by Dave Robinson
Watching the various Christian TV stations can seem so “diverse”, i.e. on one side you have the, so called, “Christian right” (the Pat Robertsons, John Hagees etc), who appear to speak oh so boldly on ‘issues’, then you have the Joel Olsteens who don’t want to offend anyone, so avoid using words like Sin or Repentance. You have others rallying like crusaders, against Islamic domination (yes, a real threat), but ignore the quiet machinations of Rome; you get the shouting Nigerian “man of got”, you have the back-combed, nice suit, “sow your seed” crew (aka “gis us yer money, or God will not bless you”). You get the well tempered Chuck Misslers and occasionally, we get to see the brilliant Graham Cooke. There’s champions on UCB, Revelation TV too. Wow, what a choice. We all have our favourites; we can hear what WE want to listen to, when WE want to listen to it. Or do we?
I remember once going in to ‘Waterstones’ book shop, to buy a couple of books. Next door was the rival bookshop ‘Dillons’ (since gone bust) I found the books I wanted in Waterstones, but thought, “I wonder if either of them are cheaper next door?” So I went to the rival book shop and found one of them cheaper, so I bought it there and then went back to the first shop and bought the other book. What a good deal, I thought That’s a healthy situation; it’s good to have choice.
I’m glad I got the books cheaply, but it dawned on me that there was no real choice! Later I discovered that Waterstones had bought out Dillons a long time previously. The same firm owned both shops. PC World, Currys and Dixons are owned by the same company; many newspapers with seemly different views, are all owned by Rupert Murdoch. Simon Cowell, although he pretends to, doesn’t care who wins X-Factor, as either way he makes his money. Is there a difference in the policies of Labour and Conservatives any more?
We all think we are exercising freedom of choice, but what if all the choices are provided by the same source. We can fall for an illusion that we are making a choice and exercising free expression.
When we watch Christian TV, good as a lot of it is, what seems like diversity, is rather tabloid.
As Christians we must test everything - even what I’m saying here. The Bereans were considered of noble character, by Paul. This was because they checked what he said, by comparing it to scripture, to see if what he said was true. Paul didn’t say, “How dare you, don’t you know who I am?” He commended them for this good practice, because he knew that sooner or later wolves would try to come in.
Please discern by The Holy Spirit, when watching “Christian” TV channels. Not cynically or overly suspiciously, but because we ‘love the truth’. Any bible teacher, worth their salt, would encourage this. We have our favourites on tv, eh? (One loves Paul, another Apollos, ha ha)
Sometimes new theories, Christianese buzzwords or phrases, get into our vocabulary and we accept them, without checking where it came from or if it contradicts God’s word in anyway. Just because it’s on the telly… Yes God is doing a new thing, but even if an angel comes to us with a different gospel let…
…well you know the scripture! - (I hope)
Before swallowing anything, chew it over… taste and see - if it’s good, receive and digest it, if it’s off, spit it out!
Keep honestly discerning and take care in 2010.
Watching the various Christian TV stations can seem so “diverse”, i.e. on one side you have the, so called, “Christian right” (the Pat Robertsons, John Hagees etc), who appear to speak oh so boldly on ‘issues’, then you have the Joel Olsteens who don’t want to offend anyone, so avoid using words like Sin or Repentance. You have others rallying like crusaders, against Islamic domination (yes, a real threat), but ignore the quiet machinations of Rome; you get the shouting Nigerian “man of got”, you have the back-combed, nice suit, “sow your seed” crew (aka “gis us yer money, or God will not bless you”). You get the well tempered Chuck Misslers and occasionally, we get to see the brilliant Graham Cooke. There’s champions on UCB, Revelation TV too. Wow, what a choice. We all have our favourites; we can hear what WE want to listen to, when WE want to listen to it. Or do we?
I remember once going in to ‘Waterstones’ book shop, to buy a couple of books. Next door was the rival bookshop ‘Dillons’ (since gone bust) I found the books I wanted in Waterstones, but thought, “I wonder if either of them are cheaper next door?” So I went to the rival book shop and found one of them cheaper, so I bought it there and then went back to the first shop and bought the other book. What a good deal, I thought That’s a healthy situation; it’s good to have choice.
I’m glad I got the books cheaply, but it dawned on me that there was no real choice! Later I discovered that Waterstones had bought out Dillons a long time previously. The same firm owned both shops. PC World, Currys and Dixons are owned by the same company; many newspapers with seemly different views, are all owned by Rupert Murdoch. Simon Cowell, although he pretends to, doesn’t care who wins X-Factor, as either way he makes his money. Is there a difference in the policies of Labour and Conservatives any more?
We all think we are exercising freedom of choice, but what if all the choices are provided by the same source. We can fall for an illusion that we are making a choice and exercising free expression.
When we watch Christian TV, good as a lot of it is, what seems like diversity, is rather tabloid.
As Christians we must test everything - even what I’m saying here. The Bereans were considered of noble character, by Paul. This was because they checked what he said, by comparing it to scripture, to see if what he said was true. Paul didn’t say, “How dare you, don’t you know who I am?” He commended them for this good practice, because he knew that sooner or later wolves would try to come in.
Please discern by The Holy Spirit, when watching “Christian” TV channels. Not cynically or overly suspiciously, but because we ‘love the truth’. Any bible teacher, worth their salt, would encourage this. We have our favourites on tv, eh? (One loves Paul, another Apollos, ha ha)
Sometimes new theories, Christianese buzzwords or phrases, get into our vocabulary and we accept them, without checking where it came from or if it contradicts God’s word in anyway. Just because it’s on the telly… Yes God is doing a new thing, but even if an angel comes to us with a different gospel let…
…well you know the scripture! - (I hope)
Before swallowing anything, chew it over… taste and see - if it’s good, receive and digest it, if it’s off, spit it out!
Keep honestly discerning and take care in 2010.