This post from Christianity Today is months old, but the topic is still quite relevant.
The post begins with a paraphrase of a conversation between a pastor and a member of their congregation, which is quite worth reading. Apparently, the pastor had quoted Erwin McManus. This concerned the member, because McManus was fingered as an Emergent on the radio and therefore involved in all sorts of heresy. The pastor then countered with some facts about McManus and said they knew of no connection between McManus and any heresy, but if the member had specifics they would be happy to discuss them with the member. The member then countered with the fact that they had heard this on the radio, the implication being that because of this delivery it was the one and true orthodoxy.
The poster then quoted Brian McLaren:
Sometimes I think that the most powerful and popular denomination in America is a stealth one. It’s not the Baptists or the Catholics or the Methodists or the Assemblies of God. It’s “radio-orthodoxy”—the set of beliefs promoted by religious broadcasting. Do you doubt the power of radio-orthodoxy? Just try contradicting it.
And from the post itself:
I’ve had my share of confrontations with Christians that adhere to radio-orthodoxy. I recognize they measure every sermon I preach against what is beamed through the airwaves. But I have yet to discover a pastoral way of handling their unquestioning faith in the disembodied voices they hear on the commute to work everyday ... the voices coming through the speakers seem to be monotone. Without multiple perspectives and thoughtful dialogue around important issues facing the church (social, political, missional, or familial) listeners are left to believe the Christian position is cut and dry, black and white.
For the lay people that read this blog, how do you discern between what your pastor says, what you read, and what you hear other places? For the pastors, have you had to contend with this sentiment before? Other thoughts?
And as a bonus question, which podcasts/radio programs do you listen to?
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January 9, 2008 at 12:47
You’re right, Chris. This is an epidemic. To be clear, there is nothing wrong with radio shows or the medium of radio, just that so much error is passed through the radio.
As a minister, I am very careful what I share about others or stats etc. unless I have first hand knowledge, I try to to pretend I know. As a listener, I have come to be skeptical of every thing I hear.
January 9, 2008 at 12:48
Oh, and not to nit-pick, but it’s “Erwin” McManus, not “Irwin.”
January 9, 2008 at 13:09
When listening to what people have to say weather in preaching or on the radio and in relation to the Bible, I attempt to do what Paul praises the Berean’s for in Acts 17:11. They were there questioning and examining to see if what Paul said was true. That is how I approach claims from a Biblical sense. As for claims that have to do with general day to day news, I usually take them for face value and if there appears to be controversy over an issue I try and read different sides of the issue and know that I probably don’t know the whole story anyway.
A perfect example that some might be aware of is a high school dean who told a girl that she had to change her shirt from reading “Be happy not Gay” to “be happy be straight”. Somehow in the confussion of that day the Not gay got blacked out and the be straight was never added,
The news, especially Christian news, blasted the dean saying that he was not allowing her to express her constitutional rights because they had no idea what the whole story was. In fact the dean they were slandering is one of the strongest committed Christians that I know. He doesn’t agree with homosexualtiy (probably another whole topic to discuss) but he had to follow through with school policy.
January 9, 2008 at 13:23
As a lay person with a seminary degree I am not entranced by Christian Radio. Even though there are half a dozen Christian Radio stations in the area, I rarely ever turn them on. Mostly, because of bad music and bad teaching. But the other part is that I rarely listen to any radio except NPR. Why listen to radio when you have a podcast that will start when you want it to.
But I think the right answer to your question is what the pastor in the article did, ask for specifics and then try to get the person to explore the issue over time with you.
As an aside my mother-in-law stopped listening to Christian radio this past year when one of the Christian radio stations, as a protest against Halloween, played 24 hours of non-stop Christmas music.
January 9, 2008 at 13:26
Nick: Thanks for pointing that out! I should know better. I’ll go ahead and change it.
