Giving up TV?

Hope you enjoy this article written by DANNY for our church's blog.  I know he won't mind you reading it too!

Giving up Television?

Every time our cable TV contract is about ready to expire, and the choice must be made to re-up our contract or not, there is always debate in our home. Not verbal debate, but mental debate. I begin to wonder: “Is this worth the money? We have 117 channels, but we really only watch 10 of them consistently. There is so much trash on TV, I should really get rid of it. But there is also so much I learn and enjoy from TV as well! What do I do?” And then I do what I have always done—bite the bullet and sign-on to another year of TV so I can debate it again next year.

 There’s been somewhat of a stirring in my Life Group recently concerning this topic, mostly amongst the men actually, which might surprise you. One family decided several months ago to put their TV in a box in the basement, and recently the husband/father told me, “We’ve had really great family times since we’ve made that decision.” While I respected that family greatly for that decision, and VERY BREIFLY considered trying it in our family too, I had all these conflicting voices in my head:

 “What would you do without ‘Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives’?”

“And what about all those On-Demand shows that your kids like to watch. Could your kids really survive without Curious George?”

And the loudest voice in my head was asking, “What about all those sports programs that you like to watch--could you really do without sports? Monday Night Football is only on ESPN Bub, and you can’t get that with rabbit ears.”

But then I had another conversation with a different husband/father in our Life Group. He came to Life Group one night all stoked that he was getting Direct TV, and was going to be able to watch any NFL game he wanted during the season. After I stopped drooling into my nachos, I tried to muster up as much happiness as I could for him without the envy showing. But then we had lunch together a few days later, and he said something that almost made me choke on my burrito while sitting outside of Chipotle: “I’m having second thoughts about this whole Direct TV thing.” His reasons centered around not wanting to be the “invisible dad” in his home, physically present, but not really there for his wife and kids. He had a couple days to decide until the installer was scheduled to come to his house, and I found out a couple weeks later that he decided AGAINST Direct TV, and he doesn’t have any cable either. And this is a guy who LOVES football, and now he can’t watch his beloved team on a regular basis.

“What would cause a guy to do that?”, was my first reaction. But now, surprisingly, I’m starting to catch the same “say no to TV” bug that my other brothers in Christ are catching. I don’t know all the reasons why my friends packed up their TV’s, but I’d like to share a quick synopsis of the reasons I AM seriously considering NOT renewing my Mediacom subscription when it runs out in a few months:

1.   1. I know that TV is a source of corrupting influence for MY OWN spiritual life. While there ARE some good, wholesome programs that are edifying, when I am honest with myself, I know those programs are few and the vast majority of shows (even previews!) cause my mind to go places I know it should not go. To a degree, TV has desensitized me to sin and pain while filling my mind with unreality (which is very ironic considering the number of “reality” TV shows that exist today).

2. 2. TV is a source of corrupting influence for MY FAMILY MEMBERS’ spiritual lives as well. I am learning, through God’s Word and Men’s Fraternity, that as the leader of our household, God has entrusted me with the responsibility to display righteous energy and fight for my family’s souls. I am the gatekeeper of what my family learns, and it is my job to shape the worldview of my children. I can’t afford to let TV shape the worldview of my children, because THAT worldview is ANYTHING BUT BIBLICAL.

 3. Watching TV is not the best use of the time God has given me. EVEN IF everything on TV was wholesome, watching it would still be a waste of time. There are so many people in this world who could tell you everything that is going on in the life of the most popular celebrity, but they don’t have a clue about their own life—i.e., they have no idea how much money is in their own bank account. If I spend all day away from my family while I’m at work, and then I spend several hours in the evening in front of the tube, I am wasting away that precious little time I have to instill the Kingdom of God into my kids.

I know most of you who read this will probably have 1,000 reasons why you shouldn’t pack up your TV either, just like I did initially. And I still have all those reasons in my head, by the way, as they certainly haven’t disappeared—the battle between the flesh and spirit rages inside of me just like anyone. But right now, God has brought me to the place where the 3 reasons stated above have taken precedence over Guy Fierri, Curious George, and the Dallas Cowboys. Will my resolve to give up TV be as strong tomorrow as it is today? I hope not. I pray it will be stronger, because I desperately need to feed the life I’m trying to live, and starve the life I’m trying to leave.