Reflection on Media Conference: We are the fragrance of Christ

The day before the significant event, she wrote to friends the following words: "Tomorrow I'm leaving for a conference that I don't want to go to. To reflect on what it always hurts me to think about." Imagine a professional marketer who has been questioning for 12 years whether it is fair to work in this field as a Christian. And this Christian marketer, by coincidence and “irony of fate”, took up the ministry of media in the church.

In marketing, the media is a powerful advertising tool. Therefore, my doubts were connected with the essence of the very theme of the conference. Are we not, in preaching the gospel, tempted to sell the gospel? Do we not try to draw people's attention to what Christ gives, and not to Christ himself? Will people be willing to go to church when they find out they are sinners? And if we do not tell them this, how can we explain the holiness of God and salvation by faith? What then is the work of the Holy Spirit?

And on the morning of March 31, the doors of Moscow’s Golgotha church opened wide before me. Behind them are brothers and sisters from different parts of Russia. Preachers, lecturers, ministers, radio hosts, journalists, organizers, designers, videographers, bloggers - such a variety of media ministry!

The sermon of Viktor Ignatenkov, who spoke first, set the tone for all my reflections. The good news is not a statement of one's point of view. It is the spreading of the glory of God. “A voice says: “Proclaim!” And he said, "What shall I proclaim?" - Isaiah wrote in 40:6, and then, a little further, he continued the story: "... behold your God!" What should we, the servants of the media, proclaim? - The answer is obvious: to show God and His character. The task of the media is to acquaint a person with God. We are the fragrance of Christ. And our main incentive is a reward from the Lord.

Vladimir Romanenko reinforced these thoughts. The word of God is unchanged, only the means of its delivery change, and it is important for us, the evangelists, to be up-to-date. Another brother told how at the age of 8, standing in the spacious hall of the House of Culture, he dreamed of talking about Christ to unbelievers there. After 14 years, the dream came true in that hall. “Media evangelism requires a dream,” he said, which inspired me and, I think, many listeners.

Historian Alexei Sinichkin prepared a report on the relevance of 120-year-old Christian publications. The target audience of that press is both believers and non-believers. I realized their releases were the first “media” in the Russian brotherhood, and now in 2023 the tradition continues. I was impressed that 120 years ago there were no taboo topics. They wrote about who should lead the community, what the purpose of Sunday school (by the way, it was an evangelistic tool, and not “extra baggage for believers” - quote). They published exegesis. They reasoned the Christian view of the events taking place in society. In a word, the topics were "on the topic of the day." For us, as an example, a whole legacy has been left of hot topics and real Christian perspectives.

The lecture about the legal aspects of media ministry and Christian media was not as relevant for me, as a resident of Belarus. Legislation in our country is still different. However, while listening to the report of the lawyer Chugunov, I made a list of questions for myself. The idea arose to find a lawyer in Belarus and prepare a feature article with him for our churches, covering the same topics.

The organizer of the Christian radio, Dmitry Vatulya, caused a mixed reaction in the audience with his speech. As I understood from the words of the lecturer, his ministry and work is a radio for believers and non-believers, the concept of which is not directly related to preaching, but rather is to promote Christian morality without referring to the sources themselves. When I asked how the good news sounds on their radio, Dmitry assured that such a mood of the programs and personal attention to the listeners will be the key to the hearts of people in their decision to repent.

At the beginning of the second day, the UECB President, Peter Mitskevich connected an important truth from Lk. 3:1-12 with ministry in Christian media. Have you ever thought that we, servants of Christian media resources, are in some way similar to the teachers that James writes about? We influence people's minds. And the word in this field is a responsibility for which we will be especially judged. The wise shepherd voiced test questions for those who bring information to the masses. It is truth? Is it confidential? Is it necessary to say this or is it better to remain silent? Will our words bring good?

Pastor and YouTube host Yevgeny Bakhmutsky taught us how to speak so that people would listen. Eugene's phenomenon is that he uses popular themes and gives them a biblical, open-ended view. And he explained to us, using examples, that it is important to be understandable; contextualize the issue, taking into account the audience and time; speak with love to God and people. Eugene told the basic concept of narration and ways of conveying thoughts. I advise everyone who is interested to find in his telegram channel a summary with the title: “How to speak so that you are heard.”

Another topic that divided listeners into two camps is the use of artificial intelligence in ministry. Dmitry Lavrov showed an example of how GPT chat answers practical Christian questions. Frankly, I myself from time to time “chat” with the GPT-chat for the sake of interest, and just on the way to the conference I was interested in the topic of idolatry. The robot answered really as a Baptist with a theological education. But the question of using AI for evangelism and writing spiritual texts remained open for me personally. But having seen enough of the result of creating images with the help of AI “selfies of biblical heroes”, I decided to recommend it to our youth. Why not make a quiz, guessing the heroes of the Bible by the “photo”.

I will return to my profession. We marketers love scores and statistics. Rarely do I make a strategic decision without measuring the effectiveness of the previous one, otherwise I risk wasting money and not getting the desired result from the marketing campaign. To be honest, at the conference I also expected to hear how many people a particular tool brought to God and learn the recipes for fruitful service. But to my relief, most of the participants did not promise me success. The professionals in their field turned out to be meek, and the participants had the mood of “sowers”. It turns out that we recognize our weakness before divine intervention. We are only servants of Christ. For conference participants, their business is a privilege, not a profitable strategy.

I think that the last lecturer, Igor Popov, also spoke with such a message. He shared his experience of "cultural missionary work", talking about his telegram channel, where he writes a Christian's view of secular books. At that moment, I remembered A. Sinichkin's report: describing one's attitude to secular things that are valuable to our target audience is also evangelism.

What did I take away from the conference? In addition to useful technical and spiritual information, I adopted an attitude. I wanted to be consistent in my humble ministry, learning from those who themselves are learning from Christ and continuing the work of Paul. Communicate the gospel, strengthen churches, increase the influence of biblical truth. Such people, serving in the media, create content for the media, technically ensure the possibility of their work, donate funds and efforts for their promotion. I wish all of us not to grow weary in this matter. And the organizers will continue the tradition of media conferences.

Alexandra Kanatush, Resurrection Baptist Church, Minsk Belarus