Using Our Influence for the Greater Good

There was a strange dynamic that settled over me as I stepped into leadership at KYTT. It was the tension between wanting every element of the station to sound excellent, compelling, and exciting, while at the same time sensing that I was now at the helm of something much bigger and more important than I fully understood.

I knew my responsibilities. I could lead people and navigate the day-to-day demands of the role. I embraced being the “guardian of the product” and the “protector of the license.” Even the responsibility of answering to a board of directors didn’t intimidate me.

No, the thing that gave me pause was the reality that one day I would stand before God and give an account for how well I stewarded this incredibly powerful tool He had placed into my hands. That realization became the motivation behind the somewhat unconventional path I chose to lead KYTT down.

Coos Bay, Oregon, is indeed a “small market,” and some of the initiatives we undertook may not be practical—or even desirable—in other markets. But I am convinced of this: to whatever extent we invest in the spiritual well-being of the communities we serve, beyond our programming, the overall impact our stations have will grow.

I was asked by the CMB team to briefly explain a statement I made in a previous article having to do with the fact that Christian radio was not fully capitalizing on the influence we have in the communities we serve. I offer that not as an indictment, but as an observation born out of experience, and as an invitation to consider what more might be possible.

If sounding great on the air and attracting a larger listenership is the fuel that ignites our vision, then respectfully, I would contend that the vision is too small. Not wrong—just incomplete.  I believe we can do more.  

Is it possible that your station’s presence in its community could serve a greater purpose than it does right now? Could the content of your broadcast be a means to an infinitely more important end, rather than the end itself?

Those were questions I wrestled with at length early on in my tenure as GM.  And the grappling led me to a deeper burden for my community—a growing passion for the souls of the people who live here. Along with that came a revelation that KYTT could do a better job of serving the local churches by coming alongside those pastors and leaders and helping them fulfill God’s calling in their ministries.

I won’t go into detail here (although, if you’re interested, I’d love to share more), but I will say that the decision to intentionally partner with these vibrant fellowships changed everything for KYTT.  It reinvigorated our mission.  We began to see that when the station “washed the feet” as it were of the Church, the seeds of revival were sewn, and our shared vision for growth produced real fruit.

One of the early initiatives of this new partnership was a unifying movement among dozens of area churches called “Pray Oregon Coast.”  The simple prayer of an itinerant revivalist is what the Lord used for me to begin to see what was possible.  Once I believed that God truly wanted the station to help bring churches together, I was fully committed.

We started with a simple vision: bringing pastors and their spouses together for a nice dinner program, to thank them for faithfully serving Christ and His church. It was a tremendous success, which led to more regular gatherings and, ultimately, a shared vision of reaching the area for Christ. All of this grew out of a belief that our presence in a community was multifaceted and not limited to what happens on the air.

Another example of this kind of community engagement was a listener-funded benevolence outreach called the Good Neighbor Fund. Through that fund, the KYTT listening family ministered to hundreds of families and individuals.  Everything from covering past-due water and power bills to rescuing a widow’s home, which was on the verge of foreclosure. We didn’t set out to create something this broad, but with every step of faith, the Lord provided the wisdom, discernment, and resources needed to accomplish His purposes.

Songwriter Allen Levy once said, “To do small things well, over a long period of time, in the same place, seems to be how the Kingdom moves forward.” I believe that.

What KYTT has done in one rural community along the Oregon Coast may not look the same as what God intends for your station. But perhaps it can serve as an encouragement to consider that what happens on the air is only the beginning of our influence for the Kingdom.

 

Rick Stevens recently retired after a 45-year career in Christian radio. He can be reached at: guitargrandpa59@gmail.com