When I was but a wee lad, one of my favorite shows was Captain America. It ran in '79 or '80 and starred a guy named Reb Brown. I don't recall seeing him in any other shows.
I've never been the type to follow shows religiously. I usually watch television when I have time or between books. Truth is, I could probably save a lot of money by getting rid of my tv and never miss it. But then I couldn't watch my cute little red-head on 7th Street Theater. That I would miss.
I notice how people today all follow shows with passion. I doubt that any of them are worth it, really. But folks would rather die than miss Idol or Bachelor or CSI or any of the other addictions out there. I guess I just don't get it.
I don't think there's anything wrong with watching tv so if you think I'm gonna rail against the mind-numbing tool of Satan, sorry to disappoint you. But I do think that the quality, or I should say standard, of shows these days makes it necessary for us as Christians to guard our minds with greater care. I say this from much experience.
A few years ago, I didn't really censor what I watched. In fact, I personally owned seasons one and two of the Chappelle Show, and countless other movies that are not for the innocent. If you've ever seen or even heard of Dave Chappelle, then you know why that is a problem. But I was eventually very heavily burdened by the conviction that I didn't need to view such things. God started getting on me about how my life matched up with the things I was teaching and professing. So, with some regret over the amount of money I had spent on DVD's, I purged my collection. It only hurt for a minute.
I really haven't missed any of it and I think I sleep better at night. On some level, I feel that my witness and my relationship with God are better for it (duh, right?).
My point is that we teach and preach holy, Christian living but do we really want to practice it? We pat ourselves on the back for our influence and testimony out in the world, but do we really have the testimony of Christ that we think we do?
Television, movies, music, books and magazines, you name it. The world of entertainment has rapidly grown more and more ungodly. Now, you can roll your eyes and call this old-fashioned Bible-thumping if you want, but there really isn't any gray area here. We have to get our lives in line with what Christ wants if we're going to make any progress for Him. Especially those of us who are teachers and people of influence in the church and student ministry.
I have many other areas of my life that need this same tweaking and with God's help, I hope to bring them into Biblical standards as well. We're back to that whole accountability thing again. Funny how we always come back around to that.
So, here's to Captain America and all the other decent shows that seem to have gone the way of the dodo. You know, the kind that don't require running the kids off to bed. So go ahead and watch your favorite shows, but why not make your favorites a past-time instead of a passion? Better yet, why not change your standard of favorite?
Amen! Pass the plates.
