“ IT f we don ’ t hear from you this week, vu; may not be JL on the air.” “ This is the most urgent crisis we ever faced.” “ If you don’t send some money today, countless souls may be lost.” Such appeals are not unfamiliar to those who listen to religious radio programs. That the cries are increasing in tempo and “ pitch” should be of real concern to every Christian. Having been in Christian radio for the past 14 years, and working on commercial stations since 1943, I feel that changing trends in this important area of ministry make it imperative to examine some of these significant trends. First of all, there is a multiplicity of programs and voices on the air today. Several years ago there were only a handful of national religious broadcasts released during the week-days, with a few more on Sundays. These were programs of stature and prominence. Today, however, there are as many as 25 or 30 heard throughout the day. The second thing which affects the changing trends of Gospel broadcasting is the fact that there are more dramatic and emotional appeals which are given on some of this large number of programs. As an example, the speaker on one broadcast, which has recently started in Southern California, has openly declared, “ If you will send us $10.00,1 will personally see to it that the Supreme Court ban on Bible reading and prayer is rescinded.” Because this speaker touches an area close to each of our hearts, and because numbers of Christians are often undisceming and immature in judgment, they send the money in the confidence that what is promised will be accomplished. Generally the money is entirely sacrificial, for the people who give to such causes may not have a great deal of this world’s goods. In another case, one radio station manager reported that the only way a response could be secured for broad casters was through emotional stories and heart appeal. Some clever promoters have used other.popular crusades of the day such as anti-communism. There are probably a score of broadcasts which have climbed on the “ band wagon” and are vigorously beating “patriotic drums” sometimes simply to further their own purposes. Without question, Americans need to be awakened concerning the Red conspiracy and her sister in evil, known as “ creeping socialism.” But when people are whipped into a veritable frenzy without being given any other sug gestions than to “ send us your money,” the cause of Christ is hindered. If Satan can get the Christian to thinking that he should fight issues rather than sin, he has won a tremendous battle. The believer, thereby, loses sight of the fact that he is wrestling not with flesh and blood, but against principalties and powers, unseen hosts. While we are completely opposed to communism, we need to realize that it is not our primary enemy. There is a cause of Satan behind it. When the Lord Jesus was asked what the signs of His coming were, He stated, “Many shall come in my name.” This is recorded in Matthew, Mark and Luke. As we see
other signs of our Lord’s imminent return, we cannot but feel that the rise of “voices” and clamor for money are a part of the total picture. It seems to be another definite indication that these are the last days in which we are living. A third thing which has caused the changing face of radio is the growing number of Christian stations on the air. Many of them falsely claim the name of “Chris tian.” A number of stations are broadcasting religious programs “ back to back” (sometimes known as “piggy back broadcasting” ). This is a case of one religious broad cast after another. The block may continue anywhere from 2 to 24 hours a day. As Christians we need to be practical and ask ourselves, “How can we get the unsaved to listen to such a station?” Usually it is when a man experiences a real heart hunger in his spiritual need, that he will turn on a religious program. Sometimes, if he is caught, off guard by such a broadcast, a person will leave it on. Generally, however, he turns it off. A further complication is the fact that across America there is now not only one station carrying an abundance of religious programs in nearly every metropolitan market, but also in some cases there are two and three. Every station is ultimately after the ear of the Christian in the area, for Christians are the ones who can'be counted on to sup port the ministry. It is a veritable “ ether wave tug-o’- war.” In the minds of most people, the entire situation has become deplorable. Because religious radio stations are springing up across the country to accommodate the growing number of programs and because they are gen erally operated on a minimum budget, inexperienced management and personnel are retained. This is espe cially true in small areas where the quality of presenta tion is extremely poor. A wide spectrum exists in the field of religious broad casting stations today. Perhaps it could be summarized into four areas, although the range itself is even wider. First of all, there are secular stations which carry some religious programs during the course of a week. These stations are becoming fewer and fewer. The second type of station is the religious facility which will carry all kinds of programs. Over its frequency will come an evangelical broadcast often followed by those of such cults as Christian Science, Unity, Jehovah’s Witnesses and Seventh-day Adventism. One of the fastest-growing and perhaps most confusing broadcasts is Herbert Arm strong with his weird interpretations of Scripture. The third type of station is a Christian outlet which operates as a means of building up an income-producing business. This station will carry all Christian programs, as many of them as can be obtained, without a particular question relative to quality, reliability or ethical standing of the individual program producer. The fourth type of station, and we can be grateful for the growing number of these in existence today (as well as others which hope to become this type of facility), are presenting a total programming concept
* gospel broadcasting: is it ending?
by A l Sanders
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THE KING'S BUSINESS
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