Chapter 2: Religious Television

Religious television has been around for many years and it is broadcast worldwide. While on a short-term missions trip to a Ugandan village in 2007, my mud-hut hosts were excited to share with me and Sereena their wonderful appreciation for an American tele-“evangelist” whom we watched for several minutes sell his wares to an unsuspecting audience. Sadly—or thankfully, or both—our hosts could not afford the “gospel” he offered. Neither could I.

“Religious broadcasting—like every other aspect of religious life—has evolved through the post-war period. Unquestionably Christian at the outset, it has come, sometimes reluctantly, to reflect a much greater religious diversity in which Christian views are seen as one alternative among many including the areligious and agnostic.”[1]

Today, religious broadcasting encompasses many forms of religious expression—from crusades, to mercy ministry, hymns of yesteryear, modern worship, evangelistic efforts, prayer, recorded church services, healing, teaching, and holiday specials. No matter your denomination or exposure to religion, there’s something for everyone. Christians need to exercise biblically-informed discernment in a most vigilant manner at all times. So much of what is called “Christian” on television simply isn’t.

No matter whether the content of religious programming is biblically sound or not, there has been an ancillary impact upon Christian life—that is, the separation of sermon-listening from the gathered Christian community. Talking about religious broadcasting in 1994, Grace Davie writes, “[It] is, in many respects, the extreme case of belief without belonging, for it seems to permit, encourage even, a rather self-indulgent form of armchair religiosity.”[2] That phrase, “belief without belonging,” represents the sad tale of evangelicalism over the past thirty years and the situation is growing worse. Individualism and autonomy drove the early demand for religious television and televised worship experiences. It makes perfect sense to stay at home where you can still get the benefit of ‘doing church’ but without all the irritations of people and problems. But is it beneficial in God’s eyes? Do we really benefit from churchless Christianity? The Bible answers, “No.”

Now, maybe you’re already convinced that the church cannot be replaced by televised religious programming, but there is another trend that may have affected you without your knowledge—it is a supplementing-trend rather than a replacing-trend. I call it “audio autonomy” and we’ll delve into that next week.

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[1] Grace Davie, Religion in Britain since 1945: Believing without Belonging (Oxford: Blackwell Publishers, 1994), 112.

[2] Ibid., 113.