Imagine it’s 1965. You’re sitting outside on your patio, lounging in a mustard-colored patio chair, sipping a sugar free Tab soda. A well-meaning missionary comes to visit you.
“Listen, Fred,” he says (your name is Fred), “drugs aren’t just for hippies anymore. This is gonna be a big problem and we have to do something about it.” He stops to brush lint from his plaid sport coat, fingers the collar of his turtle neck before he turns his attention back to you. “The Church needs to have a role in this and offer Jesus-centered solutions. We need to invest in this before it gets out of hand. Will you help?”
You look him over. He’s got such a good heart (and more than an ounce of fashion sense, if you do say so yourself). You sigh. “I’m not worried,” you say. “I don’t do drugs.”
Snap back to 2022. Boy, you really blew it, am I right? If only you’d known and could have gotten in front of the drugs epidemic that has rocked our nation. Don’t beat yourself up about it, hindsight is 20/20.
Yet apparently, we didn’t learn our lesson.
Part of our job at the School of Kingdom Writers is to talk to people about the media and the very real danger it presents in the near and long term. That includes a lot of church leaders, pastors, and the like.
We sit down and explain to them what we see and what God has called us to do about it. So often the response we get is, “No, we’re not worried about it. We don’t use the media.”
What these church leaders don’t realize is that the media may not be important to them personally, but it is exceptionally important to the people sitting in their chairs on Sunday morning. In fact, it’s one of their congregation’s biggest concerns.
According to the Children’s Hospital of Chicago, 67% of parents of teenagers worry that their teen is addicted to social media. These parents aren’t just concerned that their kids use it a little too much, or that it might be affecting them poorly. Two out of three parents are worried their child is addicted to social media.
Media is the crises of the 21st century. This is the one our kids will look back on and say, “Why didn’t they take action? How could they not have known?”
The way young people use media now is already positively linked to bullying, suicide, depression, sexual vulnerability, and so much more. We’re only at the beginning. We’re only scratching the surface of what our media will become.
If you don’t read, stream, or listen, and that makes sense for you, that’s great. But as a Church we can’t ignore what’s happening. This crisis is only beginning, and we need to be presenting Gospel solutions. The Church needs to be present on this one. We’re already too late, and we can’t afford to wait a moment longer.
That’s why we’re training writers to go in and influence these spaces. That’s why we’re investing in young people who are called by God to address their peers. That’s why we’re providing resources for the local church to bring their ministries to Americans where they are in digital spaces.
Today, drugs affect you whether you use them or not. The media is no different. Whether you choose to participate or abstain, you cannot escape the impact of media on your life.
Let’s learn our lesson from the drugs epidemic and get in front of this one.
At the School of Kingdom Writers, we are changing lives and reaching Americans. But we need your help. This is too big, and it takes all of us.
We want you to pray about our media. Pray for Kingdom solutions. Pray against the schemes of the enemy. Pray for Kingdom content creators.
We need you to support our work now. We are training people to make a difference, and your support makes that possible. Please take a moment to make a donation right now. Click here. Every little bit helps.
We want you to come and get trained or recommend the program to someone you think might be a good fit. You might just change their life and the lives of millions through them.
Thanks for taking a stand with us. Together, this crisis won’t go unchecked on our watch.