Should Christians Watch TV?

BrotherD · Jun 14, 2019

Jason0047 said:
I take this to mean that it is talking about those sinful things that the Bible explicitly condemns (like idolatry, murder, hate, theft, etc.). Watching a TV is not sinful if one is watching Christian movies, or if they are watching something educational like a survival documentary for their next outdoor camping Bible study retreat. So I do not believe that this verse applies to TV watching. For again, people can easily sin with a computer or smartphone, or tablet because of inappropriate content. The risk is actually greater to sin more quickly with the touch of a button on a computer. So you cannot judge TV watching in general if you also use a computer because they are pretty much the same thing. They are both a screen that can access video content in the same way. A TV today can access the internet, and a computer can do the same thing. Some people watch TV shows on their smart phone at work, etc. So if you condemn TV watching, you have to condemn computers,

I agree with everything you stated, even the above quote. When the article said tv, i assume it means the program, but maybe i should have specified that, after all that is what i mean. I appreciate you for understanding, where i am coming from, and thank you for the above quote. God bless, you and have a great day.

BrotherD · Jun 14, 2019

Bipolargirl said:
What I was stating is that all television has some amount of sin in the shows.
Even Shakespeare had violence.
Even “Christian” programming has lying.
I understand not watching something that is inappropriate contentographic or extremely violent but where do you draw the line?
Even bible stories have people lying in them.
Even the Old Testament has sex in it.
Just some food for thought.

True, the bible glorifys God, i am ok with a Christian program that has our Lord as the main focus. It is a difference when you watch people sin and their is no mention of God or repentance or salvation.

BrotherD · Jun 14, 2019

Shadowprophet said:
I know I'm spotty with my attendance here in the forums, But don't think God measures us based upon just our actions alone, I feel that what is in our hearts, Our intentions matter. I don't feel like watching Tv would necessarily be a bad thing, Perhaps the kinds of media people watch could be bad. Revelations 1: 7 Behold, he comes with clouds; and every eye shall see him, and they also who pierced him: and all tribes of the earth shall wail because of him. Even so, Amen.

How shall every eye see him? I think Televised media is probably how, Television is like any other tool, the tool itself isn't the sin, IT's all in how you use it.

I agree, its mainly for the people who justify watching filth with no benefit. If said tv show glorified God at the end of it, then that would be okay.

Strong in Him · Jun 14, 2019

BrotherD said:
If you watch things that the Lord says to abstain from, Wouldn't that be disobeying a commandment from God?

But he doesn't say that we can't watch television. Trust me, Great British Bake Off is not forbidden by Scripture.

As @Bipolargirl says, even Biblical stories contain violence, sin and, shock horror, sex.
Abraham was commended by God for his faith; yet he got impatient waiting for God to fulfil his promise and slept with someone else. Later he tried to pass his wife off as his sister, to save his life - not much trust in God there. His son, Isaac, did exactly the same.
David was an adulterer, a murderer, couldn't control his family - his son raped his daughter - and once broke half of the 10 commandments in one go. Yet he was called a man after God's own heart. God made a covenant with David and kept that covenant, no matter how badly all his successors behaved.
Solomon is held up as a great, wealthy and very wise king - yet he had 700 wives and 300 mistresses.
When both Moses and Jesus were born, all babies and children under a certain age were killed. John the Baptist was murdered.
One of the disciples hung himself.
Maybe we shouldn't read Scripture either due to the amount of sex, violence and killing/war involved?

I get what you're saying, and I don't watch films that contain massive amounts of violence, and certainly not bad language. But every single person who has ever lived - with the exception of Jesus, of course - has sinned and been involved in sin.
Jesus ate and drank with tax collectors and sinners and spoke to a woman who had had 5 husbands and was living with a man. At no point did he say "what you are all doing is disgusting. I'm called to be holy; I want nothing to do with you." Christians who sit in a holy huddle are not doing any good to anyone.

ChristianGirl_96 · Jun 14, 2019

I have Netflix. That’s it only my children watch but I quietly come into the room from time to time to make sure it’s appropriate.

