Chapter 8. Children's ProgrammingIn 1955, Captain Kangaroo made its early morning television debut on CBS. Bob Keeshan starred as the Captain. He had previously been Clarabell the Clown on NBC's Howdy Doody children's program. There are some shows that I remember influencing me as a child and Captain Kangaroo was one of them. The Captain was loving, peaceful, kind and gentle. As was Mr. Rogers of Mr. Rogers Neighborhood. These are wonderful traits of God with which we can show the world. Today my daughter occasionally enjoys Clifford, the Big Red Dog and Maya and Miguel available on PBS. My wife and I find many good morals presented to the children in these few shows. It is heavenly to be able to say something nice about some of the children's programs. Although these shows don't outright mention Jesus Christ, they at least teach the children traits of God, like love and forgiveness that can eventually lead children to Christ. However, it is not by such behavior alone that mankind is saved, and we remind our daughter of this.However, the violent Saturday morning children's shows on commercial television, teach kids that if you have very thick armor and super powers or weapons, you can kill all the bad guys and live happily ever after. This isn't the way we overcome the world. In the Old Testament, the Bible tells us many stories of the children of God needing to conquer cities, promised to them by God. They almost always had immense divine help in order to conquer the city. We, too, need that same divine help to conquer all that blocks our way in this world and keeps us from our inheritance from God. The violent shows are all about self-sufficiency, not God-sufficiency. The children are taught to put on their worldly armor and draw their swords before charging like the men of the Light Brigade4 (the many who fought fruitlessly until their death in the Battle of Balaclava on October 25, 1854 in the Crimean War). We need God. Our children must learn about Him so that they'll grow up realizing Who their rock of salvation is, and safely build their homes on His foundation. In addition, we must remember that Jesus taught non-violence and invited us all to quit trying to save our lives, or we'd lose them. Rather, He exclaimed, we should lose our lives for His sake, and obtain eternal life. This is so foreign to our natural thinking and so few really try to practice it. No wonder modern Christianity has left a bad taste in the mouths of those who have chosen to reject it.
The violent Saturday morning children's cartoon shows teach that we should act crazy and clobber our enemies. They, then, entice the children to desire many wonderful toys (or candy, or cereal) in between the violence. Is it any wonder that our children have not got the concept that God is a very real help in our time of need? Is it any wonder that the children grow up truly believing the lie that we can take care of ourselves, and that we don't need God. Also, is it any wonder that they grow up desiring lots of things to make them happy? The underlying message of self-sufficiency can be devastating because it ultimately does lead to defeat. The underlying message of the sponsor is really what we must be concerned about. It teaches desire for things and that, inadvertently teaches that our happiness is only found in the acquisition of material goods. Is the TV going to teach the children the Christian values that are needed so that the children can grow up and have a foundation in Christ and be encouraged to actually follow Him as they live their lives? Do we really want to encourage them to sit in front of this one-eyed monster (as a kind of pseudo baby-sitter) while we do other things? In 1955, Gunsmoke debuts on CBS starring James Arness. It became the longest running western themed program. We love a good story (no matter what the time-period it takes place in). The characters the writers created were believable and credible as they quoted their lines. We got lost in the story every week, but every week our God was relegated to the background, while man's version of justice dominated the screen. Every week, instead of turning the other cheek, vengeance ruled. The bad guys almost always got what was coming to them by the end of the story and Hollywood's twisted version of moral truth became embedded in our hearts and minds. God's word does not say that we are to seek for and make the outlaws pay for their sins. It says we are to forgive—even as much as 70 times 7 times. I know that our justice system today is run on the same principle but, no matter how many times I read the Bible, Jesus still says we are to forgive. Do I mean even murderers, political tyrants, and hateful robbers are to be forgiven? Does Jesus really mean it when He says we should forgive? Did He forgive the murderous Saul who became the Apostle Paul and wrote most of the New Testament? He sure did. And, in the process, Paul became of great value to God. Is this an unusual case? It need not be. When we forgive others (and most of us don't have to deal with those who have committed murder) we show them Christ's love AND we die to self (because our pride finds it very distasteful to forgive). It is repulsive to our flesh because everything we stand for rests on our pride. We are able to hold our heads high, as we march through our lives, and it is great to have people looking up to us. When our self-created handles we use to hold onto our lives are threatened, though, we feel we must protect all we have created of ourselves, and lash out at anyone who does not respect us. Jesus never said that when you became a Christian, everyone would respect you. He said there would be tribulation. He said we must take up our cross and follow Him. When we let our pride rule, those who have not found Christ yet, are the losers. We push them away from us and our opportunities to show them the Gospel (the good news) is spoiled by our actions and unChrist-like words. Gunsmoke rarely, if ever, portrayed this underlying truth to its viewers. It was never about dying to self and the process of forgiving. It was about saving our way of life and eliminating anyone who threatened it. Why do we take Christ's commands so lightly? What is it about us that sees no value in the teachings of our Savior? The saints who have died by the hand of the tyrant, because they refused to stop worshipping Jesus Christ, are enjoying eternity with the Savior right now. We have to be deliberate in our attempt to come at our lives in a different way, with different belief systems from the world's. We have to step out on a limb and trust that we will be supported by our loving Savior, Jesus Christ, as we do what He said to do and follow His commands to love the unlovable and forgive those whom we feel should not be forgiven. Also in 1955, the $64,000 Question premiered in June on CBS, igniting a US game show craze. We are a people with enquiring minds—and we want to know! The game shows were designed to hold our attention because we are so interested in having knowledge about everything that's going on in this world. I don't mean what I'm about to say to sound pious or "holier-than-thou." I'm not a snob. I'm not holding my nose up in the air when I say this. It is just the truth. The foundation of this world, and all the withering vines that stem from it, is dying. There is nothing worth saving of it. We should never build our house on it because the foundation is false and it will cave in on us.
Mat 7:24 Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on a rock.The facts and the figures from the world will mean nothing in the long run. There are some things that must be memorized in order to pass our school requirements, but don't become bogged down by what the world thinks is important. There is only one thing we should build our houses on: Christ. There isn't anything going on in this world that is worth knowing EXCEPT Jesus Christ. Keep in mind the truth that was said about Him by Paul:
Interestingly, the following year another quiz show, Twenty-One, was started up and the producers of the show disregarded the concept of being straightforward with the audience. Behind the scenes, they coached the contestants on how to act uncertain as well as gave them the answers to the questions they wanted them to answer correctly. This caused quite a stir, leading to congressional hearings and sweeping changes in the quiz show business, later. But, as I said, though we remain fascinated by every single aspect of this world, consider that worshipping our world, by focusing our interest in it, to be just another game the world invites us to play in order to distract us from our interest in Christ, our Savior. We can't focus on God AND mammon (or God and the worldly things). It is impossible.
To tell the truth, sole interest in the world has really put us in jeopardy. The consequences of this truth include a sense that God has abandoned us here and we are lost and alone with no one to help us (not even the game show host, Satan). Satan has told us a lie about what to really believe, and we have chosen to believe him. Know the truth and be set free.
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