Desires and Distractions

A few days ago I wrote in my blog about television and the reasons for which my wife and I decided to do away with it. I stand behind those reasons fully but I desire to go deeper and examine the real reasons the entertainment industry can stifle our relationship with Christ. Let me begin by saying that this is a personal conviction but one that I think is widely shared among us. I am not saying that doing away with television is right for everyone but I am STRONGLY recommending that we each seriously contemplate and evaluate its status in our lives. With that said let us begin.
About a year and a half ago I took a trip to New Orleans for school. I had to go down and take some classes and the best (and cheapest) place to stay was on campus in the dorms. So myself and four other guys got a dorm room to stay in for the week. One night during the week my friends decided to go out and eat and spend some time seeing New Orleans. I elected to stay behind because I was quite fatigued and just wanted to turn in early. As I sat in this dorm room with no telephone or TV I found myself doing what was good and right to do. Reading and spending some much needed time with God. To this point in my life the most I had ever been able to read at one time was about thirty minutes and it was tough going. I had problems concentrating and comprehending what I was reading. I had even been to a doctor to see if there was something that I could take to help me concentrate and focus more. Well you can imagine my surprise when I looked up and saw that two hours had passed and I was not wanting to quit. I began to ask myself what was going on. How was it possible that I was able to sit for that long and read without having the slightest difficulty in comprehension. Then it hit me. There were no distractions. There was nothing there that was tugging at my heart to cause me to follow after it. It was just me and God and the book he had provided to change my life. I would love to say that the reality of that moment hit me so hard that I immediately removed my television from my life. I would love to say that my wife is the one that wanted it and that is why we kept it for another year and a half. Neither are true. The truth is that when I arrived home I still desired to entertain myself with television. I did not at that time see God as more valuable. In fact at that time I had no idea that that was wrong. I felt convicted to remove tv but rationalized and justified my way into keeping it. That was not the end for God in this discussion. In the past year and a half He has being showing me more and more that anything that we desire more than Him is an idol. But truth be told in our mind we say that I don't desire anything over God because I don't want to be and idolator and lets face it, I don't have any statues in my house that I worship. Well for me that was not the case. I did not have any statues but I had plenty of things that caused me to not long after God. So here is a good test for determining what we desire more than God. 1. Do you have a daily time with God? If not then ask yourself why. What is in my life that is more valuable than spending time with the most valuable being that exists? What is keeping me from drinking the living water? What has so temporarily filled me that the perfect God is not appetizing? 2. If I am having a daily time with God or any time with God for that matter, what draws me away from that time with Him? For example, for me it is entertainment. When I am spending time with God I feel a pull to go do other things such as watch a show I have been withing all week to see or play my xbox while my son is asleep. It is as if there were a hook in my heart that I have bitten down on and is now pulling me away. That is nothing short of and idol. There are also those times where I have thought things like this. " I know that right now is a good time to spend with God and I hear Him calling but I am just going to finish this show and then I will do it. At that point, whether you do it or not, your heart has been revealed. You have just seen that that show holds more value in your heart than Christ. These are the convictions of my heart.
The riddance of television is not the only answer however. The heart is quick to find some other dung hill to wallow in. That is exactly what I find myself doing even now. I no longer have television service but I find myself just popping in DVD's to entertain me and bring me pleasure. Is not God more valuable than that? Is my vision of God so minuscule that I can not find Him more desirable than a movie? The answer is yes. My vision of God is that small and that is to my detriment. God has given and sustained His word to reveal to me who He is and yet I find joy in learning of fictional characters for an hour and a half. I would rather get to know someone who does not exist than to know the Christ who made me. My desires are warped. This should not surprise us. The Bible tells us clearly about our desires in James chapter four. "What causes fights and quarrels among you? Is it not this, that your passions are at war within you? You desire and do not have so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. You do not have because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions. You adulterous people.!" Does it strike you as odd that James here calls us adulterous. Often we overlook that verse with this kind of thinking. "I have not committed adultery with anyone." That is a false statement. You may not have been an adulterer in a sexual relationship but we all are guilty of adultery in our relationship with Christ. John Piper said "Whatever lures your affections away from God with deceptive attraction will come back to strip you bare and cut you to pieces. It is a horrifying thing to use your God-given life to commit adultery against the Almighty." So the issue is not simply tv. I wish it were that easy. The issue lies much deeper than that. What do you find yourself enjoying more than you enjoy God? The answer to that question will lead you to the alter of worship to your god. Whatever you desire more than Jesus is indeed your god. We must ask ourself this tough question not just to feel convicted but so that we may repent. Let us see God as more valuable than the dung of this world. Let us fix our eyes on Christ not a screen. May our hearts be filled with joy at the thought of spending three hours with Him more than spending three hours in a movie theater or a football game. Let us be excited and overjoyed at the prospect of speaking with and hearing from the one whose voice created all we see. Let us draw near and know the God that formed us out of dirt and gave us life through Jesus. "Whom have I in Heaven but you? And there is nothing on earth I desire besides you." Psalm 73:25 Pray that I would desire Him more than anything and take pleasure in sitting at His feet and I will pray the same for you.
DAW