Editorial: Mike Bain
Forty years ago, my first radio boss asked me a question that stripped me bare:
“If being a personality was a crime, would you be convicted?”
It was brutal, exposing, but fair.
Mike Bain Breakfast Announcer -Radio Dunedin 1993
So let me ask the Church in New Zealand the same kind of question — the kind that doesn’t let you hide behind worship lights, coffee carts, or clever sermon series:
If preaching the Word of God was a crime, would your church be convicted?
Not “would people like you.”
Not “would the kids have fun.”
Not “would the worship team sound tight.”
Not “would the foyer feel welcoming.”
Would there be enough evidence of actual Bible preaching to put you in handcuffs?
Because right now, if we’re honest, a lot of churches wouldn’t even make it to the police station.
There wouldn’t be enough evidence to justify an arrest.
Not even enough to justify a conversation.
And then I look at Newstalk ZB — 100 years on air — and hear Mike Hosking say:
“To make a mark you have to find a weakness. They couldn’t find one.”
Why?
Because ZB does the one thing the Church has forgotten how to do:
They never take their audience for granted.
They don’t assume loyalty.
They don’t assume attention.
They don’t assume people will stay.
They earn it.
Every day.
Every hour.
Every show.
Meanwhile, the Church has taken its audience for granted for decades.
We assume people will come back next Sunday.
We assume they’ll stay loyal.
We assume they’ll tolerate shallow preaching as long as the coffee is hot and the worship is loud.
And then we panic when people drift to other beliefs, other movements, other “voices.”
We act shocked when cults grow.
We clutch our pearls when society “dabbles elsewhere.”
But Hosking already told us why:
“The audience isn’t rusted. It just hasn’t had a good enough reason to dabble elsewhere.”
Let me translate that for the Church:
People aren’t spiritually broken.
They’re just not being fed.
They’re not leaving because they hate God.
They’re leaving because they can’t find Him in half the sermons preached in this country.
Some pastors would never be arrested for preaching the Bible because there is no evidence they’ve done it.
Not enough Scripture.
Not enough truth.
Not enough conviction.
Not enough courage.
If preaching the Word of God was a crime, most churches would walk free — not because they’re innocent, but because they’re guilty of not preaching it.
This is the wake‑up call:
The Church doesn’t need better coffee.
It needs better preaching.
The Church doesn’t need better branding.
It needs better conviction.
The Church doesn’t need better vibes.
It needs truth.
If preaching the Word of God was a crime, would your church be convicted?
If not — then it’s time to stop polishing the surface and start preaching the substance.
Because the audience isn’t rusted.
They’re just waiting for someone — anyone — to give them a reason to stay.
ZB has lasted 100 years because it knows what its audience comes for. The Church has lasted 2,000 — but only when it remembers the same thing