Joe Joseph

You know, some days back, when I was reading the Word, I came upon this chapter in one of my favourite books (All of them are my favourites, but there are a few creme ala creme) Anyway on with it.... I came upon these verses in Romans chapter 1. It made me think for a minute that if what is said in these verses is true, then a whole bunch of Christians are in deep deep deep trouble. And then I read some stuff on a Christian website which said pretty much the same thing from the same set of verses.... So without much further ado I will get on with it’cos this is going to be a long long article.

Romans 1:29-32 “Being filled with all UNRIGHTEOUSNESS, FORNICATION, WICKEDNESS, COVETOUSNESS, MALICIOUSNESS; FULL OF ENVY, MURDER DEBATE, DECEIT, MALIGNITY; WHISPERERS, INVENTORS OF EVIL THINGS, DOSOBEDIENT TO PARENTS, WITHOUT UNDERSTANDING, COVENANT BREAKERS, WITHOUT NATURAL AFFECTION, IMPLACABLE UNMERCIFUL: Who knowing the judgement of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them.

Now what could I be talking about? Obviously, we are not committing any of the above sins but we somehow often willingly link ourselves with these sins by taking pleasure in them than do them. So, when do we have pleasure in them that do them, you have already guessed from the subject ............ yup its..... TELEVISION. (When 1 say TV., don’t think that theatre going is ok. heheh.) I refer to all forms of such etertainment like the circus, wrestling dramas etc etc..... So ALL people who spend their time idly watching all kinds of vain programs and films on Television and Theatres, BE WARNED THAT THIS IS AN ABOMINATION TO THE LORD AND THE BIBLE ITSELF SAYS THAT YOU ARE WORTHY OF DEATH.

The preamble was for those who wouldn’t want the details. I will elaborate further on the EVIL, that is the Television. But before that I would like to advise you that if you are addicted to the television (like I was)... then you MUST read the following and must acknowledge the sins you are indulging in and Repent. If you are going to read with an opposing mindframe, I suggest you don’t read further. You can save yourself the trouble and disregard all of it.

I will do a macroscopic and microscopic analysis on the subject. By Macroscopic I refer to what Television on the whole does to a Christian- it’s ill effects on the Christian Mind and Behavieral Patterns. And by Microscopic I refer to an intrinsic analysis on what the kind of sin we actually indugle in while watching TV. And how these are actually abomination to the Lord. In effect, I will take example of some programs and movies. (Just to illustrate.) The macroscopic analysis will be mostly for the regualr, addicted, viewer of the television and the regualr movie goer. The Microscopic analysis is for those who watch it once in a while and say “Oh, I just watch T.V. only for an hour. ItsOK. I am not affected by the things it shows. besides. I just watch only the harmless sitcoms. They are not evil”....So, fasten Your Seatbelts there is something for everybody.......

THE MACROSCOPIC ANALYSIS....
1) IDLENESS...... “The SLOTHFUL man saith, There is a lion in the way; lion is in the streets. As the door turneth upon its hinges, so doth the slothful upon his bed. The slothful hideth his hand in his bosom; It grieveth him to bring it again to his mouth. The SLUGGARD is wiser in his OWN conceit than seven men that can render a reason” Proverbs 26:13-16 “Go to the ant thou sluggard; consider her ways and be wise” Prov 6:6.

How many hours do we spend in front of the TV? Think ourselves and tell me if any worthy fruits had come out of the exercise? Isn’t it that we spend our time idly, watching foolish vanities? Of people making fools of themselves on screen? Grown up men and women prancing around and faking emotions over vanities and actually getting paid millions for it? (More on this In some time) Why should a Christian subject himself to such trivialities? Yup, it’s a perfect ploy by the devil. I know, when I used to be addicted to this idiot box, I used to push away my bible reading time towards bedtime and then stay up late nights watching all the silly programs (sitcoms were my favourite). And then eventually give a quick reading of the bible and go to sleep. Where is the relationship with Jesus if we are indulging in this vanity? When do we find time for Jesus admidst all the idleness? Hours of precious time that can be spent in prayer or reading the bible preaching is wasted in front of the TV. No wonder the devil gets easy access to our home and destroys us. If you spend hours in front of the TV and where all your problems are coming from, then BLINK, BLINK.....it is that stupid 24 inch cathod ray tube sitting majestically in your living room. How can you overcome the devil without prayer and worship? But how can you pray and worship if you are sitting in front of the TV? Remember that an idle mind is the devils workshop. Time spent in front of the TV, by watching all the stupid programs, you are giving your mind over to the devil. So there! You can choose.

IDOLATORY...... Some people have this notion that an idol is something carved out of a metal or wood and that which people bow down to. Sorry to break your imagery, but anything, and I mean ANYTHING that you give more importance than God is an idol. If you value your money, your parents, your friends, your house, your intellect......

