Chapter 4 Watch Television/"WHY DON'T YOU"

Deuteronomy 7:26 

26 Do not bring any detestable objects into your home, for then you will be destroyed, just like them. You must utterly detest such things, for they are set apart for destruction. 

Moses warned Israel against becoming ensnared by the idols of the defeated nations by desiring the silver or gold on them. We may think it's all right to be close to sin as long as we don't participate. "After all," we say, "I won't do anything wrong!" But being close can hurt us as we become attracted and finally given in. Avoid the snare of sin by first reigning in your desires. Then stay as far away from sin as you can.

Job 14:4 Who can bring purity out of an impure person? No one! 

Life is short and full of trouble, Job laments in his closing remarks to this first round of conversation. Sickness, loneliness, disappointment, and death cause Job to say that life is not fair. Even in his gloom, Job hoped for the resurrection of the dead. If this is true, then Job understood the one truth that could put his suffering in perspective. God's solution to believers who live in an unfair world is to guarantee life with him forever. No matter how unfair your present world seems, God offers the hope of being in his presence eternally. Have you accepted this offer?

Psalms 101:3 

3 I will refuse to look at anything vile and vulgar. I hate all who deal crookedly; I will have nothing to do with them. 

David may have written this psalm early in his reign as king as he set down the standards he wanted to follow. David knew that to lead a blameless life he would need God's help (101:2). We can lead blameless lives if we avoid (1) looking at wickedness ("I will refuse to look at anything vile and vulgar," 101:3), (2) evil thoughts ("perverse ideas," 101:4), (3) slander (101:5), and (4) pride (101:5). While avoiding these wrongs, we must also let God's Word show us the standards by which to live.

Isaiah 5:20 

20 What sorrow for those who say that evil is good and good is evil, that dark is light and light is dark, that bitter is sweet and sweet is bitter. 

When people see no distinction between good and evil, destruction soon follows. It is easy for people to say, "No one can decide for anyone else what is really right or wrong. "They may think getting drunk can't hurt them, extramarital sex isn't really wrong, or money doesn't control them. But when they make excuses for their actions, they break down the distinction between right and wrong. If people do not take God's Word, the Bible, as their standard, soon all moral choices become fuzzy. Without God, they are headed for a breakdown and much suffering.

Lamentations 3:51

51 My heart is breaking over the date of all the women of Jerusalem. 

At one point in his ministry, Jeremiah was thrown into an empty cistern, and he was left die in the mire at the bottom (Jeremiah 38:6-13). But God rescued him. Jeremiah used this experience as a picture of the nation sinking into sin. If they turned to God, he would rescue them.

Matthew 6:13

13 "And don't let us yield to temptation, but rescue us from the evil one."

Matthew 6:22-23

22 "Your eye is a lamp that provides light for your body. When your eye is good, your hole body is filled with light. 23 But when your eye is bad, your hole body is filled with darkness. And if the light you think you have is actually darkness, how deep that darkness is!

God sometimes allows us to be tested by temptation. As disciples, we should pray to be delivered from these trying times and for deliverance from Satan ("the evil one") and his deceit. All Christians struggle with temptation. Sometimes it is so subtle that we don't even realize what is happening to us. God has promised that he won't allow us to be tempted beyond what we can bear (1Corinthians 10:13). Ask God to help you recognize temptation and to give you strength to overcome it and choose God's way instead.

Spiritual vision is our capacity to see clearly what God wants us to do and to see the world from his point of view. But this spiritual insight can be easily clouded. Self-serving desires, interests, and goals block that vision. Serving God is the best way to restore it. A "good" eye is one that is fixed on God.

Romans 1:28-32 

28 Since they thought it foolish to acknowledge God, he abandoned them to their foolish thinking and let them do things that should never be done. 29 Their lives became full of every kind of wickedness, sin, greed, hate, envy, murder, quarreling, deception, malicious behavior, and gossip. 30 They are backstabbers, haters of God, insolent, proud, and boastful. They invent new ways of sinning, and they disobey their parents. 31 They refuse to understand, break their promises, are heartless, and have no mercy. 32 They know God's justice requires that those who do these things deserve to die, yet they do them anyway. Worse yet, they encourage others to do them, too.

