Welcome! Hey, today I’m going to get dirty with a lesson that I had to learn…and continue to learn over, and over, and over. I don’t hear people talking about this, even though it’s a really big deal. So I’m gonna go there. I’m snatching the remote right out of your hand and clicking onto your TV to peek at – yup, you guessed it – your DVR!
So here’s the deal, your thoughts and attention are consumed by the things that you put into your mind. We are bombarded by media, ignorant people’s opinions, and advertisements – yet the majority of us only offset this input with an hour of church on Sunday mornings. How is a sermon supposed to win with those kinds of odds?! That’s just not fair. Crass humor, cursing, sexual impurity, or anything else along those lines is “mind poison” that will show back up in the way you joke, in the things you find interesting, or what you deem appropriate. That stuff doesn’t just vanish. Fortunately, the inverse is also true, fill your mind with uplifting, pure, and holy things and now those things become the fuel your mind gets to run on.
I want this to be super practical, so here’s a quick filter that I want you to go apply to the shows, websites, YouTube channels, and whatever else you spend time being entertained by. Here we go:
The filter: Content and Time
1- Content check. Let’s go back to Jr. High… WWJD? Is this something Jesus would watch? “Whoever claims to live in Him must walk as Jesus did” (1 John 2:6). Setting our hearts on things above is a way to stay anchored in the right place (Col 3:1-2) and to “rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips” (Col 3:8). To get rid of it from your lips, you need to start with getting rid of it from your head.
2- Time check. You’ve got one life and every single minute counts. Even if a show is harmless (we love cooking shows at my house!), it can still be harmful if it’s consuming time that should have been spent doing something creative or constructive. There’s a time and place for relaxation, but if it comes at the expense of family time or devotions then it’s selfish and wasteful (you read your Bible today right? RIGHT?). So unless you just had surgery or a baby – you should have improved yourself in some way before you plop down on the sofa for two hours of mindless tube.
Mindless TV is an influence, like it or not
That’s it. No sugar coating the reality of this. It’s hard to actually act and stick to it. This isn’t something you can do and then be done. Keeping track of the media you allow in your life is an ongoing job that takes focus – because things change and new shows come up. But you know what? It’s worth it. It will change who you are becoming for the better, and you know it!
Let’s end average choices in entertainment.
Let’s end average together.
Post by Ryan Hansen, author of EndAverage.com – When being average isn’t good enough we look to the Bible for lessons on getting to the next level in Faith, Relationships, Health, and Finances. You can connect with him and a whole league of imperfect people who are improving their lives on Facebook!
