First Lady and Minister of Education and Sports Janet Kataaha Museveni has advised Pastors in Uganda to take full advantage of the phenomenal reach of digital media to spread the gospel message of Jesus Christ.
Mrs Museveni said that while there is a dark side to digital and social media, she acknowledged, that the Church today is “strategically positioned” to counteract the “negative influences” of this new invention, and also “satisfy the spiritual hunger of millions of viewers.”
According to her, electronic evangelism has given the Church a reach it has never had before.
“We should all take very seriously the gift God has given us in this age, the medium of television, and try to maximize its impact in changing people’s way of thinking. To that end, in my view, the most effective way in which the church has used television has not necessarily been through preaching, but through teaching, seeing the camera and microphone as an extension of a lecture room,” Mrs Museveni said.
Her remarks were delivered by the new minister for ICT and National Guidance, Judith Nabakooba during celebrations to mark 24 years of LightHouse television in Uganda at Kololo Independence grounds on February 8, 2020.
“When our Lord Jesus Christ was leaving the earth to return to His glory in heaven, he left His disciples with a command found in the gospel of Matthew 28:18-20. The command was given to a handful of men in Jerusalem at the time, but it was a commission meant for all subsequent generations of believers all over God’s world. And though it might have appeared like a tall order to those few first disciples, God knew that by the power of His spirit, it will come to pass,” the First Lady said.
“In our time, we have had the privilege of witnessing the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ covering the entire world, and reaching almost every household. We must therefore thank God, first and foremost, for the inspired invention of radio and television which Christian missionaries and evangelists have recognized as very excellent tools for purposes of evangelization and spreading the gospel of the Kingdom of God here on earth,” she added. “With electronic church extending its reach through internet podcasts, social networking, radio programs and televised sermons, so much so that today, it is possible to worship online.”
The LightHouse Television celebrations were graced by K. A. (Kirt) Schneider, a Messianic Jewish rabbi and international evangelist.
Janet Museveni cautioned that digital media users in Uganda today are faced with “mental pollution” which is as dangerous as physical pollution.
For Churches to achieve their evangelical goal, Mrs Museveni said Christian leader must adopt programs designed to encourage spiritual growth and maturity, not dogmatism and conformity.
“[Televangelism] is more effective when its modeled on our Lord Jesus own method of communicating the gospel – a model that moves away from the understanding of media as a powerful tool of manipulation of audiences to a model that takes into consideration the rationale… of the audience,” she said.
“There are of course some dangers that we should look out for in christian broadcasting. One of them is that some unscrupulous individuals use the medium to manipulate their audiences for material gain,” she said.
“There is also another hidden danger which we must guard against. The Televangelists must never replace or become the substitute for the Pastor in one’s local church. I want to believe that for spiritual growth, nothing can quite replace a fellowship with other members of the local church and community under the leadership of one’s pastor,” she continued.
“In this day and age, the task of communication of the gospel is greater than before; more formidable, because people are becoming more mobile, and less given to spiritual reflection and contemplation; more preoccupied with material priorities rather than the eternal truth. This calls for initiative and innovation. We must find more avenues in-order to impact and influence people’s mind and culture,” she said.
