_______________________________________________ THE GOSPEL OBSERVER "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations...teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always even to the end of the age" (Matthew 28:19,20) _______________________________________________ July 7, 1996 _______________________________________________ TV: A Thief of Time by Gary Coles The Jones family is rushing trying to get through with dinner. The kids are gulping their food as quickly as they can. Mom and Dad are doing likewise. In about five minutes dinner has been gulped down. Mom, dad and the children hurriedly clean their plates and give them to mom so she can place them in the dish washer. Why is the Jones family in such a hurry you ask? Perhaps they are rushing to go to some athletic event one of the children is involved in. Or, they may be trying to get ready for the midweek Bible study. Better still, they may be hurrying because they are planning to sit down and have a Family Bible study. If you offered any of these previous suggestions, you would be dead wrong. You see, the Jones family is hurrying so they won't miss the latest installment of Home Improvement. During the past 40 years we have allowed a thief to march into our homes and take however much of our time it pleases. Television uses every gimmick in the book to woo us into tuning in every day. Granted, as long as we are selective in our viewing habits, television can be a great form of entertainment. But when we spend a third to one half of our lives in front of a TV, there is something seriously wrong. The Affects of Television It has been estimated that there are approximately 600 million TV's in the world, and this number is growing at a tremendous rate. The average American child has watched 5,000 hours of TV even before entering school, and by graduation that total will be nearly 20,000 hours. After doing a little math, we can see that by the age of 18 the average American child will have viewed almost 2.3 years of television. Wow! Talk about a couch potato. In my opinion, even if those 20,000 hours of TV viewing were wholesome and morally sound, it could still have a negative affect on the child. For example, 600,000 to 700,000 students drop out of high school each year. This number represents one fifth of all high school pupils. Scientists who have researched the affects of exposure to present day TV, say that it promotes a 20% decline in creativity, reduces persistence in problem solving and accelerates aggressive behavior. According to a recent survey of adult literacy in America, 47% of 90 million adults function at only the lowest literacy levels. To say the least, all of these statistics are disturbing. It is quite possible that excessive TV viewing may have contributed to these alarming observations. Why? Because, thanks to television, most children and adults have forgotten how to use their minds in a constructive way. One question that Christians must address is: Does the viewing of immoral and violent programs on TV have any detrimental affect on an individual? Before we can answer this question, we first have to know what type of shows are being shown on television. A couple of years ago, USA TODAY reviewed a week's worth of programming on ABC, CBS, NBC and FOX. Take a look at the results: 57 killings, 99 assaults, 29 car wrecks, 22 incidents of child abuse, 45 sex scenes (only 4 were portrayed as married heterosexuals). USA TODAY also reported that religion is rarely portrayed in prime time programing. In real life, more than 40% of the US population attends church once a week. On television, only 5% of the characters were shown practicing religion in any way. Television presents a skewed image of American life. Unfortunately, many Americans perceive this image as being the norm. Scriptural Perspective Many will argue that viewing a murder on television will not make one a murderer, or viewing an act of adultery will not make one an adulterer. In most cases this is probably true. The question is: What type of long range affects does the daily saturation of these types of programs have on the mind. To help you answer this question take a look at the following scriptures: Phil. 4:8, ``Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, let your mind dwell on these things.''; Ps. 51:10, ``Create in me a clean heart, O God...'''; Prov. 4:23, ``Watch over your heart with all diligence, for from it flow the springs of life.''; Mt. 15:19, For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, slanders.'' When used in the Bible, the word ``heart'' is referring to the intellect, or the mind. If the mind is continuously inundated with evil, eventually it is going to take its toll. A couple of years ago, one young boy was killed and another injured by trying to duplicate a stunt they saw in a movie. In another incident, a young boy burned his house down after watching a popular TV show that portrayed two boys playing with fire. We all remember the events surrounding the execution of serial killer Ted Bundy. This man gave a new definition to the concept of evil. Shortly before his execution, he told James Dobson (Focus on the Family founder) that he believed pornographic materials had contributed to his downward plunge. Do you still want to stick with the argument that TV/movies has no ill affects on its viewers? Prov. 4:23 tells us that the springs of life flow from the heart. In this same verse the writer encourages us to watch over our hearts with all diligence. Why? The heart (mind) governs our activities. Many people subject their mind to lewd, pornographic programs and then rely upon their concept of decency and self-control to override the images that have been projected on