One of his most famous lines is, “the medium is the message.” What he means is that it’s not just the content that shapes us, it’s the form itself. Social media trains us to scroll fast, skim, and react. Streaming rewires our sense of time, we binge and expect everything instantly. Our phones keep us constantly connected, yet strangely fragmented. We’re present, but not fully. Together, but also a bit alone. The real impact isn’t just what we consume, it’s how the medium is shaping how we think, relate, and even see ourselves.

McLuhan also spoke about the “global village,” long before the internet existed. Now we’re living in it. We can connect with anyone, anywhere, anytime. But villages aren’t always peaceful. There’s pressure, outrage, comparison, and a constant pull to belong. Technology brings us closer, but it also amplifies emotion. Things spread fast, not just information, but feeling.

Each platform shapes us in its own way. Instagram forms how we see beauty and identity. TikTok rewires attention and rhythm. Emails and texts shape tone and interpretation. These tools aren’t neutral, they shape what we notice, what we value, and what we begin to crave. And the challenge is, we often don’t even see it happening. Like fish in water, we’re surrounded by media, and so we stop noticing its influence.

Then comes AI, which almost feels like the ultimate example of everything McLuhan was pointing to. AI extends our minds. It expands memory, creativity, and problem-solving. It can generate ideas, images, and decisions. But again, the medium itself is shaping us. It changes how we think, how we create, and how we value effort. It nudges us towards speed and optimisation. It can sharpen our thinking, or quietly dull it, depending on how we engage
with it.

And this is where it starts to hit something deeper.

As creatives, and especially as Christian creatives, we’re not just called to respond to what’s in front of us. We’re called to see beneath it. Jesus consistently challenged people not to judge by outward appearance, but to look at the heart. Not the surface, but what’s really going on underneath.

In a world of mediums, platforms, and constant noise, that feels more important than ever.

Because it’s easy to get caught reacting to content, chasing trends, or shaping things for attention. But the call of Christ draws us deeper. To truth over appearance. To substance over surface. To real connection over performance.

McLuhan helps us see the invisible forces shaping us. But Jesus calls us even further, to examine not just the tools, but our hearts within them. Why we create. What we’re drawn to. Who we’re becoming.

Because in the end, it’s not just about what we make, or even how we make it.

It’s about what is forming us in the process.

So maybe the question isn’t just, what is this tool doing?

But, what is it doing to me?

And even deeper, who am I becoming through it?

That’s where real discernment begins.

And maybe, that’s where creativity becomes something more than output.

It becomes formation.