Do you serve a 54 inch god?

[Gregory Thompson]

True, both computer use and TV use can be dangerous and lead us into sin. But the computer/internet does give us more control. Also, depending on how it is used, the computer and internet can be much more active where we are producing content. TV is almost 100% passive.

Depends. Sometimes having that extra element of control is related to motive oriented sins.

 

[Mark Corbett]

Depends. Sometimes having that extra element of control is related to motive oriented sins.

So true. For example, many people use the internet to look at inappropriate content. In my opinion, this is one of the biggest areas of sin plaguing today's generations. May God set His people free!

 

[Gregory Thompson]

So true. For example, many people use the internet to look at inappropriate content. In my opinion, this is one of the biggest areas of sin plaguing today's generations. May God set His people free!

Amen. At the same time, some people go online looking for an argument.

 

[Mark Corbett]

Amen. At the same time, some people go online looking for an argument.

Good video. Funny. And sometimes applicable to discussion forums!

May the Lord help us to speak and write in ways that actually help and build up His people. I always pray this way when posting, but that's not a guarentee that I myself always live up to that goal!

 

[Fish14]

Sure it's serious.

Here is something else a pastor once said:

Your god is what you most want to talk to others about. Whatever your most desired subject of conversation is--that subject you drift to speak of whenever you are free to speak of what you want--is your god.

I usually want to talk most about things that I am currently thinking. So should I always occupy my mind with God?

 

[RDKirk]

I usually want to talk most about things that I am currently thinking. So should I always occupy my mind with God?

So what particular thing do you most often think about?

 

[Mark Corbett]

I usually want to talk most about things that I am currently thinking. So should I always occupy my mind with God?

Amen!

NIV Philippians 4:8 Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable-- if anything is excellent or praiseworthy-- think about such things.

 

[Darkhorse]

My two "gods" got fried by lightning a couple of years ago - boo-hoo.

They were promptly replaced, and life goes on.

I almost never watch them - the kids do, but not too much.

 

[Fish14]

So what particular thing do you most often think about?

For example my hobbies. Do you think that is wrong?

 

[Mark Corbett]

My two "gods" got fried by lightning a couple of years ago - boo-hoo.

They were promptly replaced, and life goes on.

I almost never watch them - the kids do, but not too much.

Aren't you thankful that we serve the true God who controls lightning and cannot get fried by it!

NIV Psalm 18:12 Out of the brightness of his presence clouds advanced, with hailstones and bolts of lightning.

 

[Darkhorse]

Aren't you thankful that we serve the true God who controls lightning and cannot get fried by it!

NIV Psalm 18:12 Out of the brightness of his presence clouds advanced, with hailstones and bolts of lightning.

AMEN!

 

[Bible Highlighter]

Yes and no. Obviously the cartoon is not a realistic description of how people talk about TV. Nevertheless, it is meant to point to a real and serious problem.

For a more in depth, nuanced discussion of TV and whether Christians should watch it you might be interested in looking at this thread:

Should Christians Watch TV?

I have put away watching secular movies and TV shows. However, my alternative watching (which is not often) is Christian movies and educational programs. There are lots of good Christian movies out there that have a way of getting you to get more into the Word of God. Also, one can watch Christian Pastors on their TV through YouTube. A person can listen to an audio read along Bible like the Word of Promise on their TV. So it is not the TV itself that is an idol. Although, for many who are in the world or who are having a hard time letting go of secular movie watching can make secular TV watching an idol. The key is what is a person focusing on when they watch TV or turn on their computer? Even the internet can become an idol. Again, what is one focusing on? The internet is viewed through a type of TV screen. So if you watch Christian YouTube ministry videos on your computer, it is the same thing as doing so on a TV. The TV in itself is not evil. It is what one does with it. Is our focus on God with the TV and our computer/internet or is it on the things of this world and sinful things? Therein lies the difference. Granted, we should be out there. We should be getting our hands dirty in helping those who are less fortunate and in spreading the good news of Jesus face to face and in having fellowship with other like minded believers. But it is not wrong to have a TV.

