DO WE REALLY HAVE TO COMPETE WITH TV?
A Leadership Forum
April 1, 1992
If, as John Stott says, effective preaching is building a bridge from today's culture to the Scriptures, then, arguably, one of the bridge pylons on the near side would be a television. For ill, for good, television molds Our culture like nothing else.
Television has molded communication. The average person in the pew, who grew up watching "The Andy Griffith Show," "The Tonight Show," and "Sesame Street," listens to a sermon differently than people did before television.
To get some insight into television's influence on both the content and the form of preaching, the LEADERSHIP editors sat down with three communicators:
Everett L. "Terry" Fullam, after serving as rector of Saint Paul's Episcopal Church, Darien, Connecticut for seventeen years, has been released to minister nationally and internationally. His latest book is Thirsting (Thomas Nelson, 1989).
Joel Nederhood is speaker for the radio broadcast "The Back to God Hour" as well as the television program "Faith 20."
Joseph Stowell is president of Moody Bible Institute of Chicago. He speaks weekly on the international radio broadcast, "Moody Presents." He previously pastored Highland Park Baptist Church in Southfield, Michigan. His most recent book is The Upside of Down (Moody, 1991).
Leadership: Have you ever consciously adapted your preaching because of TV'S influence on your listeners?
Stowell: In some ways we have to accommodate preaching to our culture. Christ accommodated his message. The rich young ruler got a totally different spin than the woman at the well. Christ understood where his listeners were from, their cultural context, and he adapted his approach.
Jesus ministered in an oral culture, not a literate culture. Though religious leaders were highly educated, ...
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