Lifeway Research gives me five compelling reasons why my church needs a podcast.
Brand Developer and Digital Transformation Strategist, Sharon Alfred, tells me podcasting is the “field preaching of the 21st century”.
John Piper cautions me that podcasts can lead to factionalism and deprioritising the BIble.
Preston Sprinkle and John Whittaker equivocate between podcasts being a blessing, problematic and insufficient.
Closer to home, Aussie pastor MURRAY CAMPBELL warns Christians not to substitute church for podcasts and, most frank of all, author/academic Seumas Macdonald tells pastors they shouldn’t have podcasts.
So… is the explosion of Christian podcasts and audio content good for Christians and/or good for the church?
This week, Joel McMaster and I are joined on the couch by special guest Ryan Betbeder1. Ryan, along with fellow Moore Theological College students Jimmy Knight and Jonny Hann, set themselves the challenge of answering this curly Christian podcast question. After conducting interviews with some of the leading podcasters in the Sydney evangelical scene, Ryan and co. reflect on the relevant advantages and cautions around churches creating additional digital content outside of the main worship gathering on the weekend.
Is this wise discipleship: equipping the flock with tools for spiritual formation outside of formal church structures?
Is it an unwise (potentially even unethical) use of a pastor’s time: building an audience while neglecting their charge?
Are we using the wealth of resources to foster spiritual health? Or are we just adding to the noise?2
And—what caught my imagination towards the end of our time together—is there a meaningful difference between formation and discipleship that would help pastors discern how to use their time, and advise their congregants of the same?
Catch the full conversation in the links below or on your favourite podcast app.
That sentence may betray our final conclusion, but does it? Or is this our sign-off episode? I guess you’ll have to like and subscribe and see if we pop up in your feed next week!!
I’ve heard a few podcast conversations this week with John Mark Comer about his new book Into the quiet: Following Jesus in a world of noise, which was both ironic and incisive in it’s challenge to how much content I consume. I’m looking forward to reading the book. But perhaps I should go for a walk without headphones first…