God does not encourage us to fulfill all our desires (even normal ones). Those desires that violate His laws must be controlled. If you have these desires, you can and must resist acting upon them. Consciously avoid places or activities you know will kindle temptations. Don't underestimate the power of Satan to tempt you, or the potential for serious harm if you continue to yield to these temptations. Remember, God can and will forgive sexual sins just as He forgives other sins. Surrender yourself to God, asking him to show you the way out of sin and into the light of His freedom and His love. Prayer, Bible study, and loving support of Christians in a Bible-believing church can help you to gain strength to resist these powerful temptations.

How were these people aware that God's justice would require death? All human beings are created in God's image; thus, we have basic moral nature and conscience. This truth is understood beyond religious circles. Psychologists, for example, say that the rare person who has no conscience has a serious personality disorder that is extremely difficult to treat. Most people instinctively know when they do wrong but they may not care. Some people will even risk an early death for the freedom to indulge their desires now. "I know it's wrong, but I really want it," they say; or "I know it's dangerous, but it is worth the risk." For such people, part of the "fun" is going against God's law, the community's moral standards, common sense, or their own sense of right and wrong. But deep down inside they know that sin deserves the punishment of death.

1Thessalonians 5:22

22 Stay away from every kind of evil. 

Christians cannot avoid every kind of evil because we live in a sinful world. We can, however, make sure that we don't give evil a foothold by avoiding tempting situations and concentrating on obeying God.

Titus 2:12

12 And we are instructed to turn from godless living and sinful pleasures. We should live in this evil world with wisdom, righteousness, and devotion to God. 

Paul brings out two aspects of Christian living that must be stressed today. "We should live in this evil world... While we look coward with hope." Both aspects of living and looking forward are essential to our Christian sanity in this present evil age. The living is made bearable because we live for God seeking to build his Kingdom with whatever gifts he has given us. And it is that very Kingdom to which we are looking forward. As we live and look forward, we anticipate three great benefits of Christ's return: (1) Christ's personal presence we look forward to being with him. (2) Redemption from our sinful nature we long for the end of the battle with sin and our perfection in Christ. (3) Restoration of creation we anticipate the complete rule of grace when the image of God will be fully realized in people and when the created order will be restored.

1 John 2:15,16 

15 Do not love this world nor the things it offers you, for when you love the world, you do not have the love of the Father in you. 16 For the world offers only a craving for physical pleasure, a craving for everything we see, and pride in our achievements and possessions. These are not from the Father, but are from this world. 

Some people think that worldliness is limited to external behavior the people we associate with, the places we go, the activities we enjoy. Worldliness is also internal because it begins in the heart and is characterized by three attitudes: (1) craving for physical pleaser, preoccupation with gratifying physical desires; (2) craving for everything we see, coveting and accumulating things, bowing to the god of materialism; and (3) pride in our achievements and possessions, obsessions with one's status or importance. When the serpent tempted Eve (Genesis 3:6), he tempted her in these areas. Also, when the devil tempted Jesus in the wilderness, these were his three areas of attack (see Matthew 4:1-11). 

By contrast, God values self control, a spirit of generosity, and a commitment to humble service. It is possible to give the impression of avoiding worldly pleasure while still harboring worldly attitudes in one's heart. It is also possible, like Jesus, to love sinners and spend time with them while maintaing a commitment to the values of God's Kingdom. What values are most important to you? Do your actions reflect the world's values or God's values?

Now some of us do watch television or a movie. But if its going to take away all your time from God, and keep you from reading the Word, and going out and spreading the Word, and stop you from going to Church, or coming to church late because you were watching your favorite show, or keep you from praying an hour to two. Then you need to stop watching it.