Fifty years ago, television was inaugurated in North America at the New York World's Fair. Understandably hopes for the future with such an exciting invention soared. Would this easy and graphic means of communication not lead to better insights and higher truth? Well after fifty years, age has not brought more respect to television. As one Globe and Mail columnist put it (April 29, 1989), the TV is derided as the idiot box and the boob tube. Yet the average home has at least one and the hours spent in front of it stagger the imagination of those who prefer to do without. Studies and polls indicate that the average Canadian watches six to eight hours a day. ¹

This saturation of the minds of their countrymen has alarmed a whole array of secular psychologists, educators, and those concerned with long-term trends for it is clear to these sages that the vast majority of the offerings of the tube are not in the best interests of the viewers or of society collectively. TV stations, being what they are – business enterprises, are constantly trying to appeal to more and more viewers and so increase their ratings and profits. The result is a seemingly endless downward spiral of violence, sex and just plain garbage, leading some to call TV's offerings as “junk food for the mind.”² Since the lowest common denominator seems to be getting lower all the time, both morally and intellectually, there appear to be no limits as to how far TV will go to make their offerings “exciting.” What was once considered off limits or not in good taste for children and teens, is now openly shown on prime time television, or is readily available to virtually anyone in the ubiquitous video shops. ³

All this of course raises numerous questions about our own attitudes as Reformed people to this medium. The moulding power of the tube is enormous. The attitudes and morals of today's society are largely shaped by what it sees on TV. If it is alright for those on TV, it must be fine for us too. Often the influence is subtle, but nevertheless very potent. If what I've heard and read about the subject is true, (and I have no reason to doubt), then for example, the casualness with which authority is derided or marriage is trivialized in many so-called innocent entertainment programs has a moulding effect that should not be underestimated. The same goes for foul or blasphemous language, drunkenness, and violence that occur in many of these “family programs” that are often very popular with Christians because they seem so innocent. Are we as Reformed community immune to these influences? Absolutely not. Our natural heart is as inclined to sin as that of our unbelieving neighbour. “Bad company ruins good morals” (1 Corinthians 15:33). For example, research in the Netherlands into the sexual activities of unmarried youth from the conservative Reformed Alliance in the state church (Gereformeerde Bond), our sister churches, and evangelical groups (De Evangelische Beweging) were devastating. The trends of the world were clearly discerned among those who officially consider themselves children of God.⁴ Similar negative and disturbing results were attained from a study of students in America. ⁵ Obviously everything cannot be blamed on TV alone. Yet, there is a justified consensus that television has certainly made its impact felt to the detriment of the morals of many young people who consider themselves Christian.

What must be our attitude or course of action? If we have not yet done so, we must first face up to the fact that in spite of some positive offerings on television, the vast majority of what appears on the screen is a conduit for the unholy influence of the spirits of this decadent age. Especially when impressionable children are still in the home, the question must be asked regularly and honestly, “Who is in charge? Do we control the tube or does it control us?” (cf. 1 Corinthians 6:12). This question is pressing when we consider that our children are also and in the first place God's children to whom the Lord has attached His glorious Name and given His promises. However, it is not just for our children that we should be concerned. Also older and old members of the body of Christ can become captivated to the seductive influences of this medium. But Christ calls us to be holy and separate from this world. He calls us not even to associate with the workers of darkness with their fornication, impurity, filthiness, silly talk or levity (all terms the apostle uses in Ephesians 5:3-7). “Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them” (v.11).

We are involved in a titanic struggle against principalities and powers and spiritual hosts of wickedness. For that we need the full armour of God. A key element in the weapons God gives us is His Word which is the sword of the Spirit (Ephesians 6:10-17). Is the time spent watching TV strengthening us for this life-and-death battle? Do we spend enough time pondering Sunday's sermons and studying the Scriptures on our own so that we feel confident enough to test the spirits whether they are from God? (cf. 1 John 4:1). How does the time spent absorbing secular material from the tube stack up against that spent preparing for Bible study, meditation, personal reading of Scripture and reading good solid Christian books, be they fiction or otherwise? What are our hearts full of? As Reformed confessors our future will be very bleak if we allow ourselves and our children to be influenced by the unholy spirits working through the tube. We are children of God and must be moulded after His image and not that of the world! It is through His Word and Spirit that God moulds us as His children and equips us to be a new creation.

There are undoubtedly good exceptions both in what is offered and in the edifying use that can be made of this medium. However, at age fifty, the offerings on TV are not getting any better. If there was concern about TV years ago in our midst, there should be all the more now. Due to its power to shape reality, the continuing negative development of what TV offers should be viewed with great concern. Years ago already Malcom Muggeridge, a life-long commentator on radio and television, decried television as a medium because it is not true to reality (which for Christians is the new reality in Christ) and remarked, “If you want to know my absolutely candid opinion, I think the best thing to do is not to look at television, and to that end, I have, as has been said, disposed of my set.”⁶ Coming from a veteran media man, such a remark cautions us to be too optimistic, especially about secular TV's potential for good. It also reminds us that doing without is a viable option.

It is through the Word that our God graciously equips us to be a new creation in Christ so that we can readily distinguish the new from the old and the clean from the unclean. In that Word He gives His norms to guide us through life, also regarding the question of the television set in what is steadily becoming a neo-pagan world. Some of those norms are listed for us in Philippians 4:8.

Whatever is true, whatever is honourable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is gracious, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.