Active Listening

So lately I've been wondering how in the world to get people to listen. Not an easy thing to do. Marketing people try a whole host of strategies. Humor, Sex, Volume, Trickery, Bait and Switch, Lavish Promises, etc. Then there is the media who try to sensationalize things and drum up juicy stories that are sure to whet our appetite for more, more, more.

But in reality, I think it all becomes such a great cacophony of noise, that in reality nobody is listening anymore.

So now that all of these idiots have gone and made so much noise about useless products and non-newsworthy sensationalized stories, what is the church to do? When we actually have a message worth hearing, how do we get people to listen?

Not only that, how do we communicate within the body? How do we get the attention of the Church and direct them to the very real problems in the world? How do we get people to care when their ears have gone deaf from the noise?

Here are some suggestions, but I'd like some feedback in order to flesh this out further.

1. Limit your exposure. Determine how you are going to get fair, balanced, accurate, and comprehensive news coverage and leave all other options untouched.

2. Create a focus area(s). Find a very small set of issues that matter to you and/or you can/want to do something about and read everything you can about them.

3. Get involved in the areas that matter to you. In the end this is what matters. After all, no news story can ever portray the truth you can find by getting involved.

4. Talk with others about the things that interest you. Word of mouth is still the most powerful way to spread a message.

5. Keep it all in perspective. We are ever and always on Kingdom business. Our involvement in the world is Christ's work in us. We need to be fired up with His passion and His perspective. We need to spend lots more time in Prayer and in the Word than we spend elsewhere.

Un-Safe for the Whole Family

I have a dream about a radio station that would be anything but "safe for the whole family" - which happens to be the tag line of our local Christian radio station. I have a lot of issues with our current "christian" radio stations - both the music stations and the talk radio stations. If I were to design my ideal radio station it would look a little bit like this:

Programming
It would have a healthy balance of music and talk.

MUSIC: The music would would be guided by lyrics only. We might divide genre into different segments of the day but that would be the only consideration for "style." Songs would only be allowed if they had a strong Biblical message. Songs such as "Unwritten" by Natasha Bedingfield would never be allowed.

TALK: Talk would be solely about kingdom issues. It would feature local opportunities like rescue missions, adoption agencies, foster homes, elder care, etc. It would also include global opportunities such as World Vision and IJM. It would also feature reports from missionaries, local individuals and groups getting involved in ministry, Christian organizations of all sizes, and testimonies from changed lives.

Commercials
Funding. This is not my strong suit. But I am against any commercials that promote consumerism. If anyone is going to pay us for airtime it's to promote a kingdom cause. So for example, World Vision could buy a spot to encourage sponsorship. Or the local rescue mission could buy a spot to encourage people to donate their used cars. But no commercials for the latest deals at the local grocery store.

Also prohibited are political ads of any kind. Regardless of party affiliation and regardless of the issue, no ads for candidates or ballot measures will be allowed. Should a website or other resource be available for a clear and balanced review of an issue or the candidates, listeners will be directed to there for more information.

News
News would not just be news, but local, national, and world-wide updates that encourage prayer. We would seek out news stories from under-reported areas. Rather than get people up in arms about Health Care, we would work to inform people of the atrocities in Darfur. News would be a call to action and a call to prayer. We would also try to balance the news with praise and celebration stories. Stories about the kingdom of God advancing in a life, a city, a country, or a region. We would give fuel for people's worship.

Politics
When we talk about the humanitarian needs across the world, you may occasionally trip upon a political issue. However much I detest the thought, we cannot escape the reality of our political world. Rather than ignore it, I want to provide a balanced view of it. There are wonderful Christians on both the right and the left of our political world. When the need arises I would like to provide fair and balanced DISCUSSION about the issues. No arguing, no fighting, no backstabbing accusations. Just simple and honest views on both sides of the issue at hand. And to keep all political views in check realizing that in the end the kingdom issues are of far more importance than those of the world. In an ideal setting, this portion of the programming would take up a very small fraction of the radio time.

In the end such a station would be anything but safe. It would promote a radical, action oriented, faith-trying, daring type of Christian walk. I've had enough of safe. How about we step out in faith instead.