When “boycotts” or “response campaigns” occur, we may end up winning the battle (at least in our own eyes), but we’re also making it much more difficult to win the ultimate war of seeing people give their lives to the God who loves them and the Savior who died for them.
Hi all,
I recently received an “email action alert” from the American Family Association; maybe some of you received the same thing. It came in response to…well…click here to see: http://www.afa.net/Petitions/Issuedetail.asp?id=215
Below is an email I sent them through their website; I’m considering using this as a launching pad for a website article on “Jesus and the Media: Living in the Tree of Life,” addressing the concerns I include below, as well as some “extra” discussion of all the guilt-trip emails that get forwarded around the Christian community, reflecting the same kind of “tree of the knowledge of good and evil” approach I believe organizations like the AFA have chosen to take.
With all that in mind, I’m fully aware of the tightrope one walks when trying to stress the “tree of life” without eating from the “tree of the knowledge of good and evil” at the same time; if you have a minute, please read the email response below and let me know your honest opinion of whether I “crossed the line” or not. If I do the article, I want to make sure I’m sticking in the right tree.
Thanks…
To whom it may concern,
It is with great respect that I write to express my concern over the reactionary nature of the AFA’s efforts to address the criticisms levied at the Christian community by the U.S. mass media.
While I share your concerns for the name, image and reputation of Jesus being sullied by our culture, I’m concerned that “boycotts” of THE BOOK OF DANIEL, Madonna’s concerts, Rosie O’Donnell’s comments on THE VIEW, etc. may be classic cases in missing the point.
When such “boycotts” or “response campaigns” occur, we may end up winning the battle (at least in our own eyes), but we’re also making it much more difficult to win the ultimate war of seeing people give their lives to the God who loves them and the Savior who died for them.
Christians who have lived/worked in Hollywood – daily experiencing the prejudice, criticism, sarcasm, etc. of their colleagues because of their faith – will tell you very clearly: they have never met ONE individual who has given their lives to Jesus as the result of a boycott, but they know MULTIPLE people who have chosen to “dig their heels in” even further because of the way our Community handles itself when it comes to the work they’ve chosen to give their lives to.
I realize my email probably isn’t going to cause any major policy changes at the AFA, but I still thought these concerns need to be shared.
Jesus died for Madonna, Rosie O’Donnell, the creators of THE BOOK OF DANIEL and everyone else in the media/ entertainment industry…do we really need to make it even MORE difficult to reach them w/His “kindness that leads to repentance” by responding with such defensiveness?
I’m sure they already KNOW we’re hurt by their actions/comments (that may, in fact, be their intent in some cases); but what might happen if, instead of responding with criticism and defensiveness, we responded with grace and forgiveness…now THAT (I’m sad to say) would REALLY blow them away.
Just a thought…
Respectfully,
Deacon Godsey
Executive Director of Creative Communication
Trinity Church :: 15555 W Dodge Rd
Omaha, NE :: 68154 :: 402.330.5724, x.3342
www.trinityomaha.com
