What Is the Message?
Our communication of the Gospel is often vague and fuzzy because we do not really know what is appropriate to say — where and when... Where does one begin to tell those who do not know — or have never heard? The Gospel of God's redeeming love in all its fullness is so vast — yet so profoundly simple!
If we are on the air daily with a radio or TV program — or if we write for a daily publication — what do we say (day after day)?
Some may even wonder if "being appropriate" is important.
Defining the message is something that we rarely bother about — because it is assumed that we all know. So nobody asks! This is especially true of Christians involved in media.
It is not because Christian media folk are not well-trained in theology. It has more to do with the nature of their work and their frequent need to build bridges of understanding between Christian faith on the one hand and an un-believing and sceptical public on the other. It has to address journalistic issues, the commentary on everyday life and people, and their real life issues.
Often Christians in ministry coming from sheltered Christian family backgrounds fail to understand the general lack of interest our audiences have in the Gospel or anything Christian — especially in materialist and post-modern society. Today we cannot assume people to have any basic understanding of Christian belief.
It is therefore helpful for us to come to a better understanding of the scope of what God wants us to communicate. Our Message is shaped by many things — and is also a lot bigger than we may think! In fact we could say it is multi-dimensional and has many layers...
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