I've always been an avid reader and writer. Ever since I was little, I hoped to one day publish my own books. Over time, however, my interest turned to journalism.
For me, this new interest in journalism is one of the best decisions that I've ever made. Journalism allows me to not only exercise my passion for writing, but also to break out of my comfort zone and interact with the community.
Around the same time that my interest in journalism grew, my passion for my Christian faith grew as well. Naturally, the question began to enter my mind as to how I could integrate my faith with my desired journalism career.
As I began writing for the newspaper at my university, I found that I would rarely, if ever, be given the opportunity to share my Christian faith in the articles that I write. In the journalistic world, a Christian writing an article about Christianity is a clear plug for their faith, what some might call a "conflict of interest."
However, the more I learned about the journalism field, the more I discovered that there is a clear role for Christians who choose that profession -- integrity, honesty and understanding. Today's media world is a quite relentless, sometimes savage atmosphere. Journalists often go to great lengths to produce a successful story -- sometimes even to the point of invading other people's privacy or worse yet, conveying a story in a slanted, biased way.
I recently met a friend's minister at the Episcopal Campus Ministry Center. We chatted for a while about college and faith.
Once he found out that I was an aspiring journalist, he asked me, "Can you promise me one thing?"
"What is it?" I asked him.
"To always tell the truth," he replied.
"Will do," I answered.
Perhaps experiences to directly talk or write about my Christian faith in journalist will be few and far between. However, I intend to be a set-apart journalist, covering news in the way that Christ would want me to.
I will always pose a story from all possible viewpoints with zero bias. I will not make one person's stand on an issue seem more valid or plausible than another person's.
I will seek out the TRUTH on all issues, and never publish popular rumors or speculations.
The last of these is the one that I feel Christ would want me to incorporate the most into my work:
I will treat my interviewees with kindness -- and if they are facing a traumatic situation -- with empathy and support. No matter what the premise, they are all human, just like myself, not just tools that I can manipulate to put together a good, compelling story.
What is your chosen career or profession? How are you showing the love of Christ in this field?
Comments (10)
I try to be Christ-like at my summer job at an amusement park by not losing my cool and yelling at all the little kids who drive me crazy. That's probably not the correct answer to this question since that job is by no means my "career," although I did actually get into a debate with one of my co-workers about the divinity of Christ. I don't think I made much of an impression since his mind was clearly made up but I did get to share my faith nonetheless.
Anytime you get any opportunity to share your faith, you plant a seed. Kudos and keep up the good work!
I coach cross-country and track. So I do Christ's work by teaching my athletes to be the best they can be. I must apply hard discipline while at the same time infuse what is called a "positive mental attitude."
The athletes are constantly called to do more than what they think they are capable of. My responsibility is to work them hard but not break them.
As I enter the work-face age, I've made the decision to never get a job. Jesus didn't have a career, or use all that time making money. I know there's people working for companies (my would be co-workers) that need to hear about Jesus - but I think they are yearning for something more than work...I think deep down they want to see someone doing something more than "working." That's what it's like for me.
Sharing Jesus Christ in a corporate environment can be a difficult mission. You are daily encouraged to focus on material gain and discouraged from discussing any topic that could cause dissension or legal action. I currently work for a Fortune 500 bank as a manager of a group of tellers. I have to make a conscious effort to be Christ-like toward my team at work by using the methods taught in personal loans Scripture as my standard for encouragement. The hope is that God will open doors for me to share the gospel with those around me.
This is really neat! I have a friend who is in a similar situation, and it's encouraging to see how you can witness in this way! Cool!
"...sometimes even to the point of invading other people's privacy or worse yet, conveying a story in a slanted, biased way."
A lack of honestly is worse than invading someone's privacy? Don't you have those a little backwards? Breaking into someone's house or something is like 10x worse than any lie I can think of....
I'm a reporter for our town's newspaper, so i can identify with a lot of your aspirations to be Christ-like in that environment. When I think about how to glorify God in my work, however, I come back to the way I act around the people I see every day: my co-workers. My boss is not a Christian, so I try to be a faithful employee, diligent and honest. Of course, my witness is imperfect, but that's okay. When I screw up, I just try to apologize and move on. I just hope he sees something different in me and my other Christian co-workers.
I have recently started thinking about this, and i realized that I haven't always been Christ-like in how I do my job all the time. I have failed, I have lost my temper, I have been short, I have not treated people with empathy when they needed it. It eats at me knowing all that. My cup runneth over at work. I'm super busy all the time and lose my cool occasionally when I feel I have reached the end of me. I now have a post-it on my computer monitor that says "When you reach the end of yourself, there you will find God." It never fails to be the truth.
@Lynnjynh9315@xanga - Then you haven't thought deep enough about what a lie can trigger in someone's life. Breaking into someone's house can destroy material things and make them feel unsafe, sure, but starting a rumor...a FALSE rumor (aka a lie), can leave someone without friends, feeling desperate, alone and cast out. Frankly, if a fire broke out in my home and my son and I got out alive with nothing else but the clothes on our backs, I would have no problem with watching it all burn down and having to start over. I have learned that material possessions are just that...material. They can't make you happy, you can't take them with you when you die, and all material things will eventually fail, fade, break or become useless. When someone watches their friends and family and loved ones all leave them because of a vicious lie, it is extremely difficult to recover from that.