Tropical Wilds · Jun 14, 2019

I’m all about that streaming Bravo, man.

Christopher0121 · Jun 14, 2019

Unwholesome media is all around us. It's a constant war for our attention. I do believe that if it is possible, one is better off without a television.

Here's something I found interesting that our church circulated in a bulletin several years ago.

"The Stranger

A few months before I was born, my dad met a stranger who was new to our small Tennessee town. From the beginning, Dad was fascinated with this enchanting newcomer, and soon invited him to live with our family. The stranger was quickly accepted and was around to welcome me into the world a few months later.

As I grew up I never questioned his place in our family. In my young mind, each member had a special niche. My brother, Bill, five years my senior, was my example. Fran, my younger sister, gave me an opportunity to play 'big brother' and develop the art of teasing. My parents were complementary instructors-- Mom taught me to love the word of God, and Dad taught me to obey it.
But the stranger was our storyteller. He could weave the most fascinating tales. Adventures, mysteries and comedies were daily conversations. He could hold our whole family spell-bound for hours each evening.
If I wanted to know about politics, history, or science, he knew it all. He knew about the past, understood the present, and seemingly could predict the future. The pictures he could draw were so life like that I: would often laugh or cry as I watched.
He was Iike a friend to the whole family. He took Dad, Bill and me to our first major league baseball game. He was always encouraging us to see the movies and he even made arrangements to introduce us to several movie stars. My brother and I were deeply impressed by John Wayne in particular.
The stranger was an incessant talker. Dad didn' t seem to mind-but sometimes Mom would quietly get up-- while the rest of us were enthralled with one of his stories of faraway places-- go to her room, read her Bible and pray. I wonder now if she ever prayed that the stranger would leave.
You see, my dad ruled our household with certain moral convictions. But this stranger never felt obligation to honor them. Profanity, for example, was not allowed in our house-- not from us, from our friends, or adults. Our longtime visitor, however, used occasional four letter words that burned my ears and made Dad squirm. To my knowledge the stranger was never confronted. My dad was a teetotaler who didn't permit alcohol in his home - not even for cooking. But the stranger felt 1ike we needed exposure and enlightened us to other ways of life. He offered us beer and other alcoholic beverages often.
He made cigarettes look tasty, cigars manly, and pipes distinguished. He talked freely (probably too much too freely) about sex. His comments were sometimes blatant, sometimes sugestive, and generally embarrassing. I know now that my early concepts of the man-woman relationship were influenced by the stranger,
As I look back, I believe it was the grace of God that the stranger did not influence us more. Time after time he opposed the values of my parents. Yet he was seldom rebuked and never asked to leave.
More than thirty years have passed since the stranger moved in with the young family on Morningside Drive. He is not nearly so intriguing to my Dad as he was in those early years. But if I were to walk into my parents' den today, you would still see him sitting over in a corner, waiting for someone to listen to him talk and watch him draw his pictures.
His name? We always just called him TV."
-Told by Keith Currie "The Stranger"

YJM · Jun 14, 2019

TBH no we shouldn't have a TV.

Funny last night my wife and I were discussing this very thing.

We have a TV and spend far too much time watching it.

The thing that never has left me - when I was into Satanism I remember reading an article by Anton Lavey in which he said that "Satan's golden altar sits in the corner of every home" and that the goal was that every house has a TV.

So I agree brother - if we were truly set apart for God we'd run a hundred miles from it.

Der Alte · Jun 14, 2019

There was no TV during much of my childhood. I did not even see a TV until I was 9 and that was in a kitchen window at a friend's house. We sat outside in the carport and watched Howdy Doody, Cecil the seasick sea serpent etc. in black and white on a screen about the size of a small tablet. My parents did not own a TV until I was 11. I did not own a TV until I was 20, it was used and I often had to pull tubes, check them and buy new ones. And I did not own a color TV until I was 29.
But radio got the same bad press that TV is getting in this thread. And movies were the work of Satan himself. It seems that every new technology that comes along is "evil."
If TV or movies or anything else is "evil" to someone, then it is evil for that person. But that does not mean that person has the right to force their opinion on anyone else.

