WWJW - What Would Jesus Watch?

I may be one of the few who has never watched an episode of Duck Dynasty. If I had cable, I would, probably, at least check it out. Although if I had cable I might be too captivated with ESPN to ever switch the channels.

But that’s only if I could wrestle the remote away from my boys who would be glued to some absurd braincell-draining attempt at children’s programming on the Cartoon Network. What ever happened to Bugs Bunny or Tom and Jerry? Where did the Super Friends go? Or The Flintstones? Now that was some quality television right there.

Speaking of cable, why is it not yet possible to subscribe only to the channels you want to watch? I don’t need 250 choices. I don’t want 250 choices. Let me pick out the few that I would actually watch and forget the rest. I don’t want the junk that comes with it available in my house. There’s enough poison on the major networks already to make you sick. If it weren’t for March Madness and the NFL and occasional news reports and weather updates, I’d be ready to unplug my TV and drop it at the Courthouse parking lot.

So why is Duck Dynasty such a hit? Isn’t the show about a backwoods Louisiana redneck family with scruffy beards who like to hunt ducks? What’s the draw in that?

I’m told that the Robertson clan enjoys some good clean fun, eats together as a family and aren’t ashamed of their faith in Jesus. Wow! Maybe that’s such a radical departure from just about everything else in the media that viewers are compelled to see what’s going on. Who would have thought a show that doesn’t rely on sexual innuendos or immoral storylines, doesn’t glorify violence or feed an appetite for the perverse, and doesn’t mock Christianity or applaud wickedness could actually attract an audience?

Almost makes you long for the days of I Love Lucy and The Brady Bunch. 

I’m not telling you to take a baseball bat to your 55 inch Panasonic, but don’t you think it’s worth evaluating what kinds of stuff we put before our eyes and in our ears and into our minds? Isn’t it true that a man reaps what he sows? If you are planting filth and perversion and all kinds of wickedness into your mind by consuming the garbage available on TV and every other form of media, your life is going to produce trash.

And parents, if I may be so bold, let me urge you to shield your children from the refuse of the media world. They need you to set and enforce boundaries. You can’t feed them a diet of Pringles and Ding-Dongs and Coke and expect them to be healthy. Neither can you nourish them with the depravity that’s so prevalent in our culture. Be the parent. Set the example yourself, first, and guard their hearts from the waste piles of the world. It may not be easy. Expect a battle. But it’s one worth fighting and winning.

Christians, remember the popular WWJD question? Let me change out one letter and make it WWJW – What Would Jesus Watch? If you, as a child of God with the Spirit of Christ dwelling in you, would answer this before going to the movies, before surfing the internet, before turning on the TV, might it change your viewing habits? Or think on it this way. If Jesus were present in the flesh with you, sitting at your side as a friend, would you still watch the shows you watch? Or would you be ashamed at what you subjected His eyes to see? Oh, be careful little eyes what you see! For the Father up above is looking down in love, so be careful little eyes what you see.

Our church this week has been blessed in our revival services. God is changing hearts and lives for His glory. He’s convicting us of sin and leading us by His kindness to repentance. He’s compelling us by His love to seek Him and His righteousness. We need a revival of godliness. May God turn our eyes from worthless things to true worship.

In the meantime, I think I’ll start to grow a long, scruffy beard.