Over the last few years many church people, especially those who call themselves intercessors, have positioned themselves to believe they are called to be gatekeepers. They pride themselves on being insiders to secret knowledge revealed by God to them. They try to slide in and get next to National Christian leaders and get involved in their lives. They have no education or influence on the culture. They don't win people to Christ. They just go for the inside secret knowledge of their own revelations and exalt themselves as though they are the decision makers in their city or a decision maker for God. Their goal is to attain the secret knowledge or becomes a member of an insider group of people who don't submit to local church leadership. In fact, they always find problems with local churches and their pastors which gives them reasons and grounds for not being corporate. It's arrogant and unbelievable how these people act. In fact, recently there have been those who have given me prophecies of doom, told me I'm not of God, and cut me off because I would dare tell them - they have no influence on their culture because they neither know the gatekeepers of our culture and/or are not winning or influencing them for Christ.
History and Orientation
Kurt Lewin was apparently the first one to use the term "gatekeeping," which he used to describe a wife or mother as the person who decides which foods end up on the family's dinner table. (Lewin, 1947). The gatekeeper is the person who decides what shall pass through each gate section, of which, in any process, there are several. Although he applied it originally to the food chain, he then added that the gating process can include a news item winding through communication channels in a group. This is the point from which most gatekeeper studies in communication are launched. White (1961) was the person who seized upon Lewin's comments and turned it solidly toward journalism in 1950. In the 1970s McCombs and Shaw took a different direction when they looked at the effects of gatekeepers' decisions. They found the audience learns how much importance to attach to a news item from the emphasis the media place on it. McCombs and Shaw pointed out that the gatekeeping concept is related to the newer concept, agenda-setting. (McCombs et al, 1976). The gatekeeper concept is now 50 years old and has slipped into the language of many disciplines, including gatekeeping in organizations.
Core Assumptions and Statements
The gatekeeper decides which information will go forward, and which will not. In other words a gatekeeper in a social system decides which of a certain commodity – materials, goods, and information – may enter the system. Important to realize is that gatekeepers are able to control the public’s knowledge of the actual events by letting some stories pass through the system but keeping others out. Gatekeepers can also be seen as institutions or organizations. In a political system there are gatekeepers, individuals or institutions which control access to positions of power and regulate the flow of information and political influence. Gatekeepers exist in many jobs, and their choices hold the potential to color mental pictures that are subsequently created in people’s understanding of what is happening in the world around them. Media gatekeeping showed that decision making is based on principles of news values, organizational routines, input structure and common sense. Gatekeeping is vital in communication planning and almost al communication planning roles include some aspect of gatekeeping.
The gatekeeper’s choices are a complex web of influences, preferences, motives and common values. Gatekeeping is inevitable and in some circumstances it can be useful. Gatekeeping can also be dangerous, since it can lead to an abuse of power by deciding what information to discard and what to let pass. Nevertheless, gatekeeping is often a routine, guided by some set of standard questions.
We are called to "win the lost," "disciple the found," and "heal the hurting." We are not called to sit on our holy derrieres and pray as though you are the gatekeepers. You haven't earned the right to be in such a place nor has God promoted you to such a place. The scripture say "Pray for those In Authority" - not secretly undermine them because they are democrats and support causes and values you disagree with. You're called to pray for their salvation - which may not include them in becoming right winged republican leaders. In Daniel chapter 1 God used "Good looking, teachable, young leaders who were able to learn, master, and advise the national leaders of their time in the literature and language of the babylonians. Have you taken the time, effort, and given yourself in learning the language of the culture? Have you alienated or loved, engaged and particpated in the culture? John 3:16 say "God loved the world?" Do you love them enough to give your best to win them to Christ? Just remember, don't be arrogant enough to call yourself a gatekeeper unless your a good influence in your own city or community. What do your unsaved neighbors think of you?
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