BrotherD · Jun 14, 2019

Der Alter said:
There was no TV during much of my childhood. I did not even see a TV until I was 9 and that was in a kitchen window at a friend's house. We sat outside in the carport and watched Howdy Doody, Cecil the seasick sea serpent etc. in black and white on a screen about the size of a small tablet. My parents did not own a TV until I was 11. I did not own a TV until I was 20, it was used and I often had to pull tubes, check them and buy new ones. And I did not own a color TV until I was 29.
But radio got the same bad press that TV is getting in this thread. And movies were the work of Satan himself. It seems that every new technology that comes along is "evil."
If TV or movies or anything else is "evil" to someone, then it is evil for that person. But that does not mean that person has the right to force their opinion on anyone else.

If the tv gets more time then our Lord Jesus, then that is a problem. Scriptures state:

2 Timothy 2:4 KJV — No man that warreth entangleth himself with the affairs of this life; that he may please him who hath chosen him to be a soldier.

I just want my fellow brothers and sisters to love Christ as he loves us, to not let anything or anyone take his place. He has called us to be separate from the world.

Der Alte · Jun 14, 2019

BrotherD said:
If the tv gets more time then our Lord Jesus, then that is a problem. Scriptures state:
2 Timothy 2:4 KJV — No man that warreth entangleth himself with the affairs of this life; that he may please him who hath chosen him to be a soldier.
I just want my fellow brothers and sisters to love Christ as he loves us, to not let anything or anyone take his place. He has called us to be separate from the world.

Note your first word "If." The OP appeared to condemn all TV watching.

Romans 14:4 Who are you to judge someone else's servant? To their own master, servants stand or fall. And they will stand, for the Lord is able to make them stand.

I watch TV but I know that I spend more time doing God's work than watching.

IAM815518 · Jun 14, 2019

BrotherD said:
I got this from this website
Jesus-is-Lord.com
I agree with everything written

Christian, do you have a television in your home?

You do? Why?

If Jesus came back tonight, do you think He would be happy to find His army staring glassy-eyed at some flesh-pleasing trash being pumped out of Hollywood into the minds of His soldiers?

Have you ever stopped to think about that thing that you stare at night after night, day after day, year after year?

Did you spend more time on your television today than you did on your knees or reading your Bible?

You did? Why?

Do you allow your children to sit hour after hour, day after day, year after year in front of a boob tube?

Why?

Would you invite Satan to come into your home, sit down in your living room, talk, tell jokes, show evil pictures for hour after hour to your wife and children? Would you invite a sex pervert into your living room to brag to your family about his or her "alternate lifestyle"? Would you let a drug-pusher come into your home and give everyone in your household a drug that would dull their mind, make you forget God, make you feel nice and happy and stupid, day after day, year after year?

Isn't that what many Christians do [by watching mindless television]? Are you one of them?

If statistics are true (and every one knows they lie), then 97% of American homes have a television in them. Have you wondered why that is so? Does your preacher ever mention it?

I wonder why not.

What does God say about it?

In the second epistle of John, verses 9-11, we read:

9 Whosoever transgresseth, and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ, hath not God. He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ, he hath both the Father and the Son.
10 If there come any unto you, and bring not this doctrine, receive him not into your house, neither bid him God speed:
11 For he that biddeth him God speed is partaker of his evil deeds.

The Word of God tells us to not invite someone into our house who abideth not in the doctrine of Christ.

Do the people on your tv screen abide in the doctrine of Christ?

Do you think that those actors and producers out in Hollywood love the Lord and abide in His doctrines? Maybe you think so. I don't. Friend, you don't have to be in Hollywood long to realize what kind of a place it is. I lived there once years ago, and I don't think it has probably changed much. It's not the kind of environment you want to bring into your living room everyday. In fact, those Hollywood people who pump out their programs into your household hate the Lord and despise His doctrines and blasphemously mock Him. Should ANYONE give ear to their programs? Millions do -- Christians among them! Why is this?

