Christianity Today

Not all changes are good. But transformation is.

Christianity Today's editorial administrator, Becky Custer, keeps a list of the design and editorial staff who have left CT magazine during her 13 and a half years here. Her list has 37 names. Mine—if I had kept a list over my 27 and three-fourths years—would run to 68 names.

Last month in this space, Christianity Today CEO Harold Smith announced new leadership for CT magazine, including my own transition to editorial vice president of initiative development. In that role, I will focus much of my effort on launching our Spanish-language edition, Cristianismo Hoy. Over our nearly 30 years of involvement with CT magazine, Harold and I have seen a lot of change.

Change is good. At least that is the cheerful message that modernity thrusts at us. Change equals progress, and progress is, perforce, good. If you don't feel cheerful about change, well, just get out of the way.

But modernity is often wrong. Not all change is true progress. Technical innovation has increased long-distance communication (think Skype) and at the same time decreased people's interaction with those closest to them (think of the widely circulated cartoon showing everyone at the Thanksgiving table staring at their iPhones).

As I pass the baton of CT's editorial leadership, I have pondered the relationship between journalism and change. Journalism is, indeed, about change. Without change, there's no news. But evangelical journalists should be particularly concerned with one kind of change: transformation. Evangelicals love stories of personal transformation, tales of individuals placing their faith in Christ and living Spirit-renewed lives that give glory to God. We are also fascinated by the way faith ...

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