(Article first published as How Most Christians Feel About Christian TV on Technorati)
A rather interesting article appeared last Thursday in
Christian Today, one that touches on how most Christians feel about Christian
TV. According to the article, Pastor David Wright, chief executive of
DoersTV.com, polled his channel’s more than 100,000 Facebook fans to ask how
they felt about Christian TV, and according to him, 90 percent of the feedback
was negative. Pastor Wright said he was
shocked to discover that the majority of the Christians who responded hate
Christian TV and do not watch it. That’s pretty strong language. Some of the
reasons they gave were:
·
Too much begging for money and fund-raising
·
Boring and a lack of quality programming
·
Lack of integrity of Christian leaders being
broadcast
Perhaps the findings are not representative of the Christian
community at large. On the other hand, DoersTV.com is a free Christian TV
network online. Since the network caters to the Christian community, it’s
reasonable to assume that most of those who responded to the poll are
pro-Christian. Furthermore, being a preacher of the gospel, I also have heard a
number of Christians express similar views.
My point is that those of us who belong to the Christian
community and who provide Christian programming via TV, radio, and the internet
should not disregard the feedback that Pastor Wright received. On the contrary,
I think we should view the responses as a customer satisfaction report of sorts.
If we are serious about making an impact on the community we
serve, we must be able to receive constructive criticism from that community,
and address the issues at hand. All successful businesses seriously do that. Just
a few months ago, my family and I went to one of our favorite family
restaurants, but this time the service was unusually bad. When I asked to speak
to the manager, he was more than willing to come to my table and hear my
complaint and to do what he could to retain me as a customer. Similarly, as Christian
leaders, we too must heed what our listeners and viewers are saying about our
product; if we don’t, we won’t remain relevant.
This is not to say that we must abandon biblical truth to
please people. That would be a serious disservice. We must remain true to the
biblical message. But this we can do without going overboard with the financial
appeals; this we can do and still provide dynamic and high quality programming;
and this we must do with the utmost integrity.
Copyright ©2012 by Frank King. All rights reserved.
4 comments:
Great post Pastor Frank, some of those reason listed in your post were reasons why I stop watching TBN and switched to daystar Christian network.
I have been blessed by some of the ministries that I have watched on Christian networks. But I hereby admit that a lot of what I see on these networks grieves me. In everything we do, we must strive to bring glory to the name of our God.
What I really liked about what you said in this post was about viewing 'responses as a customer satisfaction report of sorts'.
Quite some time ago I belonged to a pentecostal church and was extremely surprised to see one of the pastors I knew on TV whilst I was abroad on holiday. The pastor was literally begging for money (not asking, but begging) until the sweat was pouring from his forehead. He kept informing viewers every-time a phone line became available. I was extremely embarrassed, very annoyed and upset by what he was saying, how he was saying it, and it looked as if he had no shame.
I also was very aware that if you dared to speak out and question him, it would have been taken as 'rebellion' against the leader. You personally would have been the pastors top preaching project for the next 6 weeks, and used to make an example of to everybody else.
Your last paragraph clearly sums up what christians should really be doing. I wish more people would read this.
That's really a shame. Unfortunately, what you witnessed is not an isolated case. I realize there are many preachers who faithfully serve the people of God with integrity, but many of the preachers on TV with the mega ministries seem to tarnish Christian TV as a whole.
Post a Comment