Election Time: The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year!

Perhaps you think the title of this article is dripping in sarcasm. It’s not. Well, maybe there is just a splash of sarcasm. Just a splash.

In any given presidential election, there is tension. When you add a pandemic, protesting, riots, and racial animosity, you have a powder keg set to blow on November 3. No matter who wins, we will be left with an angry and divided nation. There. That’s the bad news.

The good news? Here it is: It is a golden opportunity for the CCM format, and it’s an opportunity that I dare say no other format holds

YOUR FORMAT HAS THE GOOD NEWS! Your format literally centers around a Good King.

Think about it. Every statistic shows the average American is feeling copious amounts of: Anxiety, Depression, Loneliness, Guilt and Fear.

And seeing that each political party has settled on essentially the same slogan:

It is likely that the election results will only enhance these feelings not quell them. Conversely, here are some of the things the Good King promises: Peace, Joy, Truth, Grace and Rest.

Do you see how one list is the antidote to the other?

Talking with colleagues, I know the fear of saying the wrong political thing is real, and getting canceled quickly. The beautiful thing is the CCM format allows us an opportunity to speak of another Kingdom. We can acknowledge the current system in which we find ourselves and then quickly pivot to the Kingdom that will outlast it.

This is not a religious suggestion. This is LITERALLY what our format is all about.

I produce the Brant Hansen Show. He and I often talk about how much our format references ‘Christian Things’ and yet sometimes Christ, Himself, is missing.

Here, in this election season, as we dig into the personal lives of all the candidates involved and fight over what we find, maybe reacquaint yourself with the Good King.

What about Him just amazes you?

What about Him is so relevant for this time?

What about Him cuts through all the noise being thrown at your listener every single day?

His compassion? His acceptance of the misfit? His affirmation of women? His willingness to be interrupted by someone who desperately needed Him? His ability to be stern with hypocrites and turn right around and be playful with children?

In short, be amazed by Him again. Trust me. It’ll be so contagious. There’s a reason you came to work in this format. Whatever that reason was, it’s probably the same reason your listener is coming to you now.

Can you find creative, joyful ways to deliver content about HIS character? Are there stories, while not overtly Christian, that still point to Him in some way?

If you’re a PD, are there attributes of His nature you want to be synonymous with your station? Can you create imaging that reflects that?

Again, this is not a religious exercise. It’s an intellectual one. It’s research for our job. I’m not suggesting jocks preach a 45-second sermon between Casting Crowns and TobyMac.

I’m suggesting, in the coming weeks and months, we look at our prep with a fresh lens. The lens of the Good King. The things that He said. The things He did. The things He told us to do.

Maybe I’m naive? I know it may be a tall order. It may be a little risky programming-wise. It may take a little (or, in some cases, a lot) of extra prep work on how to speak these truths without coming off preachy or schmaltzy. It’ll be challenging, for sure.

But it’s exciting, right?

It’s a toxic, vitriolic political climate and culture. We have the opportunity to say something so different than every other media outlet.

In a dark, cynical world filled with fear, we get to find fresh, fun ways to remind listeners of (or, in some instances, introduce them to) the sheer beauty of the person of Jesus.

Our show has a theory: Every person, religious or not…deep down, hopes the news about Jesus is true.

With joy and confidence, we get to confirm: It’s true. He’s true. And it’s the best news ever.