RADIO AS A CHRISTIAN COMMUNICATION TOOL

The Listener Comes First

We have this saying in Radio Worldwide, that 'The listener comes first'. This simply reflects one of the most important principles of communication - i.e. that communication must always centre on the person on the receiving end.

Too often Christians get so excited about the gospel message that they forget the person they are trying to reach. Maybe they aren't even sure what sort of person they are reaching. Or, in some cases they seem to think that the whole issue of who we are speaking to is God's part of the job - meaning that we do not have to adjust what we are saying, as God will make sure it ultimately reaches the appropriate person.

Though God is sovereign, this should never be an excuse for us to be irresponsible. This thinking flies in the face of scripture, where the speakers (Jesus, for example) are always adapting their communication to the person or people they are talking to.

For instance, when Paul speaks to the people of Athens at the Areopagus, he talks about what the Greeks know. He quotes their "pagan" poetry, but he doesn't quote scripture, and he does not even mention the name of Jesus. His presentation of the gospel is completely centred on what the Greek philosophers will find interesting and relevant. And this way of speaking gets him results. He is asked to speak again.

We can carry the analogy through to radio. As Christians, if we make what we have to say relevant to people and manage to keep their attention, they will come back for more. The fact is - nobody gets bored listening to radio, they simply stop listening.

Do Radio Preaching Programmes Evangelise?

When it comes to radio, one size does not fit all. Radio may be a mass medium, but the listener is individual. To evangelise by radio, the approach needs to be personal, one-to-one communication and the delivery and content need to suit the non-Christian listener. Preaching has proved itself to be a good tool for discipling converts, but we must ask ourselves whether or not there may be better methods of radio evangelism.

Can Music-based Radio be Used for Evangelism?

Ask yourself the question, what do I as a programmer want to do most? Play Christian music, or reach non-believers?

Radio listeners are patient people, and even if they don't like what they are hearing, they will sometimes stay listening for up to 2 minutes. That is why the objective of commercial radio is to get people to listen to stuff they don't want to hear - the adverts. Listeners will stay tuned to ads because they are short, they are interesting, or they are relevant. Thus, we need to capitalize on what works, and make use of short, snappy adverts, instead of using music as tools of evangelism. (In the UK we are allowed to have paid-for religious advertising.)

Useful Links

Radio Programming Roles by Frank Gray and Ross James. The Roles of Radio is an electronic version of a very useful book on the subject, and speaks of programmers who have understood how to plan an effective communication strategy. Frank Gray was the man who introduced the Gray matrix, which is a useful tool in Christian Evangelism.

The Web Evangelism website is an excellent resource relating more to the use of the internet for evangelism. In addition, you can sign up for the Web Evangelism Bulletin from the same site.