Whatever

The Lord worke me up at 3 am to write this. By that I don’t mean that an angel of the Lord descended and physically woke me up or that a loud voice in the night commanded me to get out of bed. Nothing so awesome as that. I woke up, couldn’t go back to sleep, and had the outline for this post swirling around in my head. I knew my spirit would not settle back down until I got up and wrote these things, so here I am. 

I am starting this post with a disclaimer, not because I am worried about you being mad at me, but because I want you to read this whole post and understand my heart behind it. 

One of my pastors says that there are two things people don’t want to be preached to about: how to raise their kids and what to watch on TV. 

I’m about to talk about both. 

But, my disclaimer is this: I am not telling you what you have to do. I am not telling you what I think you should do. I am not telling you specifically what shows to watch or not. 

I am writing this so you can begin to ask yourself these questions:

As a Christian, is the media I am consuming glorifying the Lord? 

Is the media I am allowing my children to consume growing them stronger in the Lord? 

What am I allowing in my home? 

These are decisions only you can make with your spouse and should never be made because someone else tells you to do it. These decisions need to come from a conviction by the Spirit and a longing for purity in your home. 

I’m just here to open your eyes to a couple things. 

Growing up my parents were pretty strict about what we watched on TV.

Popular shows my friends enjoyed were a no go for me. We also weren’t allowed to dress up as anything “scary” for Halloween or watch scary movies. I wasn’t allowed to listen to any secular music until I was into double digits.  I would be made fun of from time to time because my friends got to do things my parents didn’t allow, and that made me weird. 

I vowed I would never treat my children the same way. My children would get to grow up and do whatever they wanted. 

And then I grew up and ate my words. I became my parents x10. 

I get why they wanted to protect me from certain things and now I am on their level and then some.

While I grew up in a Christian home, it wasn’t a very spiritual one. My parents came from a pretty “religious” background. Rules and appearances were important in their culture and church. My childhood pastor condemned lots of things from the pulpit with little explanation.

To me all the rules about what to watch or wear or do were just stupid rules that made no sense. 

My parents did give me reasoning, but without my understanding of the spiritual side of it, it didn’t make sense.

After finding Jesus for myself and realizing EVERYTHING has a spiritual connection, I couldn't look at things the same way anymore.

The first time I gave up a TV show I really loved for Jesus was before I even had kids. 

I love mystery and crime dramas. Law and Order: SVU was my favorite. Part of my reasoning was that I liked watching other sexual assault victims get justice, because I never had. 

However, the Lord began making me aware of some serious side effects to me watching that show. For one, I was binging episodes on Netflix and avoiding or neglecting responsibilities I had. Two, I was starting to have nightmares and become hyper aware and afraid of rape or assault in every single situation. Three, I started making my past traumas, my rape and assaults, my identity. By thinking about it every single day when watching these shows I was dwelling on my pain and not willing to let it go. 

I remember the MOMENT the Lord asked me to stop. I was doing dishes with my laptop set up in the kitchen watching an episode. The Lord gently whispered to me: I don’t want this for you.

I had previously been getting that feeling here or there, but this time I knew it in my spirit. I knew I needed to stop. I went back and forth and tried to justify reasons why I could keep watching it, but I knew what I had to do. 

I stopped the episode I was watching, turned it off, and never watched it again. 

It was a little hard to give up at first, but the benefits soon outweighed any pleasure I got from the show. My nightmares stopped and I was able to get healing from my trauma. 

From time to time my choices about what I consume make for some awkward conversations. The world doesn’t get it. When clients ask if I’ve watched the newest show or comedy special I honestly tell them. Usually, they don’t get my reasoning or know how to respond, but I am ok with it. 

The world doesn't get it. 

But YOU, you as a follower of Jesus, need to grasp this concept.

Everything may be permissible, but is it beneficial? 

When choosing what to consume I now ask myself the question: “is this whatever?” 

Paul writes in Philipians 4:8 

Whatever is true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent or praiseworthy, think about these things. 

Our minds are to be filled with good things. Holy things. We need to dwell and meditate on things that fit those adjectives mentioned above. If something doesn’t fit in that criteria, how is it growing and shaping you to be more like Jesus? 

I’m going to take it a step further and really shake things up:

Ready?

Here’s my bombshell:

We got rid of Disney in our home. 

It's an extremely controversial decision, even in Christian circles. 

We made that decision about a month before Disney came out with their most recent statement that caused Christians and conservatives alike to boycott them. 

It actually came about in a silly way, but my husband and I were both at peace with it. 

My 1 year-old threw our Roku remote in the bathtub, breaking it. 

We ordered a new remote, but it arrived broken as well. We took that as a sign that we should just get rid of Roku and with it Disney+ and our other subscriptions. 

My husband and I had stopped watching TV at night and instead going to bed earlier. It improved everything from our energy and general health to our sex life and intimacy with the LORD. 

However, we still let our older daughter watch about 1 hour of TV a day, and that was usually something on Disney. 

While we monitored what she watched, we were becoming more and more uneasy about the shows and movies Disney was putting out. Almost every show had attitudes or agendas that went against our beliefs, sometimes subtly, but more and more not so much. 

People didn’t understand when we explained  we “didn’t do Frozen” in our home. We discouraged even toys or clothing with it and I made our position known to friends and family that bought things for our daughters. 

There were many other movies that just didn’t line up, but we kept paying for Disney+ because there were things on there like the classics that I enjoyed, too. 

But was it really benefiting my daughter? Was it growing her in the right direction? 

I explained to her one day that we weren’t going to watch Disney anymore. She was slightly sad, but ok with that decision. I told her she could continue watching the VHS and DVDs she had, but no more Disney+. 

Fast forward a month when Disney came out with their admittance of their “new agenda” and I knew we had made the right decision. 

I saw some parents online throwing away or burning all their Disney memorabilia and toys. I didn’t take it that far, but it is something I discussed with my older daughter, and will continue to discuss with her. 

In the grocery store just a few days ago she asked to buy a bottle of Disney princess shampoo. Besides being cheap and not good for you, this was the first time I got to say “no” to Disney since their decision. 

We had the following conversation:

“Well babe, mommy and daddy decided that we aren’t going to buy anything Disney anymore. Disney has been making some bad decisions and we don’t want to give them our money anymore, so lets pick something else!”

“Ok, but why are they making bad decisions?”

“Well babe, sometimes when people make a lot of money and get very greedy they make decisions that they think will bring them more money. And when people get famous they want to make decisions that they think will make people like them more, even if that decision is wrong”

“Why are they greedy?”

“Because they don’t know Jesus, babe”

She was satisfied with that answer and picked a different product from a slightly more moral company and we went about our day. 

It was a short, simple conversation, but effective in my eyes. 

We probably will have many like it again in the future and I welcome that.

I want her to question and know why we do things.  

She may not fully understand yet, but we are planting seeds. 

I may not have much influence or choice in what those around me say or do or believe, but I am responsible for my children and what media they consume. 

I am responsible for what comes into my home and what I leave at the door. That decision isn’t always easy, but time and time again I have seen blessing and prosperity from sacrifice and obedience to the Lord over my own desires. 

I’m not telling you what to do or how to raise your kids mama, but I am asking you:

Is what you are allowing in your home glorifying the Lord or distracting you from Him? 

I’ll let you honestly ask yourself that question and be the judge.