Saturday, February 4, 2017

Turning the Dial

Yesterday, I was driving in my car and turned on a Christian radio station. That was unusual for me. I don’t care for a lot of what is out there in the form of Christian media because years ago many of the platforms of faith-based media no longer seemed to resemble the world in which I lived. The programming and stage settings seemed garish and out of touch with my reality, so I tuned them out and tried to find a home on secular radio and television.

As I drove along in my car, I found myself surfing through my normal fare of AM radio talk shows and found the same depressing information as the day before. I realized I had developed a default listening habit that needed to be broken. After years of this listening routine, I have come to believe a person could unplug from all forms of media for ten years and return ten years later to find the same sounds being uttered, but with different names and locations attached to the drama they report. The same rants and warnings of apocalyptic scenarios would still be present because it sells and supports programming and product. But something is changing. The blaring sounds coming from our neurotic media sources on both sides of any issue are beginning to deafen the ears of their listeners.

When I tuned into our local Christian FM station someone was simply preaching from the Bible. They did not have a pet subject to promote. They did not take a verse out of context to support their idea. They just walked through a section of Scripture and made a reasoned and rational application of truth to everyday life. The word interpreted life - life did not interpret the word.

After listening to the radio preacher, I felt like I had just taken an emotional and spiritual bath while sitting in the front seat of my car. When I finally got out of my car, the world looked and sounded different.



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