January 9, 2008 at 13:41
Thanks to the UK’s rules we can’t have religious radio broadcasting within the country. Then again, I’ve listened to UCB (broadcast from Finland or somewhere) a few times and haven’t really felt compelled to listen again. I’ve subscribed to the GNN podcast, but unfortunately I haven’t had time to listen to it and the one episode I did hear had loads of conflated facts about YWAM and a professor who used teach about Jihad in the top Islamic university Egypt who converted to Christ. A quick google as I listened showed most of the facts to be correct, but the former professor of Jihad never mentioned YWAM in his own writings and diverged from the GNN speaker in others. I also watched Andrew Womack, Joel Osteen, preachers from the Faith Dome and a couple of others when I worked in the US a couple of years ago. Womack was OK, but not completely orthodox, he probably got me thinking about things more though. Osteen has created other debates on this site. Radio-wise I listed to Chicagoland’s 106 the Fish (blop, blop) for the music.
Enough of that. My point is: getting any sort of broadcast is possible to nearly everyone nowadays, but not everyone wants to, therefore, if someone does broadcast or have any sort of profile in writing, some people will assume that everything they say is true. My favourite writer is Adrian Plass, but I don’t have to agree with all of his theology. I am a member of a church whose officers (elders/ministers) sign the Westminster confession of faith, but I don’t agree with infant baptism.
A previous post here about debunking Nooma (well it was one a dispute over one theological point that also appears in Velvet Elvis) shows that there can be debate, even if it isn’t always healthy.
Another point is that the nature of print and broadcast media means that unless the opposing sides get together in one room it is relatively slow moving. Even in internet forums where the debate can go quickly, the limitations of text-only conversation often lead to the infamous flame wars.
Print-wise, theological debates are nothing new and there is evidence of them in non-Judeo-Christian cultures. I’m sure differing schools of philosohy in Greece had what me might term radio-orthodoxy. One teacher gains a reputation for forceful debate and almost becomes what me might also call today at political party leader.
My posts here are far too long!
January 9, 2008 at 16:33
No matter how I try to say this it always gets twisted out of context. I don’t need to learn anything “new”. I need to do what I already know. Preaching can be encouraging or just plain boring. The new Christians eat it up at my church because it is all new to them or some just love hearing a sermon. I don’t listen to radio much any more. I like talk radio, local Philadelphia guys mostly (non-Christian). I also get a kick out of listening to The Sugar Creek Gang and Unshackled on the way home from work. They don’t play the music I like over the air so I pop in a CD of As I Lay Dieing, Project 86,Norma Jean, etc.
There is a guy in NJ named Wayne Monbleau, who has forever talked about the grace of God. His radio show (and downloads) are always encouraging. I just really need to focus on doing it, not hearing about it.
January 9, 2008 at 20:10
Undiscerning mindless consumers will always believe what they hear in the media above what they hear from the pulpit. Nothing is above question or observation from ANY source and we must always use wisdom regarding our spiritual input. I find Christian media too contrived and artificial (generally at least) so I tend to stay away and rely on the spiritual input of Godly people around me who I know and trust. This is not an issue of paranoia, but of ‘guarding your heart with all diligence’ as is outlined by the Word. I know NOTHING about the people I see on TV or hear on the radio so why would I blindly accept their words over those of my pastor who I personally know and respect?
January 9, 2008 at 20:54
Wow. I didn’t know anyone was listening to Christian talk radio anymore. I grew up on it as that was all my parents listened to in the 1960s. Unshackled, Haven of Rest, J. Vernon McGee and now it’s Swindoll and crew. After I discovered XM radio and Public Broadcasting I turned off all the commercial stations. Yay!
Does anyone else get tired of talking heads yammering at them telling them what to do or think? I love the Bible, love worship, love Biblical exposition and teaching, love fellowship but egads, sermonizing drives me up a wall. The local Christian radio station had to sell airtime and they weren’t too discriminating about who they aired. Chiropractors, health food, cheesy retail ads and any “preacher” that could afford to buy time to further their “ministry”. I would think they would be embarrassed, but they weren’t. Listening to it is like hearing fingernails scratching on a chalkboard to me. No wonder Christopher Hitchens and Richard Dawkins have an audience. With such fragmentation and diversity on the radio I find it hard to believe there is such a thing as radio-orthodoxy.
