It’s not a shocking statement to say that our world has a media problem. Bias, ideology, and lawless journalistic standards have brought the average person’s trust in the media to an all-time low. While this problem is most prominent within secular circles, Christian media has a crisis of its own, and it’s rooted in compromise.
For many years, people have come to Harbinger’s Daily, imploring us to “broaden.” Why does each story and writer need to be in complete agreement on doctrine, Israel, the timing of the rapture, and other Biblically significant issues? We were told repeatedly that our readership would suffer if we did not compromise—just a little—and become more inclusive of differing stances on various subjects.
Of course, these suggestions were quickly shown the door! Why? Because, as the Bible makes abundantly clear: a little leaven leavens the whole lump. Compromising the soundness of your Biblical worldview may make it more appealing to a broader audience, but it undermines the foundation of truth, which is necessary to properly inform, equip, and disciple through God’s Word.
One of the largest Christian news organizations, Christian Post, sadly, has fallen prey to this problem. Recently, I was disturbed to find an article that portrayed trusted California Pastor Jack Hibbs in a “kooky” light for his literal interpretation of Biblical prophecy. What’s most astonishing to note is that Hibbs, as well as being a contributor and ministry partner to Harbinger’s Daily, has also been published by Christian Post. Why, then, was a preterist staff writer penning this hit piece against one of their own contributors?
This is far from the only inconsistency. Another example showed the news group publishing articles defending the Biblical creation account, only to later publish others advocating for evolution to be inserted into the Genesis text.
But apparently, none of Genesis needs to be taken as plainly written.
Christian Post recently published an article titled “Do you know these 11 facts about Noah’s Ark?” It sounds innocent enough! It’s not. Each of these eleven “facts” took a portion of Scripture and explained why it doesn’t mean what it openly states. No global flood. No two animals of every kind. No gopher wood. The size of the ark is “symbolic.” The twisted list goes on…
Maybe the most egregious comment appeared under the section “The evolutionary dilemma.” The author states that a global flood and two of every kind “would require a stronger belief in the power of Darwinian natural selection than current scientific biological theories allow for.” In other words, because the plain reading of Scripture contradicts the false theory of evolution, the Bible does mean what it says. Does man’s word trump God’s Word?
The article was written by a man named Neil Rees, who is a trustee of the Open Table Network, an organization operating in England and Wales with the mission of making churches more inclusive and welcoming of LGBT ideology.
The piece was originally published by Christianity Today—we could spend a great deal of time talking about their shameful fall from sound doctrine. Christianity Today was founded by Billy Graham, but they have descended into progressive ideology and apostasy to such an extent that the Graham family, on multiple occasions, deemed it necessary to publicly condemn the publication.
The obvious question for Christian Post could be “how did this get through to be published?” “Who dropped the ball?” But unfortunately, this has become a pattern. They will publish articles that are correct and written by sound people, but they will also publish outright apostasy.
Does anyone else see the problem?
My intention is not to attack Christian Post, but rather to highlight a dangerous pattern that has infected the vast majority of Christian news organizations. Many of these organizations were once sound—but a little compromise compromised the whole publication! Numerous newsgroups operating under a “Christian” banner have begun promoting abortion, attacking Israel, applauding LGBT ideology, and disseminating apostasy. Did they reach a broader audience? Maybe so, but they were now feeding their readers confusion, lies, and inconsistency—things which God certainly has not authored!
In the case of Harbinger’s Daily, we have been astonished to discover what God does through a hard-line dedication to soundness. While we were told that taking a consistent stance on Biblical prophecy, Israel, morality, and other issues would be a hindrance, the results have been incredible. God has blessed it tremendously, and countless millions are coming to hear the consistent truth.
It sounds absurd to even say, but Christian news organizations need to understand: You get it right… by getting it right! The church has never been called to the “broad” road. It is the narrow road that God uses to make an impact.
