Christian Living
Okay, I’ll admit it, I’m a little old school. Yes, I remember the days of having just three networks to choose from – the days when the family would watch one channel all evening because nobody wanted to get up to turn the knob on the TV. And how about those rabbit ears – or better yet the aluminum foil extensions we used when the antenna broke? Ah… Happy Days! My kids would die if they had to go through that – or at least that’s what they think.
With satellite TV and today’s computer technology, there is seemingly no escape from the influence of television media. So, every year at our home, on the day after the big game we ramp it down a little. Always with objection from the kids who argue the benefits of ramping up the media instead with a subscription to a service that allows you to watch any and every show or movie ever produced – for less than $10 per month! Hmmm… tempting as that sounds – NOT!
So, when people find out that we “pause” the satellite TV service for 6 months out of the year (in the off-season) they inevitably ask the question why? It’s kind of funny the look that always accompanies that question and the younger the questioner the more disturbed the look. This led me to challenge myself to come up with a quality explanation that would wipe that look off their face and have them quickly accessing their own account to turn off the TV in their own home.
So here goes: I need a break! I need a break from my own susceptibility to laziness. A break from watching the “news” way longer than I should and believe me, it is like a soap opera – you can go right back to it later and it will feel like you never missed a beat. Funny thing about breaking from the news – when I get back to watching it 6 months down the road, the crime, the violence, the death, the tragedy and the fear and loathing it instills seems a little more vivid and impactful. For a short time, the world’s sin problem weighs a little heaver on my soul – until I get used to it again.
I need a break from staying up too late, making myself tired and a little less tolerant of my wife and kids and co-workers the next day. I need a break from the “garbage in, garbage out” syndrome and from the endless messages that feed the worldview with the “lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life (1 John 2:16).” I need a break from the sheer waste of time that I could be using for anything more productive than growing roots sitting on my couch. I need a break from bickering over control of the remote and who gets to sit in the prime spot that both kids always fight over. I need a break!
Television can be an addiction of sorts and the kids are not the only ones susceptible to this. Just like most anything, it’s fine in moderation as long as you are in control of it and not the other way around. Too much can mess up the priorities. Ever find yourself letting go the things you ought to be engaging yourself in to watch TV instead? Does the phrase “time just got away from me” ever cross your lips? Ever find yourself breezing through your time alone with God because you have chosen to sit and watch something on TV instead, and then claim “a lack of time” in an effort to justify yourself? And we wonder why our prayer life seems so stifled.
In all honesty, we don’t go completely dark. There is nothing inherently wrong with occasionally combining a little relaxation time and the TV. So, with technology being the double-edged sword that it is, for those times when there is something worthwhile to watch we still have the networks that we receive with our digital antenna – minus the “snow” I so hated as a kid and Praise God, with the use of the DVR we get to skip the commercials. Also, the DVR allows us to have prepared for the “pause” by recording a few shows and movies that we use to ween us off the TV, but I’m telling you by the time summer gets here the kids are done with the TV and they have become used to finding other things to occupy their time.
So, I’m not advocating TV abstinence here, just a time where the heart and mind have a chance to settle a bit and return to a more sensitive place. Interestingly, when the TV goes off each year, our priorities tend to re-arrange into more of a right order. Our “pause” is like going on a diet, it requires self-control and self-discipline and it breeds it as well. Depriving yourself, your craving of that chocolate puts you back in control of you and that’s a good thing. So, what I end up with at the end of the day is a better, more productive, more playful, more creative me and a better me equals a better marriage and family, and that’s way more important than watching TV.
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