to the screen of their mind. However, continuous exposure to this type of programing will gradually and imperceptibly weaken one's self-control and resolve. When temptation occurs (and it usually does) one's self-control caves in and sin is the result. How often have we seen this scenario played out? A faithful child of God succumbs to some type of immorality, and all wonder why? Perhaps, it was due to the daily bombardment of immoral behavior presented on TV. The Talk Show Attack In Isaiah 5:20 we can read, ``Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; Who substitute darkness for light and light for darkness.'' I can think of no better example of this than the talk shows that seem to have taken TV by storm. The bizarre, the crude and the outrageous are paraded on these programs daily. The general sentiment of these programs is: ``You can do anything you want as long as you do not hurt anybody in the process.'' Any reference to the Bible is usually ridiculed and belittled. We are told that to oppose homosexuality is hateful and cruel. On a daily basis the most intimate relations between men and women are exposed for all to see. I am convinced that talk shows have contributed significantly to the moral degeneracy of our society. Slowly and subtly, talk shows are perverting America's concept of morality and social acceptability. Have you ever stopped to consider that with the introduction of movies and TV in this century, Satan's capacity to do evil has increased tremendously. Never before has Satan had such extensive access to the human mind. Never has his ability to lead man astray been so great. Perhaps, he has been released from his prison! Only God knows! Assault on the Family The greatest victim of television's assault has been the family. Most of the families portrayed on television are often dysfunctional in nature. Rarely, does one see a family consisting of a strong loving father, a supportive loving mother, and children who respect their parents. In many instances you have a single parent situation. Why? This allows for more romantic involvements in the story line. Often, mom and dad are portrayed as dunces, while the children are all wise and knowing. We no longer see strong functional families as we once saw in shows such as The Waltons or Little House on the Prairie. Television is sending a message to America that divorce, adultery and selfishness are acceptable. During the last presidential campaign, Vice-president Quail criticized the Murphy Brown program for glamorizing unmarried motherhood. For this comment, Quail was scorned and humiliated by the press and a good percentage of the American public. Tragically, family values are no longer being taught to children by their parents. In many cases, television is now the instructor of the modern day concept of the family. A concept that is alien and foreign to God's perspective of a family. The Solution So, what is a Christian suppose to do? Take his television and smash it into a million pieces? Some have. Television can be a source of invaluable information and entertainment. Christians must be selective in what they watch. When children are involved this becomes especially important. Young minds can be easily swayed to evil. Satan knows this. We as parents better to. One mistake parents make is in allowing their children to have a TV in their room with carte blanche control over what they watch. This will eventually lead to misery. Even if all of the television viewing is of a good and wholesome quality, parents must still control how much television their children watch. As we have already seen, excessive TV viewing can still have a negative affect on both child and adult. Finally, as we noted earlier, TV is the great thief of time. TV will often keep us away from more constructive uses of our time. Especially in areas of serving God in heaven. I have had many Christians approach me and say, ``I want to be a faithful Christian, but for some unknown reason, I continue to be a very worldly person.'' Perhaps, the ``unknown reason'' is the constant viewing of ungodly TV programs. You decide. Better yet, Christ will decide in the judgment. -- Via The Pekin Bulletin, July 1996 ___________________________________________ NEWS & NOTES I need to make a correction in last week's ``News & Notes.'' I had mentioned Janet Kress as having been ``a member of the Marrtown church of Christ (a non- conservative group).'' This was ``doubly-wrong'': first, Mrs. Kress is not a member of the Marrtown church of Christ; I think it is at the Northend church of Christ (a non- conservative group) where she belongs; and, secondly, the Marrtown church of Christ is not a ``non-conservative'' group. I deeply apologize for this error. I am happy to report we had a baptism last Sunday. Though baptized when young, Angie Pitman felt a need to be ``re-baptized'' because she did not think she really understood what she was doing the first time. We had 19 visitors for the month of June. To each of you who helped make up this number, we want you to know we enjoyed having you--and hope it will be soon that we'll be seeing you again. Write (or call) for one of our FREE Bible courses. Need a ride to our services? Just let us know. (One of the members will provide you with transportation.) Would you like a couple of us to have a home Bible study with you or with someone you know? We would be happy to. Come visit us! _______________________________________ Tri-State CHURCH OF CHRIST 713 13th Street, Ashland, Kentucky 41101 Sunday: 10:00 A.M. Bible class 10:50 A.M. Worship 6:30 P.M. Worship Wednesday: 7:30 P.M. Bible study evangelist/editor: Tom Edwards (606) 325-9742 e-mail: tedwards@wwd.net ________________________________________