“. . . gospel clarity is the antidote to the rampant confusion.”
– Dean Inserra, The Unsaved Christian/Reaching Cultural Christianity with the Gospel
The 2023 Finney Media Why Listen?® Survey included almost 15,000 respondents from three different formats: Music stations, Music/Teaching stations, and All-Teaching stations and programs.
One of the challenges we face and opportunities we have, unlike a church which is focused on one particular denomination, is that our radio stations and programs are multi-denominational. They are heard by people from many denominations, with varying traditions and practices. In our nationwide Finney Media Why Listen® Survey, we asked about denomination affiliation.
Among respondents from CCM stations, here are the Top Five Denominations:
| 1. Non-denominational/Bible/Community | 30% |
| 2. Baptist | 30% |
| 3. Lutheran | 10% |
| 4. Pentecostal/Charismatic | 10% |
| 5. Catholic | 7% |
The first two denominations total 60 percent. The other 40 percent are led by Lutherans at 10 percent and include Catholics at 7 percent. This list includes many denominations with different ways of worship and different words used in their worship and ways they communicate with each other.
For us to reach them and perhaps many who haven’t even given us a pre-set yet, we’ll need to focus on using words and concepts that many or most understand.
A story to help illustrate
This phrase was heard on the radio from a prominent Christian broadcaster. “We need to exhort fellow believers.” I asked friends from a CCM station to tell me the meaning of the word exhort. One thought it meant to exercise. A friend pointed out that that is to exert. Another thought that exhort is what you do when you know something damaging about someone and you expect payment to keep it quiet. That is extort. These were smart broadcasters focused on a Biblical mission, but they didn’t know that exhort means to “strongly encourage or urge”. And if the national broadcaster had said “urge” instead of “exhort”, he would have been clearer.
If we’re going to be clear in our communication, we’ll need to consider what our multi-denominational listener, people of all nations . . . and denominations, understand. Clarity and understanding of the Truth is at stake.
Coming in October: The Top Five Marital Statuses represented among CCM respondents in the 2023 Finney Media Why Listen?® Survey. You already know not all are married. We’ll break down how different the respondents are in relation to marriage/life situations.
