Hmmm... I don't want to start a big debate re: to own a TV or not to, but I just came across some food for thought. Like all forms of entertainment (movies, internet, music, books) I believe discretion needs to be used as we strive to do all to the honour and glory of God.
I found a prayer that was written as a challenge for us to pray before we sit down and watch (or listen to or read for that matter):
“Dear Lord, we invite you to come join us in this time of viewing. As your children, we commit this time to you as worthy of our attention. May our family be uplifted by this hour before the screen. And Lord, we pray that families everywhere would have the opportunity to do likewise. We thank you for providing this program for us, and we ask you to bless it to the edification of the Holy Spirit within. Now Lord, bless the men and women who produced this show and those who made it available us. May they have your blessings to do more of the same.
In Jesus name, we thank you, Amen.
And here's a little parody of Psalm 23 on the TV watching:
Channel 23 - by Michael Pearl
“The TV is my shepherd, I shall not want anything else. It maketh me to lie down on the sofa. It leadeth me away from the Scripture. It destroys my soul. It leadeth me in the paths of sex and violence for the sponsors sake, Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will enjoy the evil, for blood and sex they excite me. It’s cable and remote they comfort me. It prepares a commercial before me in the presence of my children. It anoints my head with humanism, My coveting runneth over. Surely laziness and ignorance shall follow my family all the days of our lives, and we shall dwell in the house watching TV forever.”
*full articles can be found here and here
As an aside, I'm not necessarily endorsing Michael Pearl's views, I just wanted to provide some food for thought. As with all things, owning a TV, going online, listening to music, reading novels etc is not inherently evil, it's what you watch, listen to, read that you need to monitor.
4 comments:
Wow! I love them both. They need to passed around. Thanks for posting Irene!
Great post, Irene. I sometimes truly don't understand people who, after years without having a TV, get one in house while both Christian and non-Christian research shows that the telly certainly isn't improving any! That being said, I'm not saying it's wrong per se having one...you just have to exercise a lot of self-control! (time consumption, choice of programs, turning off TV if offensive...etc.)
We don't own a TV. Couldn't be bothered. But the TV/no TV debate came to an end, as I see it, when the internet went high speed. Almost everyone who would argue against the TV has a computer in their home. And unless they are living in a bygone era, they exchanged their dial-up connection for high-speed a while ago. This means that in the privacy of their own house, office, study, wherever, they can have full access to countless forms of media that are just as unacceptable, if not more so, than what you can find on TV.
Technology is not intrinsically evil. The touchstone is what we use it for. Can we say we use it for God's glory? Would we visit that site if the Lord were sitting beside us? These are the questions we must ask ourselves.
Philippians 4:8
we have a tv and i find it to be such a waste of time. and with a little one in the house now, i often think to myself, "is this something i want her to see /hear?" it makes you think twice about watching anything!
thanks for posting that prayer...really makes you think!
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