I have always been a little wary of the influence of television since high school. Not to get into any details, let's just say I saw disconnect between what was being reported and what was really occurring during an event where I grew up. This disconnect between truth and reality naturally leads to a disconnection between the people watching tv and the world they live in.
I have been reading a great book by Dr. David Wells that I will share more about when I am finished. I did want to share something that he said that really captured my attention concerning television. In essence, he said that viewers are not "buying" the programs they choose to watch, rather the networks are "selling" the viewers to the advertisers. This thought brought about two responses.
One, I was a little angry when I realized that was true. I am paying for the privilege of being "sold" to advertisers. It is bad enough to be treated like a commodity, but to turn around and pay for being treated that way is just nuts. I am not sure yet what to do about this little piece of information. I am very tempted to get rid of our television service, but I do enjoy my college football. On the other hand, I do watch very few commercials because I am a notorious "flipper" of channels during breaks.
The other response is less personal, but equally important. How have I been influenced by this consumer-driven, materialistic mentality that television (and other media) pour into my life? What about the church? The influence of this "advertising-driven" world we live in is subtle, so we may not even be aware of it. I'm afraid the church in America is so used to this influence that we are like a fish not realizing that he is always "wet" from the water he lives in.
I'm not sure what the answer is to address this issue. It will probably be a little easier when my wife and I get our child. We've already decided that we will greatly limit the amount of television we will allow into our child's life, and this decision will spill-over into our lives as well.
We must not fall into the trap of totally disengaging from interacting with our world. The Amish live a pious life, but they have zero influence in our world because they are disconnected from the world. How can we influence a world that disconnect from? Nor should we embrace everything the world has to offer. We've already seen what happens with that approach in most of our churches today. Completely embracing the culture leaves the church acting exactly the same as the world, with nothing to offer those who are lost and dying without Christ.
I do know this, what the church is doing now is not working. We need to return to following after Christ and living in a way that points others to the hope that is found in Him.
Thursday, October 22, 2009
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
God is not the Creator?
Sometimes, it is just hard not to totally reject anything that comes from someone who is in the academic community, especially after reading articles like the one found today in the Telegraph. A professor in the Netherlands has allegedly "discovered" that God God did not create the heavens and the earth, rather God just created the animals. Apparently, the earth was already here, God just separated the heavens and earth and created a few things.
One must be careful to understand what is at stake when a person sets out to deny the creation account. To assert that God did not create all that exists has two huge implications in our world. First, it denies who God is as revealed in Scripture. If a person can convince others that the creation account in the Bible is false, it diminishes God in the eyes of those who believe the lie. "If the Bible is untrue about God about creation, what else is the Bible lying about?" is one way to think of this issue. Additionally, if God didn't create the universe and all that is in it "then maybe He's not really in control of it now."
The other implication of denying God as creator is it lessens man's view of man. One must not look hard to see the results of devaluing people from being created in the image of God to man being an accidental result of monkeys evolving. Names like Hitler, Stalin, and Mao should remind us that to devalue mankind as anything less than created in God's image leads to death, destruction, and misery.
I would encourage you to read the article to see how people go through the mental gymnastics to ignore the Bible. You should know what you believe, and know why you believe what you believe.
One must be careful to understand what is at stake when a person sets out to deny the creation account. To assert that God did not create all that exists has two huge implications in our world. First, it denies who God is as revealed in Scripture. If a person can convince others that the creation account in the Bible is false, it diminishes God in the eyes of those who believe the lie. "If the Bible is untrue about God about creation, what else is the Bible lying about?" is one way to think of this issue. Additionally, if God didn't create the universe and all that is in it "then maybe He's not really in control of it now."
The other implication of denying God as creator is it lessens man's view of man. One must not look hard to see the results of devaluing people from being created in the image of God to man being an accidental result of monkeys evolving. Names like Hitler, Stalin, and Mao should remind us that to devalue mankind as anything less than created in God's image leads to death, destruction, and misery.
I would encourage you to read the article to see how people go through the mental gymnastics to ignore the Bible. You should know what you believe, and know why you believe what you believe.
Thursday, October 01, 2009
Suicide and Living Wills
There is a sad story in today's Telegraph of a young woman who committed suicide in the U.K.. What makes it all the more tragic is she drank poison, called an ambulance (because she didn't want to die alone), then handed the doctor a letter with instructions not to treat her. Guess what the doctors did? Nothing!
This story is disturbing on many levels. First, you have the young woman, who had a history of depression, feel so hopeless that she wanted to die. The church needs to be there telling her and others about the hope we have in Christ.
Next, what kind of doctors do they have in England? I know this is painting with a broad-brush, but this just seems like very disturbing behavior for a doctor. I would hope doctors have some sense that helping others is part of the reason for entering medicine, and the first order of business for a doctor is "do no harm." This woman could have easily been treated and survived, yet the doctors decided against treatment because of her living will directive. If a person is mentally distraught, how can they be of sound mind? The doctors should have exercised compassion and common sense, even if they faced possible prosecution.
Finally, it is distressing that a living will is used to help a person commit suicide. This is a terrible distortion to the process of making end-of-life decisions. Our world has become a place where life is too easily thrown aside.
As followers of Christ, we must be champions of life in this culture of death. We must have a solid understanding of who we are in light of God's creation. Twice in Genesis, God declares that a man's life has worth and value because we are created in God's image. We dishonor ourselves and we dishonor God when we make life so cheap as to throw it away because of depression or to "honor" a piece of paper rather than to honor life.
This story is disturbing on many levels. First, you have the young woman, who had a history of depression, feel so hopeless that she wanted to die. The church needs to be there telling her and others about the hope we have in Christ.
Next, what kind of doctors do they have in England? I know this is painting with a broad-brush, but this just seems like very disturbing behavior for a doctor. I would hope doctors have some sense that helping others is part of the reason for entering medicine, and the first order of business for a doctor is "do no harm." This woman could have easily been treated and survived, yet the doctors decided against treatment because of her living will directive. If a person is mentally distraught, how can they be of sound mind? The doctors should have exercised compassion and common sense, even if they faced possible prosecution.
Finally, it is distressing that a living will is used to help a person commit suicide. This is a terrible distortion to the process of making end-of-life decisions. Our world has become a place where life is too easily thrown aside.
As followers of Christ, we must be champions of life in this culture of death. We must have a solid understanding of who we are in light of God's creation. Twice in Genesis, God declares that a man's life has worth and value because we are created in God's image. We dishonor ourselves and we dishonor God when we make life so cheap as to throw it away because of depression or to "honor" a piece of paper rather than to honor life.
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