I get it. I've read Neil Postman's Amusing Ourselves to Death. I've sat in many lectures and read many blog articles by Dr. Douglas Groothuis. I understand the reasons not to watch television. Glorified violence. Gratuitous sex. Triviality and banality. And I completely agree that many, if not most, shows on television are a complete waste of time and perhaps even sinful to watch, which is precisely why my wife and I do not watch those shows.
But what about that minority of shows that don't focus on these things? For example, I like to watch cooking shows. Why? Because I like to cook, and I learn new things by watching the professionals in action. My wife and I also like to watch documentaries like Nova or Secrets of the Dead. (Recently, e.g., we just finished watching the BBC documentary The Human Face on Netflix.) Again, these are shows in which you can learn something about science or the humanities and actually feel edified after having watched them. And, of course, I do like to do battle with the contestants on Jeopardy every now and again.
Now this isn't to say that I always watch high-quality shows like these. I do confess that sometimes, after an especially long day at work, I do crash in front of the tube and watch fairly trivial shows. But usually when this happens I am so mentally drained that I would be hard-pressed to pick up a book or have an enlightening conversation anyway. I have had to come to grips with the fact that I just can't be productive all the time.
So I pose the question, is some TV okay, if those shows are actually edifying in some way? Or is TV such a wasteland that one should avoid it at all costs?
4 comments:
Summertime maybe should be outside activity time, but I still find myself "crashing" infront of the TV after a long work day. Jeff and I have been reading in I Kings thru the One Year Bible. As we read about the kings of Israel and Judah it is such a reoccuring theme of: he did not follow the degrees of God or tear down all the altars to false gods and let his people still burn incense and sacrifice to them. In other words some kings did follow God but still allowed things to be in place that were causing the people to sin againist God. Sometimes I wonder if I've let my TV watching fall into this category. I watch things that don't edify God when I could be doing something more constructive. It will always be a balancing act with me because I admit it...I love to be entertained and I love a good story. I just wonder where I stretch the boundaries and justify what I watch sometimes. So where does entertainment turn into something that leads me away from doing the work of the Lord? I just hope I keep evaluating my actions and asking God to help me follow him thru it all. Just my thoughts. GG
Hi Jon,
When I first became a follower of Jesus I banned such things as TV, movies and popular music from my life. I had been an extreme hedonist so probably it was a good way of “cleaning house”.
However over time I found that I was losing touch with my society to such an extent that to even engage in conversations to use as opportunities to share the gospel was challenging.
I find most “Christian” forms of communication on TV, radio, books and magazines to be typically very poor as to edification and general quality.
Much of popular culture including TV can be used in very helpful ways. I blog about Survivor (one of the top Survivor unedited uncensored web pages on the planet) so when people type all kinds of sexual things in Google about Survivor they often end up at my blog reading articles that have Biblical passages and Biblical themes in them. Actually every episode of Survivor is excellent for blogging as a follower of Jesus if we use our imagination for His glorification. I use much of what I watch on TV to communicate Biblical truth to those I know in creative and hopefully insightful ways.
Lest it be thought I am a couch potato I work to on my elliptical trainer and stationary bike while watching TV. It is important to exercise the mind and the body…
Often in the Bible we see persons using the popular culture of the day to communicate God’s truth…
Often I find the anti-TV position to be quite legalistic….to that end I have a lot of grace for those that dislike TV…
;)
Mom, thanks for the comments. I know that's where I struggle, too--finding the balance can be hard.
livingsword, thanks for your thoughts. For what it's worth, there is beginning to be a resurgence of quality Christian music, at least. I tend to shy away from much of the rest of Christian media (except for academic books and journals), but I have been pleasantly surprised by more than a few Christian artists/bands in recent years.
I don't think we need to throw out TV altogether, just learn to be discerning as you can with the help of the Holy Spirit.
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