 

[dqhall]

“I will pronounce my judgments on my people because of their wickedness in forsaking me, in burning incense to other gods and in worshiping what their hands have made.” – Jeremiah, speaking the Word of the Lord (Jeremiah 1:16 NIV)

“And the people bowed and prayed, to the neon god they made.” – Paul Simon, The Sound of Silence

“And you see and hear how this fellow Paul has convinced and led astray large numbers of people here in Ephesus and in practically the whole province of Asia. He says that gods made by human hands are no gods at all.” – Demetrius (Acts 19:26 NIV)

“Dear children, keep yourselves from idols.” – The Apostle John (1 John 5:21 NIV)

I have a TV remote control and the power to select the content I want. The screen does not have the power to turn itself on or off. Sometimes I liked the content, other times what I saw on TV upset me.

I was watching Joel Fuhrman on TV three days before a bladder stone operation. I believed what he was telling me and bought a Kindle version of one of his books. I lost weight, lowered my blood pressure, and eliminated my chronic uric acid kidney stones within a month. With more nutrition research my enlarged prostate shrank within a year without prescription medicine. I had to get the nudge from God to be watching PBS that day. TV may be a tool. It is not a god.

 

[Mark Corbett]

I have put away watching secular movies and TV shows. However, my alternative watching (which is not often) is Christian movies and educational programs. There are lots of good Christian movies out there that have a way of getting you to get more into the Word of God. Also, one can watch Christian Pastors on their TV through YouTube. A person can listen to an audio read along Bible like the Word of Promise on their TV.

I think you are a good example in this area. God bless you!

So it is not the TV itself that is an idol. Although, for many who are in the world or who are having a hard time letting go of secular movie watching can make secular TV watching an idol. The key is what is a person focusing on when they watch TV or turn on their computer? Even the internet can become an idol. Again, what is one focusing on? The internet is viewed through a type of TV screen. So if you watch Christian YouTube ministry videos on your computer, it is the same thing as doing so on a TV. The TV in itself is not evil. It is what one does with it. Is our focus on God with the TV and our computer/internet or is it on the things of this world and sinful things? Therein lies the difference.

I agree! TV itself is not automatically an idol. But my feeling is that for MANY people it does function like an idol and has a negative effect on their spiritual life.

Granted, we should be out there. We should be getting our hands dirty in helping those who are less fortunate and in spreading the good news of Jesus face to face and in having fellowship with other like minded believers. But it is not wrong to have a TV.

Great point. It can be tempting (for me, and for many people) to spend too much time on "good things" on the computer and not spend enough time in face-to-face ministry.

 

[RDKirk]

For example my hobbies. Do you think that is wrong?

Might be. Would you usually rather talk about your hobbies than talk about Jesus? If given an equal chance to talk about your hobbies or Jesus, which would you rather talk about?

Or to think about it another way, which are you more interested in learning more about?

What I think is wrong or right is irrelevant. Here is what I fail at: I know for a fact that I've never spent five minutes reading scripture without getting at least a "Hmmmm" out of it. In other words, reading scripture has never proven to be wasted time for me.

But I've spent many an hour in a television program and realized afterward that was an hour wasted that I'll never get back.

If I've never found scripture a waste of time, but I've frequently found television a waste of time, isn't it illogical that I'd turn on the television at all for entertainment rather than reading scripture? What an idiot I am. When am I going to get my mind transformed?

Consider your habits and judge for yourself: What are you really giving priority in your life, and how does Jesus rank among your priorities?

 

[Mark Corbett]

What I think is wrong or right is irrelevant. Here is what I fail at: I know for a fact that I've never spent five minutes reading scripture without getting at least a "Hmmmm" out of it. In other words, reading scripture has never proven to be wasted time for me.

But I've spent many an hour in a television program and realized afterward that was an hour wasted that I'll never get back.

Me, too!

