Wednesday, September 28, 2005
Beware Journalistic Flattery of the Church
Christianity Today managing editor Mark Galli writes in this week’s CTLibrary newsletter:
Religion reporting during disasters seems, on the surface, to be a shot in the arm for the faith. There is lots of talk about churches offering food and shelter, of people praying, of the difference that faith makes in a crisis. But when you scratch below the surface, what’s being reported assumes an abysmal view of our faith.
We saw this again during Katrina and Rita. Many media made comments to the effect that on the first Sunday or two after the flooding in New Orleans, most churches didn’t meet for worship—and besides, they had urgent matters to attend to. As if worship of Almighty God, Creator of heaven and earth, is an elective in the life of faith. As if a disaster precludes people of God gathering to honor his sovereignty.
And when Christians did gather for worship and prayer, journalists inevitably cast the gathering as an exercise in social psychotherapy. People pray to receive “comfort and hope.” Worship helps victims deal with their feelings. And so on. Note to journalists: Prayer doesn’t comfort, God does. Worship is not about processing feelings but glorifying the Savior and Judge of all mankind.
The church may be flattered by such journalistic attention, but we should cringe instead. The media usually just cast the church in their own image, as a therapeutic organization that can really be useful in a disaster.
We need to work diligently to combat such a view, during and between disasters. The CT Library is one place to begin the reading to do just that. In these archives, we have a wealth of articles that show in a variety of ways how the church is more than a glorified social service agency, but the body of Christ in a world that needs not just relief but redemption.
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