Seven Canons and how they relate to Christianity

I'm writing this for extra credit for class.  I'm going to take the seven canons of journalism and see how we should apply them to our lives as Christians.  I believe this will not only be thought provoking but also a new perspective on how the seven cannons and our Christian walks.

1. Responsibility-Must Consider Public Welfare

This is by far one of the more important canons as it relates to our Christian life.  We are called as Christians to be responsible.  God placed us here to take care of the land and animals, though not our main calling (that being worshipping Him) one of our secondary purposes in our lives is to be stewards of the earth.

We are also called to watch out for the public.  In James it speaks of taking care of the widowed and orphaned.  The church and Christians are supposed to be about watching out for everyone.  We are called to reach everyone, and I would say that this canon right here pretty much fills out that purpose.

2. Freedom of Press-First Amendment Rights should be guarded as vital and unquestionable

For Christians in America I feel we miss this canon some.  There are several things that have happened within the past five years or so that have limited things that were allowed before in relation to religion that have been taken away now, because Christians have not guarded their First Amendment Rights like they could have.

Some would argue that separation of church and state should be present and that is why these things have happened.  Granted this may take part in it, however Christians could at least have stood for the freedoms that they had, however they pretty much just let them slip away, with just small cries against it.

3. Independence-from sources, politics, and advertisers

Politics particularly fit into the Christian side of this.  According to research done for the Fermi project by Barna Group, outsiders (nonChristians) believe that Christians are too political.  I personal believe that politics should stay outside of the church.  I believe that Christians should vote for who God wants them to, but I don't believe they should push their agenda on other people, especially outsiders, seeing as it is a turning point in their focusing on Christ.

4. Sincerity, Truthfulness, and Accuracy-should be the foundation of journalism


I believe this should be the foundation of Christianity as well.  If we are not sincere in what we do then outsiders won't want anything to do with what it is that we believe.  If we are not truthful about what we do then we just feed the "hypocrite" connotation that was also strongly reinforced through the work done by the Fermi Project.  If we are not accurate in what we believe then outsiders will have a hard time believing us as well.  Lee Strobel points out that if Christians had been accurate in what they believed that he would have probably believed a whole lot sooner than he had.


5. Impartiality-News should be free of bias and opinion


I feel sometimes Christians are too impartial. This brings back my assertion in canon number two about loss of freedoms.  If we lived more partial lives that pointed toward Christ then we wouldn't have to worry about many of the other things mentioned below the canon's.  If we stepped up and cared about our beliefs, but weren't insane about it, we would affect the world in a mighty way.


6. Fair Play-Opposing views should be solicited and correct mistakes


Though I feel that we are too impartial, I also feel that we miss fair play a lot.  I think we are impartial with culture but don't enact fair play with other religions.  We see only what we believe and won't entertain the thought of other religions.  This would also point to the main reason why Christians did so poorly on the U.S. Religious Knowledge Survey. Simply because Christians won't take the time to learn about other religions and how to effectively relate to them.  If you learn to relate, then people begin to appreciate.


7. Decency-Avoid dirty details


I believe sometimes we try to sugar coat faith.  This canon I believe we should be the opposite of.  I believe that we should throw all the details in we can about faith.  The more a person is able to know the details about their beliefs the better they will be able to communicate it to other people.  This is how others will be able to be effectively reached for the Kingdom.


These seven canons can relate to Christianity.  They are specific to Journalism but can be used for so much more.  I think that looking at them this way not only spices them up, but they also put a new perspective on how we need to be as believers.

The State of the American Church

America! The nation founded on the premise of religious freedom, is experiencing a disdain against the church because for generations the church has placed people in religious bondage. Living in Arkansas we can be skewed in our view because according to pew forum research, seventy five percent of Arkansans view religion as an important part of their lives. On top of that stat, ninety percent of American's say that they believe in some form of a universal being (or God). So why then is the church in America repulsive to so many people?

According to pew forum research released this year, only four percent of my generation, the millennial generation, are professing Christians. This means that the church is shrinking, magnificently. In 2009 the church only grew by fourteen percent, twelve percent of that growth was simply transfer from other churches. Which means in reality, church growth in America was only two percent. The amount of people who left the church last year either from denying its principles or death, was more than two percent. Once again though, why is the state of the American church is such disdain?

The American church only has itself to blame. A majority of American churches have failed to remain culturally relevant. Which is hard when the church preaches to be in the world but not of the world. It is not about being in the culture, it is about showing the basis of Christianity to the culture. Research done by the Barna Group shows that people aren't looking for a set of rules and rituals to live by, which is what the American church has produced. People are looking for something real and challenging. Which is what true Christian faith produces.

In being a place that is set in ritual, that is known for standing against things, the church sounds nothing like what Christianity is. The word Christian means "little Christ". The church seems more like a group of hypocrites who are focused on themselves instead of focusing on Christ. This is completely opposite of the way that Christ lived his life on earth. One of the main reasons why people don't want to be involved in church is because the church focuses on itself and not on Christ and others.

The church was originally known for begin compassionate towards the down trodden. They were about helping the widowed and orphaned.  The church during the Roman Empire was known for taking in mentally and physically defective children that were discarded by the Roman families as undesirable.  The church in the Medieval Times was known as the main group that stayed and took care of people during the Black Death putting themselves at risk of dieing.  The Salvation Army was also founded upon Christian principles and servicing those in need.  In more recent times, Christian organizations have been the first to respond to natural disasters.  This is what the church is supposed to be about, worshiping Christ and helping those in need. Showing love to people. 

If the church is to be about worshiping Christ and helping others, why do so many people avoid referring to themselves as Christians?  Because of the hypocrisy and failure behind the term Christian that has resulted from the churches focus on pleasing and serving itself.  The name Christian has such disdain that in the last decade there has been a move away from the word "Christian". Some pastors have taken to calling their congregation "Disciples of Christ"  or "Followers of Christ".  This response has begun to peak interest, as well as soften the  challenges that come with Christianity in America. 

What will it take to change the connotations behind Christianity? To be able to change these connotations the church and Christians have to be known what they stand for, not what they stand against. Christians need to be known for being advocates for social justice, caring for the environment because it's God's earth, having personal integrity, building harmony among races, willing to give their lives for the cause of peace. Christians like that will change not only America, but the world as well.