Media can have a huge impact in terms of bringing truth to the masses, however for multiple reasons, oftentimes mainstream media and churches do not engage with one another.
Sometimes churches have their own media outlets, or they only trust specific media outlets to bring their message to the masses; other times it could simply be a lack of knowledge in the media’s role in helping churches; or it could be church leaders having deep reverence towards God, hence they are cautious in giving out information to just anyone especially a message that comes from a divine source.
Layman of the Messianic movement, Samuel Kanau said originally, media was supposed to help the church.
“Media is supposed to be the platform that that spreads truth and avoids misinformation, but the thing is, the media must also be born-again.”
“The church cannot cast pearls to the swine as it is stated in Matthew 7:6 [‘don’t give that which is holy to the dogs, neither throw your pearls before the pigs, lest perhaps they trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you to pieces.’].”
“Information-wise the church uses the theocratic system of spreading information in which whatever God speaks, the church repeats, whereas the media uses the demonic or Babylonia system of spreading information, that is, education, intellectualism etc.”
“In other words, God did not reveal information to you. That is one of the reasons why the church keeps to itself.”
“Whatever work you do, it has to come from the spirit.”
He also spoke of the doctrine of the seven spheres of influence that impact society – that is, the spheres of government, education, family, business, church, arts & entertainment, and the media.
“I believe a lot of Christians do not understand the spheres of influence; in the past people understood that each sphere of influence had a crucial role to play in order for a country to move forward.”
“If the media and the church had stuck with God’s original plan, a lot of people would have repented, as information would’ve already gone out.”
He added that one thing the media does that the church doesn’t do is emphasize on the discovery of information.
“Churches emphasize on change – mindset change; heart change; inward to outward change.”
“Most churches do not stress on inspiration, discovery, or response, which is something the media does.”
Mr. Kanau also stated that sometimes so-called religious people do not invite the media because they may feel intimidated intellectually. Hence, most times churches prefer religious media to regular media.