Lost In the How? Rediscovering Your Why in Church Media

Graeme Spencer Author

Discover why reigniting your purpose in church media is crucial, and learn how to fuel and sustain your passion consistently.

At Media Mentoring, our passion is church media production and using it to connect people to Jesus through the power of Digital Ministry. We offer a range of training programmes. Including the Church Production Academy, designed to help individuals improve their church media production skills, or the "how". However, our passion stems from understanding the fundamental "why" behind church media.

The Bible is filled with numerous stories of how God was determined to connect with someone and would often choose unusual methods that eliminated the possibility of a human getting in the way of His plan. For instance, the story of the burning bush, Balaam's donkey, and Saul on the road to Damascus are all examples of how God found a way to communicate directly with the person He wanted to reach without needing anyone's "help".

God remains the same yesterday, today, and forever, and He still finds ways to connect with people despite our shortcomings. However, the remarkable thing is that He also invites us to join Him in reaching people. Although He can and will reach people with or without our help, He prefers to partner with us. This way, we get to work alongside Him as "co-labourers."

Church Media’s Crucial Role

This is why Church Media plays such a crucial role in today's digital world. It also provides us with a framework for using the power of church media to impact lives with the Good News of the Gospel.

The reason that drives all Christians is to preach the Gospel - to see people's lives touched and transformed by the power of God.

This is also the reason behind my passion for church media.

I enjoy producing transformational content and hearing stories of lives transformed directly by my work. I'm sure you share this passion. It's probably why you are involved in church media.

The How is Also Important in Church Media

Yet, I also love the HOW, and I’m sure that is true for you.

As creatives, we love creating content and pushing the boundaries of our creative expression. Our creativity is a gift to celebrate and a vital part of successful church media. However, it is essential to remember that the "how" must always be subservient to the "why" for church media to reach its full potential. Innovation and creativity are great, but they must always serve the purpose of crafting and broadcasting compelling content that engages with the audience.

Through my career in broadcast television, I have learned an important lesson that still holds for me today. It is crucial to strike a balance between being creative and skilful without letting it overshadow the message and the purpose behind it.

In church media, the priority should always be to spread the Gospel. How it is broadcast mustn’t be more important than the message itself.

It is easy to get carried away with our craft and creativity and allow it to become the main focus. I can attest to this as someone who has worked in church media. However, it is essential to remember that being as creative as possible should not come at the cost of the message we are trying to convey.

My Moment of Realisation

I once sat in a TV truck, watching a director "butcher" the coverage of an event I was producing. In my arrogance, I thought I could do a much better job. However, I wish I had been more self-aware then and seen that God could still reach people through the broadcast. Instead of critiquing the director's style and quality, I wish I had focused on the why.

The truth was that the Gospel was being preached, and people's lives were being changed, as is always true with church media. Looking back, I realise how out of alignment with God I was in that moment.

I don't believe that God is sitting in heaven looking down at something that isn't creative, thinking how much better it could be. Instead, He is looking at what is being done and working out how He can use it to love people. That is always His why.

We can see this when Jesus teaches His disciples in Mark 9:38-41 that "whoever is not against us is for us". It's the same in all church media. Just because it isn't how we want it to be doesn't mean Jesus can't use it.

I am not saying that creativity isn't essential. We should always seek to do the best work we can in church media. We must up our game, get better and strive to improve our skills when it comes to our craft. That's why I am so passionate about the Church Production Academy and wrote: "Let's Make it Better: My Top 5 Tips to Move Your Media Ministry Forward". Your church media should be the best it can be, so use my experience to help you grow.

But we should refrain from allowing our pursuit of the HOW to dominate the importance of the WHY in Church Media.

The Keys to Keep the Why at the Centre of Church Media

There are three we need to focus on.

First: we need to keep connected to God IN the moment. Understanding His heart is to reach people through our church media and not to have a great (or creatively brilliant) production. That was where I ultimately failed in the above story. To do this effectively, we have to become self-aware. We must intentionally practise stepping out of His way and allowing Him to take responsibility for the results in all the church media we create.

This isn’t easy, and I have failed more times in this than I have succeeded. But that’s OK. EVEN when I fail, God has still reached people through the church media I have worked on. Isn’t that amazing!! In truth, some of the times when I felt the least creative or “in the zone” or where I felt that what “I” had achieved was, at best, average and far below my standard were the times when we heard the best stories and testimonies of lives changed. That is why I can confidently say it is NOT ABOUT US. It is all about Him.

Second: It's important to avoid comparing oneself to others when creating church media. Instead, we should celebrate and be thankful for the efforts of others. Philippians 2:3-11 emphasises the significance of humility in keeping our focus on the purpose of our work. By considering others as better than ourselves and celebrating their achievements, we can release God's favour on our own creative work. It's essential to remember that we're all in this together. The importance lies not in who is the best or most creative but in the collective effort to serve our faith.

Harry Truman said: 

"It is amazing what you can accomplish if you do not care who gets the credit."

Third: It's important to remember that striving for excellence is more important than striving for perfection. When we aim for excellence, we are motivated by our own internal drive rather than external factors. In contrast, perfection is often driven by comparing ourselves to others.

This principle applies to our church media as well. Rather than trying to outdo others, we should focus on making our church media the best it can be. This approach is healthy and encourages growth.

Joyce Meyer beautifully summarises this idea by saying, 

"Strive for excellence, not perfection, because we don't live in a perfect world." 

It's impossible to reach perfection in our church media, but we can always strive for excellence.

Conclusion

Keeping the WHY at the centre is essential on your journey with church media. Take time to recognise God working through you. Become self-aware and conscious of when you might be letting your HOW get in the way of your WHY. Realise what God wants to do through you and celebrate others. Follow the principles of Philippians 2. Also, aim for excellence in all you do, and your church media will become a tool in God's hands.

Who knows how he may use it?

One Final Tip

To keep your WHY at the forefront of your work, it’s important to expose yourself to stories and testimonies of how God has met people’s deep needs through the work you do. Seek out these stories and read them whenever you need encouragement.

We will focus some of our masterclasses in the Church Production Academy on this. We will also provide practical training to improve your skills. I encourage you to sign up today.

One way to ensure your why is at the forefront of what you do is to have clarity in your vision. This is a crucial factor in successful church media. I recommend reading this article to help you work on your vision: Every church media ministry needs a vision - do you have one?

Categories: church media ministry, Foundation, Leadership, Strategy, Team, volunteer