Should Christians throw out their TVs?

Hi there Larry!!!


Its funny you should post this, because my husband and I just recently put our tv away. We wanted the main focus of our family room to be our family and not our tv... So, our tv is in our office area.. Its actually really inconvenient to watch it now since we have an 8.5 mont old and with the desk and the couch and the tv in there, theres no room for him to play, but the tv is there, so for the occasional watch, we can get to it. Barry watches the news in the morning as he's getting dressed for work and thats about it. The last time I watched anything was on Christmas morning when we watched the Animaniacs Christmas video.

For us.. this was definately the best option.. Hands down. We dont see the tv as evil, but like anything else, it holds the ability to become unhealthy, and it had become very unhealthy for us. We were watching tv because it was there.. We were watching even if there was nothing to watch.

Now, we play with the baby and we talk to eachother and we listen to music instead and its much better.

I think its personally up to the individual to discern what they have to do. Some people HAVE to get rid of it. I had a dear friend, who was a Christian brother who had to completely get off the internet period because of a struggle with pornography.. Its been years, and he is back on the internet, but at that time in his life, he had to get rid of it so that he could get out of that struggle. He discerned rightly I believe.

Some people have no struggle with tv.. for some its a huge stumbling block. My sister in law really really struggled with shows. She woudlnt watch Will and Grace because of the homosexuals, but she would watch Friends, as if that was any better just because the people on that show were sinning sexually with the opposite sex.

I think tv, especially prime time, a lot of times messes with our ability to discern..

So we chose to put ours away, where it wouldnt be a distraction.

We are happier.

 

I think most families have replaced the television with the internet. Jude should do a poll and ask how many people have more than ONE computer in their home! We have 3!!!

Diane

 

We tossed our TV several years ago. It was a mutual decision between my wife, our daughter, and myself.

We do occassionally watch some TV at someone else's house, but not often. Once we got rid of ours, we began to notice the mind-numbing effect that it had on us by watching how people would become so engrossed that they did not even notice if you were talking to them.

We do rent a DVD now and then (about one every week and a half on average), but it is not so hot watching it on a computer screen .

Do we regret our decision? Not on your life! Was it because of legalism? Nope, we just felt led to do it. And you know what? We'd do it again!

In Christ,
Trotter

 

The TV is always on during the day. We watch the weather channel, HGTV, BBC and Court TV. At night we watch some TV, but nothing like during the day. It sure helps the time go by.

 

Ah yes, twas the dot at the end. Strange that just a little
dot at the end keeps the link from resolving.
Oh that our personal lifes were that easy
to get right. Strangely enough, TV is
NOT one of those little dots that mess one up.

From the time i got married to my first wife (1963)
until 1973 I didn't watch TV for religious reasons.
I was 20 in 1963 and 30 in 1973.

My daughter was born in 1969 so was 4 in 1973.
I was working as a school marm and so didn't really
have any time to be watching TV, but there was no
TV in the house, for religious reasons.

I had a son born in 1982 so he was four in 1986.
My daughter was then 13 to 17. There were multiple
TVs in the house, all of them on 24-7.

I wouldn't give you nickel for the difference.
All their personality differences seem to be
related to other factors, and not TV.
Both spend lots of time on the web yet both
"have a life" outside the web. Neither spends
a lot of time watching TV.

When my daughter went to see Grandmother, she would
watch her TV sometimes to the point
of ignoring Grandmother.

Now that i don't have children at home, my
second wife and i still have cable TVs
in every room and three computers (two
linked to cable Internet.

If you spend more time listening to a preacher preach
than you do to praying and Bible studying, then you probably
ought to cut back on your church attendance

 

Should you "throw out your t.v.?" Yes!

In the sense that television, cable direct, public or otherwise is the "channel" by which much engrossing and demoralizing media types are available, yes. But then any form of media that will offer demoralizing material should then be cast out.

The scripture to "set no wicked thing before thine eye" has the word "set" as the verb. This verb should be further defined beyond the simple definition as to place an object. To "set" also means to give special attention in order that the object is "set" to direct with fixed attention <set your mind to it>to appoint or assign to an office or duty,to fix as a distinguishing imprint, sign, or appearance <the years have set their mark on him> in this portion of the definition, the effects of what is viewed on t.v. is not always wicked, but when our thinking is effected by the propaganda dished out on the hell-a-vision/smell-a-vision, you have to reconsider why one might throw out the t.v.

Of course I can change the cahnnel! B7ut what about that more than half-naked adultrous that has been flashed before my eyes?

It all goes on with the brown spot on the apple ideal; would you eat the brown spot? Would you instead cut the brown spot off, or just throw away the entire apple? Depending upon the "food" available. Spiritually speaking, I would rather consume and be consumed by what I find in God's Word, but to make sure we have family time, I do mean quality family time, we have a monitor,(a television set that has no means of picking up outside signals beyond our control. We watch many forms of instruction videos, moral movies, (and that all with the "decusser" just in case, and it is needed).

When the thing "set" before your eyes interferes with normal activity, then throw it out, learn what life is all about and you'll see a definite change in the world around you.

