Four of the Best Reasons Ever for Permanently Unplugging Your TV
Rev. Paul J. Bern
Rev. Paul J. Bern, pastor and administrator at the Social Gospel Worship and Learning Center, Atlanta, Ga.
Four Excellent Reasons to Stop Watching TV Forever
(Exodus 20: 3-5; James 1: 36-37) by Pastor Paul J. Bern
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I was asked by a reader this past week if I had ever considered posting a piece on the evils of watching television. Actually, in the past I had considered doing exactly that, but every time I got ready to, something of greater importance would come up with respect to current events. For example, I could have wrote about the US government log jam that just occurred this past week, where everybody saw the US senate take four whole days to agree on who would be the Speaker of the House. The larger aspect of this is that the temporary impasse, along with other governmental malfunctions, are on live TV for all the world to see. All the other information you can possibly stand, whether you like it or not, is being presented to the public via television continuously. According to some facts and figures from TV-Free America (1322 18th Street, NW Washington, DC 20036, not a paid endorsement) regarding American television viewing habits, the following facts have emerged:
[1] FAMILY LIFE
[2] CHILDREN
[3] VIOLENCE
[4] COMMERCIALISM
Does the Bible Say Anything About Watching Too Much TV?
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According to the A.C. Nielsen Co., the average American watches more than 4 hours of TV each day (or 28 hours/week, or 2 months of nonstop TV-watching per year). In a 65-year life, that person will have spent 9 years glued to the tube. Let me select a quote from the Old Testament about that: “You shall have no other gods before me, You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or the waters below. You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing love for a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments.” (Exodus 20, verses 3-5) Can your television become an idol? In many cases, with many individuals and even whole families, evidently so.
An Indictment of Television Programming
The point I am about to make may may not be popular to at least a few people. But it’s a point that must be made because it’s my job as a pastor (even if only online) to highlight this for all who need to hear/read it. Let's review, shall we? Americans spend an average of 6 hours daily watching or streaming TV. Half of Americans admit they watch too much TV – the rest just don't realize it yet, or they are unwilling to face up to it. School age children watch nearly 1,700 minutes of TV weekly, while half of those kids would rather watch TV than spend time with their fathers. This fact in and of itself is a scathing indictment of American dads because it points to a lack of parenting.
TV Commercial Overkill
Elementary school kids see 8,000 acts of violence on TV by the time they move on to junior high school. By the time they finish high school that number jumps to a breathtaking 200,000. Is it any wonder there is so much violence and so many fatal shootings in our schools? Our children are being bombarded with violence nearly 24/7! At every turn all they see and feel is violence, inappropriate sexuality and a general disconnect from reality via the technology they're using that is very unhealthy. Moreover, one third of TV viewing consists of one commercial after another, while any given person watches 40 commercials for every hour of viewing.
Turn and Run From All Forms of Idolatry, Including TV or Gaming
So now you know the real, underlying reason the networks advertise their nearly-worthless products so much. They want to bombard you with a bunch of Chinese junk that none of us needs or wants, or cars and trucks with stratospheric price tags. Everybody has had just about enough of these abuses, and that includes myself. So please be cautious, everyone. Your TV may be your idol. You Christians spend an hour or two each week at church but you watch up to 6 hours of TV per day? All those who are doing this are collectively in idolatry. Repent of your sins, every one of you! Unsubscribe from your cable or satellite TV, and get a set of rabbit ears for the local news if you want. Stream what you want to watch over the Internet (it’s cheaper), and if you have children at home, block the TV on their phones so they can't watch it. If you parents really love your kids, you will be glad to do this for them.
Keep Yourselves From Being Polluted by the World
In closing, I will leave you with a quote from James chapter 1, verses 26-27: “If anyone considers himself religious and yet does not keep a tight rein on his tongue, he deceives himself and his religion is worthless. Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.” OK, so if we want to emulate the apostle James – who was martyred for his faith – and keep ourselves pure, we will have to make a choice. It’s either going to be devotion to Jesus or devotion to our televisions. The fact that we are spending at least 20 times more leisure time with our TV's than at church, even more if we count our prayer time, speaks volumes about where our hearts are.
It’s Time to Turn ‘em Off
So do yourselves and your souls a favor – turn off your TV and disconnect your cable or dish, pocket the savings each month, and use that time to find someone who needs help. Go volunteer somewhere. All you parents, start spending more time with your kids instead of using your televisions for babysitters. The kids will appreciate you for it, and their grades will get better in school if they know their parents really care. Mass entertainment does more harm than good. The novelty of television wore off decades ago. Nowadays it's just a nuisance. Better still, take your TV out to the back yard and shoot it.
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