The False Church of Christian Media
If I’ve learned anything from years of studying, and writing about, the world of Christian media, it’s that the last thing a Christian should do is become dependent on any form of parachurch “Christian” income, instead of solely an honest paycheck directly from the church. Not only have I seen professing Christians, time and time again, compromise their integrity for a gig, I’ve seen the handful of honest men and women in the industry struggle to stay afloat, and forced to constantly defend their good names, as they refuse one immoral demand after another. Meanwhile, the cast of characters whose brand has long been gleefully convincing one sub-genre of Christians that nearly any differing opinion from another Christian is an existential threat (let alone those of non-Christians) are thriving.
I’ve worked with a pastor/theologian on his written rejection of ethno-nationalism within Christian Nationalism, only for him to publicly endorse that movement’s worst, openly “race-realist” characters a few years later. I’ve seen multiple personalities build entire for-profit media brands around anathematizing a particular extremist movement, while going out of their way to avoid, or even laud, central players in that movement whom they’re still doing gigs with. I’ve spoken behind the scenes with high-ranking members of “Reformed” parachurch organizations for years, listening to them lament how the organizations they joined, or founded, were still playing nice with, or have even been wholly infiltrated by, an element dedicated to Christian institutional capture for the purposes of literal fascist political action. Some of those high-ranking members are held economically hostage by the situation and are trying to thread an ethical needle, while others have capitulated.
Left to right, soup to nuts, Christian media is one of the most self-serving and corrupt industries I’ve ever witnessed, but what most disgusts me about it is how, while it behaves this way, its whole business model, its key value proposition, is being the arbiter of Christian morality. Through this, Christian media applies a peer pressure to most of the Protestant world, which, in one form or another, is drawing from its well. If one of its personalities writes “edifying” books or gives “helpful” speeches, the industry’s heaviest consumers, which include most denominational leaders, will brand anyone who raises a legitimate red flag about that personality’s public actions as anything from uncharitable to working for the enemy.
As if writing a good book is empirical evidence of upright character.
As if there isn’t a regular cadence of “edifying” Christian personalities exposed for all manner of despicable, often criminal, behavior.
In this way Christian media functions exactly like a cult. Utilize your Christian liberty of conscience to reject the religiopolitical conclusions of anyone from Megan Basham to Russell Moore on social media, and watch as their fans pour into your comments to declare you anything from a “godless liberal” to a “fascist misogynist”—and often not in such nice terms. Building a cult of personality full of adoring fans who will calumniate anyone in disagreement with the personality is the bread and butter of brand-formation in all corners of Christian media. I believe the personalities are held hostage by their vitriolic fans, as much or more than they court them. Who else is going to buy the next book or pay hundreds, even thousands, of dollars to attend the next annual conference? If that type of behavior happened inside your church, on the occasion you disagreed with the pastor on a point he made in a sermon, you’d find another place to worship, and would probably warn anyone who asked you about the church. There are good people trying to do the right thing in any false church, but that doesn’t make it any less of a false church; if Christian media was a church, it would be a false one.
I’m currently six months into what will be over a year of research for what I expect to be a very long history book. My plan is to draw a line from William Brewster, through Cotton Mather, George Whitefield, Charles Finney, Henry Ward Beecher, Dwight L. Moody, Billy Sunday, Billy Graham and Jerry Fallwell, to our current predicament, where “evangelical” is more of a political category than a theological one. I have no doubt, if it was miraculously picked up by a Christian publisher, while in editing, I would be told I have to remove a section about a contemporary figure—be it Doug Wilson or David French, Al Mohler or Phil Vischer, Allie Beth Stuckey or Kristen DuMez—because “they’re on our team.” I’ve heard those four words so many times in the last few years, when writing about Christian media personalities engaged in anything from labeling every Christian who votes Republican a quasi-fascist to supporting white-nationalist pastors, from dehumanizing and reviling anyone with a differing opinion to downplaying the cover-up of child abuse.
The active participants of an industry that survives on such behavior, which requires of its consumers such a lack of discernment, will never be on my team. I’m on team spirit and truth. I’m on team salt and light. I’m on team Jesus. Join me.