Published 11/25/19
By Greg Johnson
What If...
It’s Saturday night and Mom and Dad are out on a date. That’s right, we’ve hired a sitter and left you and your little sister home. We don’t do this very often, but when we do, we always seem to look forward to it.
The sitter says she wants to take your little sister across the street to the playground for a while and asks if you want to come.
“No, there’s a TV show on I’d like to watch. I’ll be OK by myself. Mom’s left me home for an hour at a time. If you’re just across the street, I’ll be OK. I’ll even let the phone ring until the machine picks it up.”
“OK, that sounds fine,” the sitter replies. “We’ll probably be an hour or so.”
After they’re gone, you grab the TV remote and park yourself on the couch. It’s not often you just get to lie around and watch whatever you want.
Instead of checking the TV Guide Channel, you just start at channel two and work your way up. There are a few things on that look good, but you want to go through all 895 channels before you decide on a show. When you get to the top you keep going. Normally, that’s when the picture looks all scrambled because those channels are pay-TV. But when you get to channel 896, the picture is clean. Hmmmm, you think. What’s this?
As the movie continues to play, you recognize it as one of those R-rated movies a few friends from school were talking about a long time ago. It’s got a lot of swearing in it, but it also has a lot of comedy. Checking the TV Guide Channel again, you read that Cinemax is having a free weekend to try to sign up subscribers. Your attention goes back to the TV where you see a man and a woman kissing in a bathtub.
Questions to Think On
• You’re faced with a choice at this point to change the channel or keep watching. What would you do and why?
• We can’t monitor everything you look at your whole life. Eventually, you’re going to be making all of your own decisions. How are you going to know what’s good and what isn’t?
• Have you talked about the viewing guidelines with Mom and Dad? If not, do so now.
• Mom and Dad: Explain why it’s so important not to pump a lot of violent or sexual stuff into your brain.
What Does God Have to Say?
I will set before my eyes no vile thing. The deeds of faithless men I hate; they will not cling to me. Men of perverse heart shall be far from me; I will have nothing to do with evil.
Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness. But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil. Hebrews 5:13-14
Teach me knowledge and good judgment, for I believe in your commands. Psalm 119:66
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