{"id":1075,"date":"2008-02-02T20:00:45","date_gmt":"2008-02-03T04:00:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/archives\/2008\/02\/02\/when-copies-are-free-what-is-valuable\/"},"modified":"2009-06-27T01:04:02","modified_gmt":"2009-06-27T09:04:02","slug":"when-copies-are-free-what-is-valuable","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/archives\/2008\/02\/02\/when-copies-are-free-what-is-valuable","title":{"rendered":"When Copies Are Free, What is Valuable?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Kevin Kel\u00adly, an influ\u00aden\u00adtial thinker about all things dig\u00adi\u00adtal, just post\u00aded an essay called Bet\u00adter than Free<\/a>.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s quite good.<\/p>\n

The gist is that tech\u00adnol\u00ado\u00adgy is mak\u00ading copies eas\u00adi\u00ader and eas\u00adi\u00ader to cre\u00adate. In fact, copies of most things are so cheap that they\u2019re essen\u00adtial\u00adly free.<\/p>\n

In his words:<\/p>\n

When copies are super abun\u00addant, they become worth\u00adless.
\nWhen copies are super abun\u00addant, stuff which can\u2019t be copied becomes scarce and valu\u00adable<\/p>\n

\u2026<\/p>\n

Well, what can\u2019t be copied? <\/p>\n

There are a num\u00adber of qual\u00adi\u00adties that can\u2019t be copied. Con\u00adsid\u00ader \u201ctrust.\u201d Trust can\u00adnot be copied. You can\u2019t pur\u00adchase it. Trust must be earned, over time. It can\u00adnot be down\u00adloaded. Or faked. Or coun\u00adter\u00adfeit\u00aded (at least for long). If every\u00adthing else is equal, you\u2019ll always pre\u00adfer to deal with some\u00adone you can trust. So trust is an intan\u00adgi\u00adble that has increas\u00ading val\u00adue in a copy sat\u00adu\u00adrat\u00aded world. <\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Kel\u00adly iden\u00adti\u00adfies 8 sim\u00adi\u00adlar dif\u00adfi\u00adcult-to-copy qual\u00adi\u00adties which add val\u00adue to prod\u00aducts and ser\u00advices:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Imme\u00addi\u00ada\u00adcy: get\u00adting it now (as it is pro\u00adduced or cre\u00adat\u00aded)<\/li>\n
  2. Per\u00adson\u00adal\u00adiza\u00adtion: get\u00adting it made just for you<\/li>\n
  3. Inter\u00adpre\u00adta\u00adtion: hav\u00ading it explained in a way that makes sense to you<\/li>\n
  4. Authen\u00adtic\u00adi\u00adty: know\u00ading it\u2019s the real deal or a copy of the real deal (as opposed to a song being done by a cov\u00ader band or some\u00adthing)<\/li>\n
  5. Acces\u00adsi\u00adbil\u00adi\u00adty: it\u2019s con\u00adve\u00adnient to expe\u00adri\u00adence<\/li>\n
  6. Embod\u00adi\u00adment: it\u2019s some\u00adthing you can expe\u00adri\u00adence on a unique\u00adly intense lev\u00adel (you can shake the hand of the ath\u00adlete who just scored the game-win\u00adning point, etc)<\/li>\n
  7. Patron\u00adage: you believe that by con\u00adsum\u00ading it you\u2019re enabling more of it (what\u00adev\u00ader it is you val\u00adue) to be pro\u00adduced<\/li>\n
  8. Find\u00adabil\u00adi\u00adty: it gets on your radar some\u00adhow<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Kel\u00adly is most\u00adly speak\u00ading about busi\u00adness in his essay, but it occurs to me that this is a pret\u00adty good check\u00adlist for min\u00adistry.<\/p>\n