You won't be filled as much with ungodly desires, you'll actually have a more indepth thinking ability, have more time to do those things that are productive instead of wasting your time and your mind.

As far as the internet, I use it solely for a means of study, achance to express what God has given me by His wisdom, and a means of communicating with family and friends that otherwise I would spend more money in stamps and letter writing matwerials, as well as long distance bills.

Brother Stacy Shiflett is in South Africa, a missionary, imagine what it would cost just to call and speak to him for just a few minutes.

Say what you will, but the more time I spend with my affections on things above (whoops! as commanded!), the more sweet communion I have with my Saviour. Not saying this with a judgemental spirit, but I know most who "defend" their right to t.v. are just a little more carnal than they would ever admit.

The addage "IF sinners entice thee, consent thou not" is considered, then I wouldn't "set" myself up for the t.v. to "entice" me. Maybe you're more "spiritual" than me, but then again you just may be deceived by your foolish pride. Consider, then "throw it out", at least unplug the antenna or cable connection. It's like cigarette smoking, see if you can do without it for a few days and notice the difference.

Don't answer this particular matter too quickly, you might end up looking more like a fool than you thought.

 

That's why I don't go to Walmart

 

For all us Wally Worldites, please explain.

I don't like patronizing the "Mega-monster", but I do like the atmosphere and a achance to witness for my Lord and to buy things on clearance.

 

Hello. I have seen this discussion come up on other discussion boards in the past, and as I think about it right now, I keep coming back to the opinion that it is all about choices that we make, each and every day. Throwing the television away or removing our computers will not make us better people. It can help. But we can use the computer for good or bad. The same with television. Some good ministries that do not believe in television or anything of its kind, perhaps lack getting the Good Word of God out. You see, the television can be a good tool to evangelize.
I also think of many years ago, when I was a student at a hospital and manor. I saw a man that had been lying there for 8 years, a very young man of 48 years, from a stroke.
If I had any say today, I would have put a television right infront of him. I would not have left a person there laying there conscious day in day out with nothing to occupy him. I believe that a television would have helped him, especially to recover.
It is a long story.

It is all about the choices we make, good or bad.
The tools or appliances or whatever can all be used for the good, if we desire it.

Throwing it away can be also good if it robs us or is a temptation that we can't seem to get away from. But for others, watching Charles Stanley or Billy Graham can be life changing.

 

I totally agree. Television and computers can be used for good and proper education. It is a matter of choices and discretion. Parents need to supervise and control their use by their children.

My granddaughter is a freshmen in college. Recently one of her class projects was to review a sitcom and write about the changing gender codes. She called for help. "Grandma, I don't have time to watch sitcoms. Can you help me? Actually, I couldn't because I don't watch them either...She finally picked "Boy Meets World" or something like that she had watched at one time. Her parents had always limited the time that their children watched television.

If we let television or anything consume our time to the point that we neglect our families and our devotion and duty to our Lord God, then it does become wrong.

It is a matter of choice!

 

"It's a matter of choice." (from the previous post)

I agree.

Joshua 24:15 And if it seem evil unto you to serve the LORD, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.

You are all right, it's a matter of choice; and I am NOT going to serve the "god" of Hellywood and I don't much care for "Disney" either.

It's all a matter of how close to the line you want to walk, but then you should consider how close Pharoah and his armies are to the line as well.

Life's all about choices.

 

Hmm, what is the difference in terms of sin and temptation between the TV and the computer terminal connected to the internet?


HankD

 

I'd have to say, and I don't mean to be so quick to speak, preventing others, but then control over those two media types has the upper hand.

I chose Walmart Connect over the expensive ISP's because the spam is not there, but that must be because I don't visit questionable sites that my e-mail address is open for the slim sharks.

 

I guess you never worked at Wally World.

 

I guess you never worked at Wally World. </font>[/QUOTE]I have a friend who worked there and know his story. I can understand what he's said about WM, but I still don't know what you mean.

 

Read the post before mine, about the smoker who stops smoking and then see the difference. Walmart drove me crazy, I stopped working there and now I see the difference.

 

Gotcha!

 

A lot of people have thrown out their televisions only to replace them with large screen televisions.

I believe there is more trash on the internet than on TV. Last I heard there were over one million pornographic websites.

Where we live there are only two local stations and I have not gotten cable TV. My daughter has asked us to get cable. So one day I asked her which would she rather have cable or books. She said, "Books." Just yesterday we went to Borders. Borders and Barnes and Noble are the places we go ,ost often other than the grocery store. The price of boks is a cheap price to pay for entertainment. Perhaps you do know that the average household spends more on entertainment than they do on the education of their children.

Sometime take a look at the average Christian's home and look at how much they spend on good books to help them understand the most important bok there is. I see it all the time when I talk about books and somebosy will ask how much they cost. They will buy a nice car and home and forfeit their education.

The average person really doesn't know how to read. They simply have developed word recognition. The average person has not been taught to read but to recognize wordsa and hopefully put them together to get a thought.