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 MEDIA  August 2000; Volume 24 Issue 07 Truth in the trenchesBy Randall Murphree - AFA Journal Editor
At age 21, Kelley had a story in the first edition of USA Today in 1983. So, he's a real veteran, not only of the world's most dangerous war zones, but also of spiritual warfare as well. For Jack Kelley is a committed Christian. At this year's Evangelical Press convention, he mesmerized his audience with his experiences--scrapes with death, miraculous escapes, interviews with the world's elite. We won't forget his stories, but I hope the principles he espoused have a more lasting impact. Again and again, Kelley emphasized that it is imperative for Christian journalists to be people of integrity, writers who are certain of every detail, believers who stay the course set by Christ Himself. It's a principle that should be true for any believer in any career. But we in activist ministries, if we let our calling become a crusade, are vulnerable to the temptation to shape Truth to fit our will, not God's. Kelley says his professional role models are Matthew, Mark, Luke and John--"four of the best journalists ever." Journalism is a calling, he says. I wonder how he would critique the way I've handled my calling. © Copyright 2000 • American Family Association, all rights reserved. |
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"Truth is the first casualty of any war," said Jack Kelley to his audience of Christian journalists. I wish I'd thought to ask him if that applies to culture wars. Kelley, a foreign correspondent for USA Today, is regularly in the first wave of journalists dispatched to every war-torn spot on the globe. He runs with the big dogs of world news. I wonder if he thinks Truth is a casualty of this moral turmoil that afflicts our culture today. I wonder if he sees Christian media using Truth selectively, stretching or manipulating it to serve our own ends.