ANYTHING.... more than Jesus, then it is an idol. Now compare how much time do you spend in front of the TV and how much time do you spend talking to Jesus? Or is it that the only time you talk to Him is when you rush to your worship meeting? If this is the case, then let me put you out of your misery and tell you that you are NOT Christian. You better be careful, real careful if you spend hours in watching TV without maintaining your relationship with Jesus. He is Lord. And He will come as a thief in the night catching everybody UNAWARES. Don’t think that you did a favour to God by ‘accepting’ Jesus. If you accept Jesus don’t think that you will be taken up at His coming. Be very AFRAID, VERY VERY AFRAID. Satan might tell you this fool is talking nonsense. But at the day of reckoning you will realise who the fool was. So, if you and your family spend your valuble time infront of the TV, then you should take the initiative to switch it off, and spend the time in prayer or in devotion, and in studying the word of God. You can decide whether the television is an idol in your house. No wonder the poets and singers called the T. V ‘the Neon God’. Look at how many people worship it. Don’t let yourself to be one of them.

IMAGINATIONS.......... “ Casting down IMAGINATIONS, and EVERY high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into CAPTIVITY EVERY THOUGHT to the obedience of Christ.”

This verse explicitly without any doubt states that we MUST bring into CAPTIVITY ALL of our thoughts. How then, if we sit and watch TV, are we bringing our thoughts to the obedience of Christ? Remember this is not an option which we can choose whether to follow or not. It is a COMMANDMENT. Also, imaginations must be cast down. Aren't everything on the programs mere imaginations? Vain ones which exalt itself against the Glory of God? There are no TV programs on secular channels which exalt God in His true glory. But rather, often blasphemes His names directly or indirectly. Each time we see and give our ears to people swearing by other gods etc, we are willingly enjoying blasphemy. Pretty dangerous, wouldn’t you agree? So that means, we as Christians ARE NOT allowed to indulge in them. Then why do we? Because the evil has tricked us into thinking that it is OK. Deception dosen’t stare you in the face as some think. It works subtly and we never know it. Its not that like the devil will come and give you a notice before he deceives you. But stupid as we often are, we satisfy ourself saying, “Oh, I am not really into that stuff they show. I am just watching it for entertainment” Hmm...... sounds fishy. Sounds like an excuse that you would use to continue it your SELF RIGHTEOUS SIN. You wouldn’t do that if you were a Christian, would you . Because if you are not interested, then why are you watching it? If you are watching it, that means you are willingly enjoying the stuff they show. I am sure nobody is making you watch the TV against your will, right? (I Hope Not atleast. Otherwise the kind of situation would be out of our control, what!) But Remember, the only thing we are supposed to do is to fear God and to keep his commandments. And He commands us not to watch TV (Implied in II corinthians 10:5 and other verses), so we simply should NOT watch TV. If you have any doubt, it is said clearly in Ecclesiastes 12:13 Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter, Fear God, and KEEP HIS COMMANDMENTS. This is the WHOLE DUTY OF MAN” You can go ahead and take risk and be rebellious. But then, I would say, rebellion is like witchcraft. And witchcraft entitles you to death. Put two and two together yourself.

DESENSITISATION......... Picture this(pun unintended), a man... looks bloodied and mangled(as if he just walked through a paper shredder)... walks into a building with a machine gun as big as him and blows away 30 people at one go. This could broadly summarise a lot of these “ACTION” movies. (More on this later). Or even war movies......... take saving private ryan for instance... the first fifteen minutes of gore and mutilation is so disgusting. Limbs and internal organs are shown strewn around and blood is all over the place. It's true that all these things happen in a war but when we sit in an air conditioned room to watch it on 70 mm then it is for nothing but entertainment. And what does it do? It desensitises us. All age groups watch these action movies. All these desensitises us to violence and think nothing of it. It is not too surprising then that we hear of kids killing others mindlessly. The present generation is increasingly made DE-sensitised to violence, values and morals. It's not just the action movies... even seemingly innocent cartoons like ‘Beavis and Butthead’ talks of sex and violence and gross misbehaviour as being ‘cool’. Its viewers upon repeated viewing start to think it’s ok. I heard that two kids tied a dynamite to a cat and let it blow after seeing it being done on Bavis and Butthead. Nowdays, a film is boring or unsual if it dosen’t have scenes of kissing or fondling. Or if a film has women in decent clothes, the movie would either be a period film or some art film. Why? Suppose even a few seconds of these scenes were shown during a film in the fifties or if such violence was portrayed or if clothing they show in the movies nowadays were worn by actresses then, what an uproar would be created by activists and parents and all kind of people. It would have been such a big issue. It took satan just a small spell of these many years to turn the people’s mind. How did it work? Slowly and steadily. One by one, all defenses of the people were broken. And now its all one sloppy mess. Just like the devil had intended. People can come around half naked on our screens and grandpa, grandma, mom, dad and kids of all ages will sit together and watch, and won’t bat an eyelid. And a silly man wearing torn clothes armed with a big machine gun will jumb through a glass door and kill all people in the vicinity and all grandpa will say is “please pass the ketchup”(no puns intended). All this is fine and dandy. It is expected and was predicted by the prophets that iniquity will abound in the last days. But what about the Christians? Why do they fit into all this? Weren't they warned strictly NOT to conform to the world? But how can they not if they fit into all this? But how can they not if they sit hooked in front of the TV? Desensitisation takes place naturally. It is now like a part and parcel of Christian life...

(To be continued)