I wanted to be a journalist. Not because the life of a journalist seemed particularly glamourous, it was more about how the perception of them was of those who would go searching for truth in current events and report them. For me, it was about the words and the power of the words not just to deliver news to inform, but to also raise awareness and challenge views.
Yeah, I wanted to be a journalist for a long time. It didn’t work out, but as I cultivated that interest, so I took an interest in how news was reported both in print media and what is now referred to as traditional broadcast media – the television and the radio. Even before I took studies on the issue, I was already somewhat aware that how the news was delivered was not unbiased and objective even by organisations that wanted to present themselves in that way. That raised questions about what made for information I could trust and take on board if I wanted to get a reasonable approach to things. Then there was the question of why people should have an interest in news – for what purpose? With what desired outcome?
I wouldn’t say that I’m sceptical of all traditional media, it’s just that I am not quick to take on every point that’s delivered to me by a source. It’s often healthy for me to consider issues from different perspectives and then I can go on with why what I’m reading is important and what I should do about it.
You might notice on this blog that I don’t really comment a lot on current affairs. I don’t avoid the issue because I want to be free of controversy. I don’t write about current affairs often because I want to be informed a lot before I write on those things especially because I want to share things from a Christian perspective. I don’t accept everything that is said on any form of media on every big issue of the day.
Nowadays, among, those sources of information, there’s Christian Today (CT). To be honest I enjoy the columnists on the site. To be even more honest, the one I particularly enjoy reading is David Robertson. He also has his own blog called The Wee Flea, which I peruse regularly. In a recent column for CT, Robertson has written about what the church can say in response to the climate change issue.
What I like about what Robertson writes about is how he addresses what the church can actually contribute to such conversations. I hasten to add when I share these links that I don’t always agree completely with what’s being written. I do think that it’s worth the reading, reflecting and contemplating.
People suggest that the church should not be mixed up in politics and current affairs in that kind of way. The reality remains that as long as the church is in the world with the message of the Kingdom that is not of this world and has an impact on how we engage with the world, there’s going to be political implications.
Not only is it unavoidable and inevitable, but it should also be something that the church is prepared to engage with from its own stance and base. That’s not always the case partly because we’re ill-informed on the issues of the world and partly because we’re ill-informed on how Jesus and His Kingdom operate and interact with these realities.
Articles like Robertson’s are a great help to get Christians thinking biblically and from a Kingdom perspective about matters that are reported on regularly in the media.
For His Name’s Sake
Shalom
C. L. J. Dryden
Life With CD 