    A sea of min\u00adistry copies is float\u00ading around your com\u00admu\u00adni\u00adty. There\u2019s Chris\u00adt\u00adian radio (car\u00adry\u00ading copies of some the best wor\u00adship music and preach\u00ading to be found), there\u2019s Chris\u00adt\u00adian tele\u00advi\u00adsion (car\u00adry\u00ading copies), there are Chris\u00adt\u00adian books and mag\u00ada\u00adzines (car\u00adry\u00ading copies of wise peo\u00adple\u2019s opin\u00adions and Bible inter\u00adpre\u00adta\u00adtions), and there are blogs that give every\u00adone the oppor\u00adtu\u00adni\u00adty to inter\u00adact with any num\u00adber of oth\u00ader esteemed Chris\u00adt\u00adian lead\u00aders. On top of that, there\u2019s the mul\u00adti-site church move\u00adment which at its heart is about copy\u00ading min\u00adistry.<\/p>\n

    And this is to say noth\u00ading of the min\u00adistry clones that abound in every com\u00admu\u00adni\u00adty. You know the ones I speak of. They are the Star\u00adbucks of church\u00ades, the McDon\u00adald\u2019s of min\u00adistry. Each of them looks and feels the same no mat\u00adter what com\u00admu\u00adni\u00adty they nom\u00adi\u00adnal\u00adly inhab\u00adit. They could care less whether they are in El Paso or Austin. They will treat Boston and Spring\u00adfield, MO alike.<\/p>\n

    In this copy-laden con\u00adtext, what true val\u00adue does your min\u00adistry offer? <\/p>\n

    There are cer\u00adtain\u00adly oth\u00ader things we need to con\u00adsid\u00ader than Kel\u00adly\u2019s list. Some of them are of exceed\u00ading impor\u00adtance, such as whether we\u2019re pro\u00adclaim\u00ading the gospel clear\u00adly and faith\u00adful\u00adly.<\/p>\n

    But his list still nags at me. It seems to me to be a help\u00adful way to exam\u00adine our\u00adselves from a pure\u00adly prag\u00admat\u00adic per\u00adspec\u00adtive. <\/p>\n

    I think min\u00adistries do well by these stan\u00addards. For exam\u00adple, most min\u00adistries I know are strong at<\/p>\n

      \n
    1. Imme\u00addi\u00ada\u00adcy: peo\u00adple are there while we preach it \u2014 live. Our wor\u00adship team is per\u00adform\u00ading \u2014 live. Our prayers are spon\u00adta\u00adneous. Peo\u00adple are oper\u00adat\u00ading in the gifts of the Spir\u00adit \u2014 live and with\u00adout rehearsal.<\/li>\n
    2. Per\u00adson\u00adal\u00adiza\u00adtion: peo\u00adple are meet\u00ading with men\u00adtors who are show\u00ading them how to under\u00adstand the Bible giv\u00aden their par\u00adtic\u00adu\u00adlar sit\u00adu\u00ada\u00adtion in life (although they\u2019re not usu\u00adal\u00adly called men\u00adtors \u2014 they\u2019re usu\u00adal\u00adly called youth spon\u00adsors, sun\u00adday school teach\u00aders, next-door neigh\u00adbors, friends, co-work\u00aders, or some\u00adthing else that\u2019s not very trendy to be cal\u00adlled)<\/li>\n
    3. Inter\u00adpre\u00adta\u00adtion: peo\u00adple are not only giv\u00aden a Bible, they\u2019re giv\u00aden a whole learn\u00ading envi\u00adron\u00adment with it \u2014 ser\u00admons, Bible stud\u00adies, Sun\u00adday School, sem\u00adi\u00adnars, con\u00adfer\u00adences, Chris\u00adt\u00adian media, web\u00adsites<\/li>\n
    4. Authen\u00adtic\u00adi\u00adty: it\u2019s become cliche to knock around the estab\u00adlished church for being inau\u00adthen\u00adtic, but I just don\u2019t see it. Most peo\u00adple love their pas\u00adtor for a rea\u00adson. Notable exam\u00adples aside, most min\u00adis\u00adters aren\u2019t hyp\u00adocrites and are serv\u00ading up the goods of a life lived in humilty before God.<\/li>\n
    5. Patron\u00adage: giv\u00ading in the offer\u00ading pays the salary of the pas\u00adtoral team and allows the min\u00adistries of the church to oper\u00adate. Giv\u00ading in offer\u00adings allows mis\u00adsion\u00adar\u00adies to take the gospel around the world.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