Sadly, part of the reason I write about this is that many times in my life I can see that I wasted time watching junk. But I have NEVER felt that time reading the Bible was wasted.

 

[badatusernames]

I'd say for most people, television is just how people pass the time and get entertainment. It's how our culture shares news, and one way we tell stories visually. It's really no different than radio or print media like books and newspapers. If you don't like it, don't watch it. I fail to understand how it's somehow inherently more evil than anything that came before it like the radio or even books.

I've also never bought into the idea that idolatry has anything to do with how much time we spend in whatever activity versus God, but much more to do with intent and how we see what we do.

 

[badatusernames]

So, you're using a Paul Simon lyric to justify judging people for watching TV? What is wrong with watching TV? People need to pass the time somehow. If it wasn't TV, they would do something else. Listen to Paul Simon perhaps.

Before TV, it was the radio....

"In 1936, the music magazine the Gramophone reported that children had "developed the habit of dividing attention between the humdrum preparation of their school assignments and the compelling excitement of the loudspeaker" and described how the radio programs were disturbing the balance of their excitable minds."

Before the radio, it was newspapers...

"In the 18th century, when newspapers became more common, the French statesman Malesherbes railed against the fashion for getting news from the printed page, arguing that it socially isolated readers and detracted from the spiritually uplifting group practice of getting news from the pulpit."

Before newspapers, it was the printing press...

"A respected Swiss scientist, Conrad Gessner, might have been the first to raise the alarm about the effects of information overload. In a landmark book, he described how the modern world overwhelmed people with data and that this overabundance was both "confusing and harmful" to the mind. The media now echo his concerns with reports on the unprecedented risks of living in an "always on" digital environment. It's worth noting that Gessner, for his part, never once used e-mail and was completely ignorant about computers. That's not because he was a technophobe but because he died in 1565."

Before the printing press, it was writing itself...

"Socrates famously warned against writing because it would "create forgetfulness in the learners' souls, because they will not use their memories." He also advised that children can't distinguish fantasy from reality, so parents should only allow them to hear wholesome allegories and not "improper" tales, lest their development go astray."

 

[Saucy]

Before TV, it was the radio....

"In 1936, the music magazine the Gramophone reported that children had "developed the habit of dividing attention between the humdrum preparation of their school assignments and the compelling excitement of the loudspeaker" and described how the radio programs were disturbing the balance of their excitable minds."

Before the radio, it was newspapers...

"In the 18th century, when newspapers became more common, the French statesman Malesherbes railed against the fashion for getting news from the printed page, arguing that it socially isolated readers and detracted from the spiritually uplifting group practice of getting news from the pulpit."

Before newspapers, it was the printing press...

"A respected Swiss scientist, Conrad Gessner, might have been the first to raise the alarm about the effects of information overload. In a landmark book, he described how the modern world overwhelmed people with data and that this overabundance was both "confusing and harmful" to the mind. The media now echo his concerns with reports on the unprecedented risks of living in an "always on" digital environment. It's worth noting that Gessner, for his part, never once used e-mail and was completely ignorant about computers. That's not because he was a technophobe but because he died in 1565."

Before the printing press, it was writing itself...

"Socrates famously warned against writing because it would "create forgetfulness in the learners' souls, because they will not use their memories." He also advised that children can't distinguish fantasy from reality, so parents should only allow them to hear wholesome allegories and not "improper" tales, lest their development go astray."

Some Christians just feel the need to make boogeymen out of anything people enjoy. There was ALWAYS something people would do to pass the time.

 

[FireDragon76]

I think TV addiction is more of a Boomer thing. When they were growing up, TV was more like magic.

Now days I use my TV more like a media monitor. I'm more likely to watch a movie or listen to Pandora through it, than to want to wade through alot of commercials telling me how I can get my teeth or underwear whiter. But otherwise, my TV is off most of the time.

My dad just leaves his TV and receiver on all the time. It's sort of a waste of a plasma TV to have it burning in hours of commercials (to say nothing of the power bills).