Do you think that the sponsors of television programs tell you the truth in their advertising? You don't? Then why do you sit there listening to LIES?

The Law of God tells us that we should not covet. Now what do you suppose is the purpose of ALL advertising you see on tv? Is it to encourage you to a simpler lifestyle? Is it to make you content with the things that God has blessed you with? Does it make you want to sell ALL and follow the Lord with a whole heart?

Remember the sin of Achan. He brought destruction on his entire household by coveting a goodly Babylonish garment (Joshua 7:21).

Psalm 101:3 says:
I will set no wicked thing before mine eyes: I hate the work of them that turn aside; it shall not cleave to me.

Is your tv a "good thing"? Do you think that if the Lord Jesus were here on earth today, He would sit and watch the things you watch?

In 2 Corinthians 6:17, the Bible says:
Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you...

Friend, are you being separate when you sit in front of your tv? Do you think that the shows you watch on tv are "clean" by any Biblical definition?

Walk down your street sometime at twilight. Look at the houses you see along the way. What is that glowing thing in the living room of house after house of Christian and non-Christian alike? Who are these zombies transfixed by staring into its flickering glare?

"Well, what about Christian programming?" I hear you say.

Well, what about it? Is it really Christian? Is it necessary? Is it for you?

"Well, I know someone who was saved by watching a Christian program." Well, fine. Now that they're saved, there's no reason to go on watching it, right? The Lord has better things for them to do from that point on than to sit and gape stupidly at their television set any more.

"Well, what about the news? How am I supposed to know what's going on in the world if I don't watch the 6 o'clock news?" you say.

Friend, do you really think that the 20 minutes of non-advertisement time in the 6 o'clock news is pure and objective? Are the values of CBS, NBC, CNN, ABC YOUR values? Do they honor God? It seems to me that these networks, in their news presentations, are among those who call evil good, and good, evil. They are very powerful in shaping people's attitudes, Christians and non-Christians alike. You need to be very wise to withstand them. There have been dramatic changes in people's attitudes toward sin in the past few decades. A lot of this has come from constantly breathing the poisonous atmosphere of television.

Friend, God tells us in His Book, that we should "redeem the time." I think that has a special application to this time in which we live and our television watching. Get into your King James Bible, get down on your knees in prayer, lift up your hands in Holy praise, don't waste your time and the Lord's time glued hour after hour to your tv.

...Television is like any addiction -- once you go for a few weeks without watching it, you'll soon forget all about it -- it's really the easiest of all addictions to break, which is all the more remarkable considering how many people are snared by it.

Friend, I ask you to examine your attitude toward tv watching. Go to the Lord and ask Him what you should do about it. Listen carefully to His answer, and then if He tells you to unplug it and hide it in your closet, then DO IT! If He tells you to take it out to the dumpster, then DO IT! If He tells you to warn your friends and co-workers and fellow-church members about it, then DO IT, but not until you have resolved this important issue in your own life first.

God wants us to lead pure and holy lives. "But thou, O man of God, flee these things; and follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, meekness." (I Timothy 6:11.)

And may the Lord richly bless you

Thank you so much BrotherD!!! I really needed this! The scriptures you referenced were so edifying. I’m not a cable or satellite tv user, but instead use other sites (YouTube, HULU, Crunchyroll, Netflix) to get my ‘entertainment’. But for a while I’ve felt like a zombie, and although it seemed harmless I was spending more time on these apps instead of in God’s word. It didn’t feel right. Now I want to come alive and cast my ‘zombie lifestyle’ far away from me.

Jesus died so that we could have life abundantly, and I want to LIVE!

Anyway ... thanks so much kind sir, and may God bless you tremendously for writing such an awesome post!

TechyinAZ · Jun 14, 2019

@Jason0047 I mean legalism in the meaning that rules are followed for the sake of the rules themselves, instead of what they should be, which is, to help and assist us in always being and doing Godly good things.

And I'm not saying we are the love the things in the world, all things that the world loves that is bad is sin (because obviously if the world loves a Godly principle, which they most often do, what are we going to now hate that principle because the world loves it?). Of course we are not to love sin, which is how I see it. If a worldly tv show shows Godly principles and no sin, it is okay and fine to watch.

