign. As a result, many come to the church expecting not technology but touch -- the touch of another human being and the touch of God. Unfortunately, the high-touch component, which ought to characterize the church, can so easily be lost in "ecclesiastical high technology," as the church seeks to imitate the latest developments of the modern world. With the contemporary emphasis on the superchurch and the electronic church, in order to compete with the secular media, congregations often become caught up in a bigger-and-better program which might be labeled "church technology." As the focus shifts to programming and tasks, to goals and innovations, the high-touch component so necessary to the church can be displaced, and programming can usurp the place of love in the body of Christ.

In a devotional reading in Our Daily Bread, M. R. DeHaan II employs an appropriate analogy to characterize this tendency:

The South Pole could be called the healthiest place on the earth. There is no pollution, no dust and very few people. The air is fresh and clean. It is one of the few locations where man is not bombarded by germs. And since winds start at the South Pole and move northward, they tend to keep away any contaminants from that region. You would think people would be eager to live in such a germ-free environment. But they are not. Why? It is simply too cold. Some churches bear a striking resemblance to that kind of atmosphere. Although the truth of God is preached and error has no chance to survive, there is no corresponding obedience or love. The spiritual temperature is sub-zero. Unloved and untouched, many people leave the church.

A survey conducted several years ago among four denominations in southern California came to a similar conclusion. The assumption behind the poll was that people generally leave churches because of doctrinal disputes; but the survey proved this assumption false. Most people quit because "church people are cold and impersonal." People expect to find high touch in the church. Unfortunately, they often discover the opposite: an abundance of high tech but little of the touch they crave.