According to Pew the avg American reads 4 books/yr and 26% of Americans did not read a single book last year. I wonder about evangelicals. I would be curious to see data on how they engage information. By reading (books, articles, etc) or by watching (TV, YouTube)?...
2/ And is there any correlation between reading v. watching and their politics/voting? On our podcast @drmoore attributed Trump’s popularity among white evangelicals to his televangelist-esque message & style—bold, prosperity, name-it-and-claim-it simplicity…
@drmoore 3/ He even has the outlandish hair, gold-gilded decor, and a penchant for financial & sexual scandals. (There’s a fascinating new @politico article by Ruth Graham about the tight relationship between Trump & Christian TV I’d recommend.) The more important idea...
@drmoore @politico 4/...however is the formative power video media has over Am. Christianity and the diminishing influence of the incarnate church. As one pastor said, “I’m lucky to get a person 2hrs a month. @FoxNews gets them for 2hrs every night.” And I wonder about the diminishing...
5/...formative influence of the written word among evangelicals. Last week I attended the meeting of 50 leaders at Wheaton College to discuss the state of Am evangelicalism. With 1 exception the main presenters were all authors not video/tv personalities.
6/ They were all thoughtful, brilliant people with nuanced understandings of the intersection of the gospel and culture. Their books sell very well & are written to engage a non-academic audience, but for every 1 evang who reads their books there are probably...
7/...thousands who don’t & who marinate in “Christian” cable news and TV. I’m not against using video/tv, but the dearth of thoughtful, non-partisan Christian voices on video/tv is very troubling. & we can’t just keep writing books assuming ink & paper will move the church.
8/ This isn’t 16th century Europe. The next reformation will be livestreamed. Many of Trump’s strongest evang supporters are tv/video focused: Huckabee, Falwell, Paula White. Robert Jeffress said the leaders meeting in Wheaton “have very little impact on evangelicalism.”
9/ If tv/video is what’s shaping evangelicals, he may be correct. I see two possible responses. 1) Get more thoughtful Christian leaders on TV, cable news, YouTube, etc. Voices that articulate the Gospel of Jesus Christ not the Gospel of Christian Nationalism.
10/ We need to see them on @CNN, @FoxNews, and @MSNBC in order to show the country there is an alternative evang vision for public engagement. Not anti-Trump but pro-Gospel that values the dignity of all people as God’s image-bearers & that displays #FaithOverFear.
@CNN @FoxNews @MSNBC 11/ But that’s not enough. We also need 2) pastors who acknowledge the spiritually formative power of media/video & challenge their congregations regarding the media they consume. Does 2hrs/night of cable news help you love your neighbor more? Does it...
@CNN @FoxNews @MSNBC 12/...increase your empathy, compassion, commitment to justice, and brotherly love? Or does it fuel anger, resentment, fear, nostalgia, and division? Does it grow or kill the fruit of the Spirit? We need pastors who see formation as a 24/7 reality & not limited to what...
@CNN @FoxNews @MSNBC 13/...happens on Sunday or under the umbrella of church programming. Media decisions are as important to the development of our Christian character as financial and sexual decisions, and maybe more. If churches neglect this area of formation we shouldn’t be...
@CNN @FoxNews @MSNBC 14/...surprised to discover the vacuum is being filled by partisan voices on tv/video claiming to speak for Christ but who are really prophets for the false god of Christian nationalism. To wrap this rant... Books are great. I write books. I read books. Books have shaped my faith
@CNN @FoxNews @MSNBC 15/ But that’s not true for a lot of Am Christians. We can’t rely on the written word alone to lead & disciple. We need mature, Jesus-centered leaders who can communicate across media if we are to see the idol of Christian nationalism brought low.
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