If they do show sin, then it's a balancing act of how much should we tolerate. I hate using that word, tolerate, because we shouldn't tolerate it at all, but I mean in ignoring it when we see it basically. (For example, do we throw out a whole movie with a great and edifying storyline if there's a single cuss word and no other sin issues??) (But don't get me wrong, I don't tolerate tons of sin in a movie at all. I'm after the perfect balance.... that's all.)

And my definition of edification is learning and thinking about things that are good, and only things that are good are Godly. Which is how I can see worldly TV shows being edifying. (If i got that definition wrong, please call me out.)

This is how I interpret the scripture verses you have shared with me.

Yekcidmij · Jun 14, 2019

BrotherD said:
I got this from this website
Jesus-is-Lord.com
I agree with everything written

Christian, do you have a television in your home?

Who watches TV these days? Isn't everyone on their phones or computers watching stuff on demand?

BTW, weren't you on a computer staring at a screen as you posted that?

Yekcidmij · Jun 14, 2019

IAM815518 said:
Thank you so much BrotherD!!! I really needed this! The scriptures you referenced were so edifying. I’m not a cable or satellite tv user, but instead use other sites (YouTube, HULU, Crunchyroll, Netflix) to get my ‘entertainment’. But for a while I’ve felt like a zombie, and although it seemed harmless I was spending more time on these apps instead of in God’s word. It didn’t feel right. Now I want to come alive and cast my ‘zombie lifestyle’ far away from me.

Sounds like that was a problem of self control, not a problem watching "TV", YouTube, Hulu, etc.. per se.

GraceBro · Jun 14, 2019

BrotherD said:
There is no bondage, but if you want the filth in this world to permeate throughout your house then by all means go ahead.

Joshua 24:15 KJV — And if it seem evil unto you to serve the LORD, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.

I don't recommend it, but i wouldn't condemn you if you do. I know what scripture says about evil: 1 Thessalonians 5:22 KJV — Abstain from all appearance of evil.

Don't mistake my desire not to be put under someone's law as me encouraging someone to engage in "filth." The goal of the Christian life is not to stop sinning, but to trust God. When you do that sin will diminish in a person's life as a byproduct. The more you put yourself under the law, any law, the more sin will increase in your life (1 Corinthians 15:56).

BrotherD · Jun 15, 2019

Der Alter said:
Note your first word "If." The OP appeared to condemn all TV watching.

Romans 14:4 Who are you to judge someone else's servant? To their own master, servants stand or fall. And they will stand, for the Lord is able to make them stand.
I watch TV but I know that I spend more time doing God's work than watching.

Do the shows you waych edify you?

ED'IFY, v.t. [L. oedifico; oedes, a house, and facio, to make.]
1. To build, in a literal sense. [Not now used.]
2. To instruct and improve the mind in knowledge generally,and particularly in moral and religious knowledge, in faith and holiness.
Edify one another. 1 Thess.5.
3. To teach or persuade. [Not used.]

BrotherD · Jun 15, 2019

Yekcidmij said:
Who watches TV these days? Isn't everyone on their phones or computers watching stuff on demand?

BTW, weren't you on a computer staring at a screen as you posted that?

Yep, but i don't let my eyes behold sin while i look at it. Trust me it took some time to get away from the tv, and i had to filter my YouTube like crazy, especially the home screen with all the suggestions.

Der Alte · Jun 15, 2019

BrotherD said:
Do the shows you waych edify you?
ED'IFY, v.t. [L. oedifico; oedes, a house, and facio, to make.]
1. To build, in a literal sense. [Not now used.]
2. To instruct and improve the mind in knowledge generally,and particularly in moral and religious knowledge, in faith and holiness.
Edify one another. 1 Thess.5.
3. To teach or persuade. [Not used.]

When did this become your business?

BrotherD · Jun 15, 2019

Der Alter said:
When did this become your business?

Your right, its not. Have a good day.

Should Christians Watch TV?

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