EDITOR’S NOTE: “Signs and Wonders” is a column that shares thoughts on news items that either do not rise to the level of a news story for MinistryWatch or are slightly (perhaps even significantly) outside of our normal charity and philanthropy “beat.” My goal is to be punchy, opinionated, and slightly off-brand. If that is not for you, no hard feelings. But if it is…read on.
Cheerful Profession? I was struck by Emily Belz’s note in Christianity Today. She writes: “I wouldn’t describe journalism as a cheerful profession, but every so often good news does win the day.” She writes these words as a prelude to CT’s first annual Compassion Awards, which highlights great ministries doing good work around the country. Among the ministries featured were the Springfield, Ohio-based Nehemiah Foundation, as well as Safe Families for Children.
Oh, and just for the record, I do find journalism to be cheerful. But maybe I’m just strange.
Layoffs at Christianity Today. Speaking of CT: A number of Christianity Today staffers have been asked to leave. CT leadership says this will move will reduce headcount from 85 to 75. I reached out to Tom Addington, the interim CEO of CT, and he confirmed the layoff, adding this: “We recently made a decision to bring CT’s operational expenses in line with strategic priorities, which include continued investments in international expansion, our longstanding print magazine, and high-growth digital media. With more than $28 million raised to date, CT’s ongoing One Kingdom campaign continues to set new ministry fundraising records and is fueling the next generation of global Christian storytelling from CT.”
Addington also wrote: “Since 2019 CT has worked to implement new kinds of media to enhance our ability to tell compelling stories. We’ve significantly augmented our legacy print magazine with podcasts and digital publishing, which includes news, features, and opinion. It’s very difficult to begin new things inside a legacy enterprise. We were able to accomplish that.
“Now we take the next logical step, which is to integrate all of that — our print, digital, and podcast assets — into a more streamlined editorial structure.”
As part of the restructuring, Marvin Olasky will become editor-in-chief. Russel Moore, who previously held that position, will remain at CT full time, but his new title is Editor-at-Large and Columnist.
Kirk Memorial As Rorschach Test. If my social media feed is any indication, the Charlie Kirk memorial this weekend was like a Rorschach Test. It’s amazing how people could witness the same event, hear the same words, and come away with completely different meanings and impressions.
Some of my Christian friends attribute the wildly different perspectives to an inability of non-Christians to see and appreciate spiritual matters. They quoted I Cor. 2:14: “The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned.”
That argument would have more weight if the dividing line was between Christians and non-Christians. Lots of non-Christians (Elon Musk, et alia) praised the event. Lots of Christians thought it was a commercialization and politicization of Christianity. The proclamation of the Gospel was often clear and direct, though – unfortunately – it sometimes came from the mouths of people (Rob McCoy, for example) who many who need to hear the gospel will find untrustworthy.
The Lord’s Name in Vain. On that note, some of the crossover between politics and religion reminds me that evangelicals need a national conversation about what it means to use the Lord’s name in vain. It’s not just about curses and swears. Tim Keller’s series on the Ten Commandments reminded us that using the Lord’s name in vain was not (just) about casual swearing or other usage of His name, but about doing or saying or associating God’s name with anything that was not worthy of reverence and honor. Jesus’ anger at the moneychangers was, in part, a reaction to their disdain for the Third Commandment.
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