      I think a lot of min\u00adistries could use work on the oth\u00ader parts of the list, how\u00adev\u00ader.<\/p>\n

        \n
      1. Acces\u00adsi\u00adbil\u00adi\u00adty: we too often make min\u00adistry incon\u00adve\u00adnient for the peo\u00adple we say we\u2019re try\u00ading to reach. Our ser\u00advice times are funky. Our dress code is off-putting. Our lin\u00adgo is dif\u00adfi\u00adcult to decode.<\/li>\n
      2. Embod\u00adi\u00adment: too many church\u00ades seem obsessed with mak\u00ading church as bland and palat\u00adable as pos\u00adsi\u00adble. This is espe\u00adcial\u00adly true of my Pen\u00adte\u00adcostal com\u00adrades: we\u2019ve become embar\u00adrassed about our spir\u00adi\u00adtu\u00adal\u00adi\u00adty. To them, I can only quote Curt Har\u00adlow<\/a>: don\u2019t tone it down, sin\u00adcere it up. Make com\u00ading to church sig\u00adnif\u00adi\u00adcant\u00adly more live\u00adly and reward\u00ading than watch\u00ading a church ser\u00advice broad\u00adcast on a big screen tv at home with sur\u00adround-sound.<\/li>\n
      3. Find\u00adabil\u00adi\u00adty: not near\u00adly as many peo\u00adple know about your min\u00adistry as you think. Exist\u00ading is not enough to pro\u00adduce aware\u00adness.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

        So to my min\u00adis\u00adte\u00adr\u00adi\u00adal friends, I pose this sim\u00adple ques\u00adtion: in a world of copies, what makes your min\u00adistry valu\u00adable? Is it some\u00adthing that can\u2019t be copied out from under you?<\/p>\n

        The things I find myself obsess\u00ading over are all too often the things that are the most copy\u00adable. Did my ser\u00admon sound like one of Rick Warren\u2019s\/John Ortberg\u2019s\/John Piper\u2019s\/etc? Does my wor\u00adship team sound like they just rolled off the Pas\u00adsion Tour\/IHOP Prayer Room\/etc?<\/p>\n

        What I should be ask\u00ading is: if Rick War\u00adren set up on my cam\u00adpus, would I still be adding val\u00adue to stu\u00addents\u2019 lives? If Dave Crow\u00adder decid\u00aded to lead wor\u00adship for anoth\u00ader min\u00adistry on my cam\u00adpus, would I still be adding val\u00adue to stu\u00addents\u2019 lives?<\/p>\n

        What\u2019s not copy\u00adable about what I\u2019m doing?<\/p>\n

        Any\u00adway, just some off-the-cuff thoughts inspired by his essay. Read the arti\u00adcle<\/a> ladykillers the down\u00adload free<\/a><\/u> .<\/p>\n

        bugsy mal\u00adone dvdrip down\u00adload<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

        Kevin Kel\u00adly, an influ\u00aden\u00adtial thinker about all things dig\u00adi\u00adtal, just post\u00aded an essay called Bet\u00adter than Free. It\u2019s quite good. The gist is that tech\u00adnol\u00ado\u00adgy is mak\u00ading copies eas\u00adi\u00ader and eas\u00adi\u00ader to cre\u00adate. In fact, copies of most things are so cheap that they\u2019re essen\u00adtial\u00adly free. In his words: When copies are super abun\u00addant, they \u2026 Con\u00adtin\u00adue read\u00ading \u201cWhen Copies Are Free, What is Valu\u00adable?\u201d<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"wp_typography_post_enhancements_disabled":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[14],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1075","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-rants-opinions-and-general-contrariness"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p6Ded-hl","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1075","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1075"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1075\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1765,"href":"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1075\/revisions\/1765"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1075"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1075"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1075"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}