The Cake Is A Lie

A Matter of Much Concern: TV
"Be very careful, then, how you live--- not as unwise but wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil." Ephesians 5:15-16 (NIV)

Video games and TV, such phenomenal ways of Entertainment, but even more so, such valuable time wasters. It's amazing how many people can always find time for TV, and, mostly for younger ages, videogames. We get excited about new televisions with features we can't even count. We "need" the latest video games and games systems that keep coming every year. And many of us just have to watch the new TV shows and sitcoms.

        "I wonder if we realize how much television has changed our culture. We have an entire generation of children and young adults who choose TV (or computer and video games) almost exclusively over other after-school and evening activities, young people who have never been mentored in the life skill of how to find satisfying media alternatives and who seem to have all but forgotten how to interact with family and friends."

Most people, but not all, can relate with this everyday situation. Usually when people get bored, tired, depressed, etc., they can push a button or flick a switch.

"Let's face it. How often do we settle down in the evening and breeze through the channels until we find what appears to be a sufficiently entertaining program--regardless of the content or morals displayed?" Isn't there something else we can do  with our time instead of sitting in front of the TV looking for something, and almost anything, to watch? Isn't there something we can do besides playing video games? What many of us need to do is to learn how to manage our time wisely. This may not be easy at first, and sometimes unpleasant, but aren't there other things more important than TV and video games? Don't we have other priorities in life?

"At first, Americans appear to be busy - so busy that hardly another activity could be jammed into our schedules....However, the average family still finds time to tune in to the TV for fifty hours each week-- more than a normal workweek, or an average of more than three hours per person, per day." What have you ever accomplished playing a video game?  

Be cautious about what you watch when it comes to TV and video games. "While most of us complain about the increasing amount violence and immorality portrayed on television, we stay tuned nonetheless." As said before, TV isn't all bad.

"It is important to realize that the problems associated with the use of TV are not directly caused by the electronic invention itself." "While TV may be one of the least costly forms of entertainment in monetary terms, it is one of the most costly forms of entertainment choices in terms of opportunities lost." "All too often we forget that when we choose to watch TV, we are also choosing not to do something else."

"Think about all the centuries before 1950. People did not sit idly in their cottages or castles waiting for television images to appear. No, they filled their lives with activities and people. As the hours of viewing have multiplied, though, the time and attention left for people have vastly diminished. Too often we become guilty of child neglect, spouse neglect, friend neglect, and God neglect."

    Making better use of our time can be even more successful if we discern what's worth watching. Evaluate the shows you watch and try to find the positive and negative outlooks of each one. Even if you don't change your mind about them, still find appropriate times for them to be watched.

"Consider the evening dinner hour. It used to be a time for the family to 'connect'. But how often is this important portion of the day now accompanied by watching TV?  One observant writer has noted that, 'Once upon a time, television was a dessert, something couples shared after dinner, after daily chores, after talk time. But today...it has become the whole meal, and benumbed silence has replaced loving conversation.'  The cost of TV is high indeed!"

We cannot blame our TV-viewing habits on the television itself. We, as people, have become so accustomed to it that for some it's become their entire life and only activity. "A TV set does not require our full allegiance from the day that we bring it home. It doesn't yell across the room and sternly demand that we give it the majority of our free time. Its presence only suggests that we begin watching it. And we do!"

"We Christians have slowly fallen into the trap of indiscriminate, misuse of TV. Whether a bad habit or an actual addiction, we need help. The best first step that I can think of is to identify what God's Word says in relation to our TV-viewing habits.

   Haiku

Quotes are from the book How to Get the Best Out of TV Before It Gets the Best of You by Dale and Karen Mason.

*Editor’s note; ‘The Cake Is A Lie’ refers to the videogame "Portal". Google it.