Chris asks what us lay-people think. The whole Professional Pastor/Preacher/Denomination and lay person paradigm drives me crazy. The massive revival in China (now 70 million protestants) is home based and being led by rank amateurs and lay people.
January 9, 2008 at 23:51
To answer your first question, I rely on Scripture (with the help of the Holy Spirit and the counsel of wise folks) to discern what I hear from my pastor, from radio, from what I read, or whatever.
I will periodically listen to quite a bit of Christian radio on my local Bott Radio Network station. Some of the preachers/teachers I listen to most are Hank Hannegraaff, Ravi Zacharias, Alistair Begg, and Chuck Swindoll. I do not care for all of the preaching that I hear on that station and sometimes I disagree with certain conclusions and emphases, but I do have to say that as far as I have heard, it is all biblically sound. But you always have to remain discerning, and the teachings of scripture and the guidance of your pastor should take precedent over any pet-preacher or radio station.
January 9, 2008 at 23:58
“The massive revival in China (now 70 million protestants) is home based and being led by rank amateurs and lay people.” – This is a key point, Rick.. True revival comes from genuine personal ministry with real people, not generic programs that are intended for a wide public audience. I can understand the intent of these programs, and the concept is exciting in theory, but TV and radio CANNOT be successful mediums for the communication of real relational faith.
January 10, 2008 at 06:47
Adam S., If you have given up Christian radio for NPR you may be replacing one mistake with another.
January 10, 2008 at 09:52
I love Christian radio! We are fortunate to have three stations here (Moody, WAAY FM and an independent Baptist seminary radio station), and I think I am a better Christian for their influence. I have not known any of these stations to keep me from my Bible. Long ago I figured out the Bible is the ultimate authority and I don’t deviate from it. My favorite ministries are RBC, Telling the Truth, Running to Win, Back to the Bible, Unshackled, The Urban Alternative, Walk in the Word, Let My People Think. I miss Adrian Rogers, still listen to Love Worth Finding. It is always a treat to turn on the radio and hear Corrie Ten Boom, J. Vernon McGhee, other spiritual giants. And of course, there is always the music uplifting Christ. I could listen to it all night – and often do!
I like to turn the dial to the local urban stations (rap, Black, rock, metal, oldies), NPR (ours plays lots of jazz), the classical & the country stations just to see what is out there musically. Talk radio around here is not only boring, quite a lot of what I have tuned into is perverse in both choice of topic and treatment of topic.
How grateful I am for the oasis of Christian radio in my area!
January 10, 2008 at 11:36
They all think they’re correct in what they believe and teach, just as “us” all think we’re correct in what we believe. I seldom listen to any radio or TV preacher very long because, eventually, they’ll say something that IMO is outright false. I’d rather turn it off than rant my disapproval to the car radio.
What I do is I study. There are so many tools now available to the “lay person” that they do not have to just take anyone’s word of interpretation anymore. Between e-Sword and various Websites (like Bible Gateway, Blue Letter Bible, StudyLight, etc.) where you can examine meanings and tenses and moods of original language words, the “lay Christian” does not have to settle for the biased and incorrect translations that pepper most English Bibles, or the theological biases of all Bible commentaries.
OK, done ranting.
January 10, 2008 at 12:09
I gotta plug my old church back in Illinois. The podcast isn’t always up to date, but the sermons are excellent (and they have lots of archives online).
http://www.communityefc.org/index.php/CEFChome/podcast/
January 15, 2008 at 16:23
The fact is that you can’t truly count on the word of any man. Even “the best” of mankind can be a student at best. Happily, by being the disciple that God intended me to be, I apply what is in scripture over what is presented by a preacher. I can only do this if I really know what the Bible says. I only know what the Bible says if I take the time to read and understand it. Someone else cannot do that for me. Yet, even in misunderstanding, scripture always proves itself. By continually recognizing that the best preacher or teacher is not foolproof and the Bible is, we avoid adopting all kinds of thinking that is not beneficial for setting things straight. God bless all.