Growing up, I remember being one of the only kids in the neighborhood without a television.

“What in the world do you do,” was the common question my friends asked me.

Well, I played in the woods for hours, built forts, played basketball, rode bikes, and when home, I played with matchbox cars, pretended to be cowboys and Indians with my brothers, and read many books. That didn’t mean I never watched television. When at my friend’s houses, it was all I wanted to do and, curiously, never what they wanted to do. I remember my first introduction to Three Stooges, Andy Griffith, and other light-hearted shows. I loved them, but I was also drawn to the more infamous offerings my friends were interested in, such as MTV, BET, and many other shows that skirted moral boundaries and offered programming my parents would have been appalled to know I was occasionally watching.

While I snuck viewing sessions in at secular friends’ houses, we didn’t have a television because, as my pastor and church taught, there were dangers. We never heard phrases like “devil’s box,” nor did we hear vitriolic verbiage regarding those who owned them. We were admonished not to own them, and my parents followed the church’s guidelines. Guess what: we were none the worse for the restriction against television. I owe so much of my love for reading to the fact that, while many others were disconnected in front of a television, I was off, at a very young age, finding clues with Joe and Frank Hardy.

Fast-forward to the digital age. I am in my forties, a father of three children, and a church pastor, and I still do not own a television. Guess what? I avidly add to our entertainment standards at the church I pastor: no television.

The Response of New Converts

On this topic, every individual God has allowed us to win from the world has understood this standard of no television, and we have faced zero pushback or resistance to this desire, which I continue to promote avidly. I have never had anyone ask me for my definition of what television means, argue with me about “screens,” or get lost in the details of “well, what about television on iPhones, iPads, etc.”

Following teaching on principles that caution against various entertainment platforms, those new to the faith immediately cancel cable subscriptions and movie platforms such as Netflix, MAX, and Hulu, and significant shifts in how they approach internet use occur. A byproduct of this is that multiple flat screens disappear throughout the house, often from the living room. Not because the screen is wrong but simply because it no longer dominates their time and viewing.

The time spent viewing screens, especially for children, is time-controlled and limited to cute educational videos for little kids or gaming apps, music, or educational software for older kids that are appropriate. Although not mandatory, I vigorously promote that no child under 16 has a smartphone and aggressively recommend that no child under 16 (preferably 18) has social media. Our entertainment standard also touches on gaming (M-rated games are off-limit, and T-rated games must be measured with tremendous caution).

Other than a few natural issues, we have never faced resistance from those those new and growing in faith regarding these entertainment standards. Quite the opposite! We have navigated some problems with the internet, made adjustments, and added accountability, and God has been very good to us. However, not one time have we faced the question, “How can you preach against television if you have the internet?” I would like to address this argument.

The Irony of the Argument

From my viewpoint, the pushback against “no television” seldom comes from those new to faith or from first-generation saints. Instead, it seems to come from those who grew up in a “no television” household and/or faith community. Almost without exception, all the pushback that argues about “screens,” “iPhones,” and “Internet” comes from a segment of church culture that argues FOR television.

• “You can get it on your phone!”
• “Internet is far worse!”

These are just two drips of the larger drippings that attend the whole television conversation. And guess what! I wholeheartedly agree! The internet can be FAR WORSE than almost all that you find on most cable television. Yes, you can access cable television programming digitally on the iPhone! You can watch anything you want on your iPhone!

The argument, “Something is level 3 bad, so don’t take a stand against what is level 2 bad,” makes no sense. While I admit that consistency matters in this discussion, I have noticed that those who get lost in the minute details of arguments like this seem to want “more entertainment,” not less. If that is what you want, then do what you want. If that is how you wish to pastor, then pastor that way!  

Entertainment standards are very important to me, and I consistently preach from a position that touches on the internet, social media, screen time, gaming, and the ever-increasing rise of digital offerings. But just because other things are worse doesn’t mean I open the gate for something that isn’t “as bad.”

Honestly, the beautiful testimonies of these wonderful saints I pastor always expresses gratitude that they no longer watch what they used to watch and that television shows, sitcoms, and programs no longer dominate their lives. They all regret what their kids watched on television via flat screens or little iPad phones. They regret the games they had access to, the unfiltered and uncontrolled internet, the shows they loved on HBO, and the tirade of worldliness that bombarded their homes due to a failure to recognize the dangers across the spectrum of televised and digital offerings.

We will continue to consistently teach strong entertainment standards that moderate and regulate the internet and the various devices that have seemingly thrust their way into our lives. I do not police anyone, but I teach again and again that we must be careful to avoid the dangers that lurk at every corner of social media, the internet, and various other digital platforms. As an educated and state-licensed addiction counselor, I have traveled the country and have taught a myriad of workshops that have navigated Parenting in an Addictive Culture, warning through research, biblical principles, and addiction-related statistics about the pitfalls that face us.

So many devastating digital things bombard us. Social media is destroying us. The movie industry is becoming more and more aggressively sinful. Music has plummeted to new low levels of baselessness and immorality. Society as a whole is becoming alarmingly void of morality. But, just because all these things are true and evil doesn’t mean I will open the door to television, and before you argue with me on “what television is,” just remember that no one who has had television seems to have such an issue with understanding what that means, regardless of what screen or device it appears on.