Tuesday, September 24, 2013

January 7 - The Bachelor, right or wrong? (1/7/13)


January 7 - The Bachelor, right or wrong?



"The Bachelor," is there an answer here? I found out that Sean Lowe is the first openly Christian man to be on the television show, "The Bachelor." Wow, what is a Christian doing on a reality show? And what is the dilemma for us if we watch this show?  Is it ok for us to watch reality television? Do I enjoy watching a train wreck? And the answer is "no, of course not!"
Sean Lowe


As a Christian, this is a dilemma for me. I want to be transparent and get feed back from you, too. This topic is not an easy one. If you know me at all you know that I have very definite, favorite television shows. If you count football, there are many more. And trust me, sports are the ultimate reality television shows!

As Christians, we can take the self-righteous stance of condemning all reality television, and go a step further and condemn all television…period. If you are in that camp, you might want to stop reading here. I am not very "religious" in that way. I love some things a lot and certain parts of television I enjoy I a lot. That is a true confession about me. I used to accept that as a part of me that I was not proud of. But, I also like to think that I had discernment. (Don't we all?) We like to justify what we enjoy and perhaps condemn what someone else does. We are human, after all. So here are the reality television shows that I think have merit (just my opinion): 

Survivor (my all time favorite, never missed an episode!)

The Amazing Race (what's not to love about racing and competitions involving traveling around the world?)

Dancing with the Stars (so beautiful, talented and amazing)

American Idol (love the fresh youth with big dreams)

Top Chef (cooking and cut-throat competition…great combo...plus sharp knives)

The Bachelor (still believe in finding true love even after 14 failures)

Ok, I don't care for the weight loss ones. They truly break my heart when they wear those revealing clothes and suffer so much. And I despise those that have some Housewives of a city name… those are too full of screaming and hateful behaviors. I guess intervention programs are ok, but I don't have any time left for self-help shows. This is all I can do, period…. I do have a BSF lesson to complete! And grandkids to play with! And the Bible is the greatest self-help book I know!

Here is an idea: let's participate in these shows if you enjoy them, as entertainment. Think of them as glancing entertainment as we are "passing through" this world. How about that? Does every book we read have to be a Christian one? How about "Moby Dick"…. a Christian principle in there if we look hard. Or "The Help" where you can find Jesus on almost every page, even though it is mostly secular in nature. In other words, if we keep our hearts and minds full of God's Word, we can be in the world and not totally polluted by it. We can be alert for God's truths in this world. And embrace them wherever they can be found.

Surely my argument here is full of holes, but I do want to be honest, to be true to myself, to look at my own behaviors before condemning others around us. If a show, book, magazine or movie degrades the human spirit, then God would want us to condemn it. That is where we have to use discernment every time we watch. Be very careful for God's Word is powerful to convict us of the evil in anything of this world. And if we ask Him, He will do that. What do you think?

"Whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is fair, whatever is pure, whatever is acceptable, whatever is commendable, if there is anything of excellence and if there is anything praiseworthy - keep thinking of these things." Philippians 4:8

Pray: 
Lord Jesus, help us to get "real" with you and see the ultimate reality of life that happens when we encounter You. Guard our hearts and protect our minds from the evil in the world as we seek out the good parts. Help us not to judge each other, but allow You to be the judge of our own lives.
Amen

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