Absorbing the punches

Friends of WORLD magazine are typically startled when I suggest—seriously—that we have, since our founding in 1986, devoted more than 1,100 pages of negative criticism to just one organization. The organization, in fact, is one we hold in fairly high esteem. “That’s impossible,” folks say. “Well,” I counter. “It’s pretty well documented. Look here.”

Then I take them to my file of all WORLD’s back copies. Every single issue, except for Vol. 1, No. 1, includes explicit criticism of WORLD magazine itself. Those thousands of critiques in our “Mailbag” section have, of course, been mixed with a proportionate number of compliments. Yet along the way, we’ve always worked hard to make sure that the letters we publish reflect the balance in our incoming mail. We don’t hold back just to make ourselves look good.

Some of this criticism has been pretty sharp. Our editorial staff tells me some of it was so intemperate in its original form that it had to be toned down before we felt right about sending it off to the printer.

I mention all this here because as WORLD’s founder I always feel a certain self-consciousness when we include stories that are critical of other Christians—and especially when those people are folks we think of as friends and allies in the cause. Such was the case in our last issue (Feb. 21) in which we reported ethics questions surrounding the publishing ministry of David Jeremiah, a leading evangelical pastor and teacher. Until now, I’ve received no angry letters from you WORLD readers about that article—but two pretty irate phone calls suggest that such mail will soon be on the way.

We’re convinced that a regular opportunity for our readers to say so actually adds to our ultimate credibility.

It was WORLD’s willingness to absorb those punches that prompted The New York Times just three months ago to publish a little story about WORLD and what the Times called our inclination toward “muckraking” journalism. In using such a term, the Times seemed to be applauding our willingness to tell the truth, even if the truth wasn’t pretty and even if the truth was about our friends. To be sure, even with that complimentary tone, it wasn’t exactly the way I might have preferred that the Times summarize WORLD’s journalistic role. But I’d far rather have them characterize us as truth-tellers in such cases than to have them accuse us of fudging on hard stories. “Evangelical Protestant journalism,” said the Times story, “is generally more public relations than reporting; World stands out as an exception.”

But besides including that kind of coverage, we think it’s important to include a robust “Mailbag” section in every issue we print. Does this suggest that WORLD sees itself on some self-righteous pedestal that justifies our pitching rocks at anyone we please? Hardly. But the fact that we make it easy for those who disagree to lob a few of those rocks back at us just seems fair. We aren’t thrilled when people point out that we dropped the journalistic ball at some point. But even then, we’re convinced that a regular opportunity for our readers to say so actually adds to our ultimate credibility.

Too many Christian leaders and too many Christian organizations seem to believe that an open forum for criticism jeopardizes their believability. So they sit on the facts and stifle appropriate discussion. They clam up and shut off the flow of information. In the process they forget that light always trumps darkness. Truth, by God’s order of things, always beats out ignorance.

Yes, light and truth can sometimes hurt a little. But far better to endure that hurt for a brief moment than to suffer the festering cancer of a dark cover-up.

Light and truth, of course, had better be what they claim to be. To rush into print with shadowy rumors or with assertions unfounded in fact is wrong. It is to hear the Apostle Paul tell us to “speak the truth in love,” and then to strike out on both fronts.

Every ministry and cause you support should include some sort of built-in system for self-criticism. And the system should be just as public as the ministry’s appeals for support. Here at WORLD, we’ll continue to poke and probe and scratch and tickle in our search for the truth. And along the way, we’ll keep encouraging you to poke and probe and scratch and tickle us back.

Email jbelz@wng.org