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"American Evangelicalism seems to defy unity, let alone hierarchy," Time's cover story said. "Yet its members share basic commitments." And apparently its leaders share something else: with few exceptions, all of those on these media lists are themselves somehow involved in the media. The lists highlight Warren's bestselling Purpose-Driven Life above his 22,000-member Saddleback Church. The popularity of Colson's Breakpoint radio program and books make his Prison Fellowship Ministries more noteworthy than the thousands of other large parachurch ministries.

It's not just an issue in Protestant evangelicalism, says Karl Thienes in a comment on pastor Chris Monroe's Paradoxology weblog. "Even in [Eastern] Orthodoxy, this mentality has crept in over the last 20 years with writers like Frederica Mathewes-Green, Peter Gillquist, and Bishop Kallistos Ware becoming very 'popular' more because of their media exposure rather than for their holiness." (He adds, "I love all three of them!")

In a sense, then, these lists are all terribly skewed. The most influential evangelical, after all, is the unsung Christian who quietly and faithfully demonstrates Jesus' love to his neighbors and coworkers. Joe Disciple can have an influence that a million radio broadcasts and books can't.

But the kind of gospel that Joe Disciple follows, how he communicates his faith, what emphases he puts in his life are increasingly determined by a media diet of both sacred and secular victuals.

In a sense, Robertson and Falwell get quoted in papers and booked on talk shows because they get quoted and booked on talk shows: Rolodexes don't get cleaned out very often. But they also get booked because they're quick with the quote: they help to feed an omnivorous media machine hungry for thoughts (or lack thereof) condensable into a dozen words that will make one side or another angry.

Provocation will be manufactured if necessary. Look at Dobson: He didn't start the critique of SpongeBob SquarePants and the "We Are Family" tolerance campaign, but his celebrity status made a speech's throwaway line, "Does anyone here know SpongeBob?" a runaway train—partly due to those trying to read signs into "what's the next big issue for evangelicals" and partly due to those desperate to show that evangelicals are rabid. The person that "broke the story" of SpongeBob's enlistment in the "pro-gay campaign" was American Family Association's Ed Vitagliano, who the previous month uncovered "an undercurrent of approval for homosexuality" in the animated film Shark Tale.

Take note: the guy whose occupation involves chronicling the dalliance between cartoon characters' and gay activism isn't news. But if an agenda of outing cartoon characters can be pinned on someone with real influence, that's a firestorm. It's not lonely at the top, but it's dangerous.

Copyright © 2005 Christianity Today. Click for reprint information.

NOTE: In earlier versions of this column, I mentioned the American Family Associations Ed Vitagliano, who was the first to write about perceived gay marketing through a SpongeBob SquarePants video and the film Shark Tale. While Vitagliano regularly writes about what he sees as childrens entertainment promoting homosexuality, I was wrong to claim his professional writings demonstrate a personal obsession. My apologies to Mr. Vitagliano. —Ted Olsen

This column appeared in the magazine's March 2005 print issue as the sixth entry of "Weblog in Print," CT's effort to duplicate on paper our popular online Weblog feature. Earlier entries include:

Bad Believers, Non-Believers | Do religious labels really mean anything? (Oct. 19, 2004)

Pro-Abortion Madness | The abortion lobby has abandoned its rationales amid pro-life gains. (Aug. 17, 2004)

Grave Images | The photos from Abu Ghraib have reopened debate on the power of pictures.

Misfires in the Tolerance Wars | Separating church and state now means separating belief and action (Feb. 24, 2004)

A Theoblogical Revolution | Billy Graham's vision goes from print to online, then back again. (Jan. 16, 2004; Weblog update: "New Kids on the Blog," Feb. 13, 2004)

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February (Web-only) 2005, Vol. 49