Don’t trust the media

Wait! We’re not going to talk politics. Our subject and this site deal with spiritual things. The title sounds political, but it’s true for other areas as well. Here’s an example.

One recent morning as I drove to the bread store, I turned on the radio and, in the five-minute trip, listened to two stations.

The first was a station of pop music classics. Soon, a typical radio voice, modulated to inspire confidence, made a statement about discrimination. He mentioned a person working in a business setting, fully qualified, but facing discrimination for being … a homosexual.

I don’t mistreat anyone — every soul is a creature loved by God — but I don’t teach that God accepts any behavior either, which was basically the point of the public service announcement. So I turned changed stations.

Next was a religious station, with a Protestant, probably Pentecostal, preacher urging people to be saved. He apparently was broadcasting from a large building, appealing to people to step down to the front of the auditorium to be saved by receiving Jesus. Soft instrumental music played in the background as he repeatedly insisted with people on the main floor and the balcony to come forward. He even appealed to radio and internet listeners.

At no time did he point people to a passage of Scripture. His was apparently the divine word. People were to be swayed by his charming repetition. There was no mention of repentance. Nothing about immersion for the forgiveness of sins. Absent was teaching about the nature of the Kingdom of God, the church of Jesus Christ.

I was glad to get to the bread store and turn it off. It stayed off on the way home.

These things are old hat. Since the beginning of mass media, people have been preaching false doctrine and pushing worldly immorality. Nothing new there. With the internet, however, it’s almost impossible to avoid. Almost.

Mark this down:

It’s time to push back, as individual saints. It’s time to make conscious decisions about what we lend our ears to. It’s time to cancel services and give up programs that undermine our spiritual commitment.

If you’re listening or watching entertainment that contradicts your faith and justifying it as entertainment, you’ve not yet understood the nature of following Jesus. He demands that even your entertainment contribute to discipleship. When something contradicts his Word, get rid of it.

This is a radical concept to some. To the Lord, it’s the nature of faithfulness to him.

Let the protests begin.

J. Randal Matheny, link to original article