Mobile Baptists Association

"Serving Together to Make an Eternal Difference"
A Fellowship of 108 Southern Baptist Churches in
Mobile County

C. Thomas Wright, Ph.D.

Christian Media Journal, Fall 2002

It was a typical Wednesday night in the media library. People came in and out. A young woman came in with two children. As the kids looked through the stacks the woman asked the media director, "I need to find something that tells me how to know God." Suddenly, it was no longer a typical evening. This woman reminded the director that the media library has several important roles to support evangelism in and through the church.

Every program and every ministry needs to stay focused on this primary task of the church. In Luke 4:18 Jesus begins his public ministry by quoting Isaiah 61:1, "The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor…" (NASB). The Greek word for "preach the gospel" is where we get the English word "evangelism." Jesus began His public ministry by introducing Himself as an evangelist. Christians carry that name (Christ-ian) because we are reborn and becoming like Christ. Luke 4:18 shows that being like Christ includes being evangelists. Each believer, even introverts, can participate in reducing the population of Hell.

Notice this is a caring and compassionate evangelism. Biblical evangelism does not require us to conform to the stereotype of evangelists with big hair and polyester pants. It does not require us to grab someone by the collar and tell him or her to "turn or burn, cry or fry, kneel or peal, or get sanctified or french-fried." Christians share Jesus as a satisfied customer, not a sales person.

Focus the media center to help reduce the population of hell. Here are some other roles to help that focus.

Reducing the population of Hell is accomplished in the context of Jesus’ instructions in Mark 11:17. He said that His Father’s house is to be a "House of prayer for all nations" (NASB). Satan is very effective in minimizing the importance of prayer in the life of individual believers and entire congregations.

In John 17, Jesus models three parts of a balanced prayer life. Jesus prays for believers, for unbelievers and for personal needs. It is important to pray for the physical needs of people. It is also important to pray for missionaries and government leaders. We must also spend as much time praying for people to get into heaven as we spend to keep people out of heaven! The media center can help provide resources that remind the church to be a house of prayer.

Mr. Turner was a daily visitor to the media center. The staff rewarded his patronage by adding secular periodicals and books that he requested. Unfortunately that focused limited resources on competing with secular libraries. Focus your collection on biblically accurate resources that often are not available in secular libraries.

Be diligent to check the theology and content of each book in the collection. Satan is very effective in developing counterfeit movements whenever there is a legitimate move of God. For example, there are many popular "Christian" best sellers about prayer that have no business in a church library. They focus on human opinion and personal experience instead of the word of God. Help ensure that any person visiting your collection will find biblically accurate and contemporary resources.

Balance your collection with inspirational and informational resources. Include Christian fiction and other inspirational stories. Also include practical reference books, commentaries, Christian dictionaries, practical witnessing, and church growth tools. Teach your teachers to rely on the media library for biblical research, illustrations and contextual information for each lesson.

Be sure that you include evangelism resources for all ages and cultures in the congregation. God’s Special Plan is excellent for children. The Four Spiritual Laws booklet is available in over 40 languages. The HeartTalk Leaders manual and tract are designed for women. How to Give Away Your Faith is very good for young people.

Several teens were talking (quietly) in the media center, "I believe that a person will go to heaven if they really believe in any religion." Another said, "Most of my friends do not think the church is relevant."

Provide biographies and testimonies from people whose lives were changed by Jesus. There are excellent biographies about Billy Graham, John Wesley, Lottie Moon, Annie Armstrong and many others. Visit www.thegoodnews.org to read and print testimonies from many backgrounds and spiritual journeys.

Include in the collection Baptist and Christian history, apologetics and basic theology. Take the lead in responding to pluralism and false teaching.

The Singh family visited the church because the children wanted to come with their friends. They were shy to talk to people but picked up copies of everything on the literature rack. Back at home Mrs. Singh read all of the material and accepted Jesus. In time each family member joined her in becoming Christians.

The media library can take the lead in providing witnessing tools to the congregation. Place one or more literature racks in prominent places around the church. Include copies of a variety of witnessing booklets from the North American Mission board and LifeWay Christian Resources. Some excellent witnessing booklets include, Eternal Life, How to Live Forever, Here’s Hope, Steps to Peace with God, and the Four Spiritual Laws.

Also include NAMB’s Interfaith Evangelism Belief Bulletins (Available as free downloads from www.namb.net/interfaith). These half-page leaflets individually describe over 30 different religions, cults and sects. Each one includes an area with information about how to witness to adherents of that belief system.

Include information about the vision, ministries and outreach of the church. Monitor each literature rack to be sure it does not become a collection place for other announcements and offers.

Jose and Elle had been teaching Sunday School for almost a year. They were not active in sharing their faith with others so the evangelism lessons were intimidating. They went to media center for more information. They learned about the FAITH evangelism training and learned how to teach evangelism from experience.

Consider creating a display wall for the national day of prayer, On Mission to Share Jesus day and weeks of prayer for North American and International missions. Look for ways to provide information and resources that support and promote national emphases.

The woman who came to media center listened to the director’s testimony. She also received a Bible, a gospel booklet and left her phone number for a follow up visit. The Church Media library became for this woman the doorway to learning about Jesus. This media library served as the means to the end of reducing the population of hell.

C. Thomas Wright, Ph.D. serves in the Prayer Evangelism Unit of the North American Mission Board. For more information about his other resources visit www.namb.net/prayer.