Dear Creative Technological Make-it Happen Guru Guy or Gal,
You know who you are. If I emailed you my next sermon series you could put together a graphic, a video to promote it, and probably a couple of T-shirts. You make things happen. And you don’t just Google search a few images and put together a hodgepodge of images and say, “that’ll do”. You create. You know how to make websites. You know what html code is. You’re laughing at me right now because html code isn’t even that big of a deal anymore. You know what it is.
Also, you could figure out all the ins and outs of creating a brand new television station.
That last one is why I am writing to you. You see there are many people in my life that are being fed a healthy dose of poison to go with their weekly dose of preaching. These dear believers in Jesus are hungry for the word. But as newer believers, they are susceptible to eating rat poison and thinking its a new brand of Fruit Loops.
I know that the answer on my end is faithful, Spirit-led preaching, teaching, and plodding in gentleness and respect. I know that discernment often is not something that happens over night. I know that what will really protect them from the rat poison on television is to see, savor, and feast upon the Lord Jesus Christ and all that He has taught us.
Yet, it is also really difficult on my end. It is difficult because whereas we may get at most 4 hours of preaching during the week these false teachers promote their ridiculousness 24-7. And they are crafty. What they say often sounds so biblical, so faithful, so Christ-like. And it’s killing our people. And it’s making our job as pastors even more difficult because whenever we say things like, “God places value on you” they hear, “God wants to bless me with a houseboat”. And so, everything we say in the local church is heard through muddied ears because of the shoddy preaching that these hungry souls go to for a meal on Tuesday, or Thursday, or Friday evenings.
One thing that grieves me greatly is that there is no preaching on television that competes with this foolishness. This is not for a lack of quality preaching. One could go online and find hours upon hours of quality, Christ-honoring, biblically-faithful preaching. That is well and good for those of us that spend more time in front of iPad’s and computer screens than televisions. But for those that spend more time watching television they seldom take advantage of these healthy options. (And this is a large number of those within our congregations).
So, I’m pleading with you dearest creative technological make-it happen guru guy or gal, make it happen. Create a new television station that will hit the airwaves and compete with the horrible preaching that is on television. People are dying and we need your gifts. Make it happen, please.
Love In-Christ,
Mike Leake