I’m just gonna say this. I hate trash TV. And let’s face it – stuff that falls in this category (for me at least) are shows like:
The Bachelor/Bachelorette – conveniently, starting back up tonight, Survivor, Big Brother, American Idol, Top Model, anything on MTV, a lot of things on Fox, blah blah blah, etc. You get the point. Usually, if it’s called “reality,” then i automatically turn it off. Except for Pawn Stars. I LOVE watching pawn stars. Kind of a mix between antiques roadshow and american chopper.
Anyway – the bachelor is on, and I have to configure my knees just right so my MAC sits and blocks most of the TV… but here’s what bugs me. This guy is going to send how many women home at the end of this night’s party? 8? 10? And he gets to base that on… wait for it… LOOKS! Wowzer. The epitome of what we’re dealing with in society and in the church. We’re (as a church) striving so hard to let the Gospel shine through – for the Gospel to be the truth – which tells us that we are whole, loved, true, and pursued by the Father, because of Christ – because of His beauty… and because of that, we are made beautiful.
But on one of the most “popular” reality shows – scores of women are “sent home” because of a first impression. How does this end up translating to church? To the masks we wear? To the pretense we try to live out? We start, continue, or intensify the thinking that our mask is how we are evaluated, that our appearance is how we’re defined. It ends up burying our truth, inflating our shame, and obscuring our view of true beauty.
The alternative – embracing Christ and the beauty that He gives to our lives.
I hate trash TV.
Better yet – the major networks think they're doing our kids a favor by bleeping out f-bombs and GD, but the content is becoming more scandalous and the female actresses are are showing more and more skin every year. ABC Family is the worst…”Family TV” – yeah, right.