With Memorial Day not too far behind us, Flag Day approaching and Independence Day already on the minds of Americans young and old, I was thinking about the importance of having role models. I am certainly grateful for the sacrifices made on my behalf by courageous servicemen and women in years past and still today. They deserve our honor and respect.
Role models will always be important but it also made me think of how easily role models can become idols. Which explains the play on words for this blog post. The show "American Idol" spells it out pretty plainly: our country spends an inordinate amount of time on the promotion and marketing of idols. Not the statue kind, but the flesh and blood kind that get put on a pedestal as superhuman or larger than life.
I have actually only seen a handful of episodes of "American Idol" because for most of our children's growing up years, we did not have network television. (Admit it, you may have had a stabbing reaction of pity for my children. Maybe wondered if I was completely sane or attribute it to being a weird homeschooler.) As counter-cultural as choosing to avoid television may seem, I have to say, it was a much bigger blessing than I ever expected.
The year we first pulled the plug was when we had at least four kids and I remember one particular Christmas where the daily, almost hourly mantra was a request to watch a Christmas episode of some kind (all the PBS kids shows had Christms specials), or a Christmas program in the evening, or a request to watch one of our many Christmas videotapes (ah, the glory days of VHS) several times in between. I'd finally had enough and we went cold turkey without television for 4 months. The first week was a little hard (probably more on mom because it revealed to me how much I had used television to fill hours in the day) but after that first week, it was like my children were transformed!
My kids were elementary age so they could get their school done fairly quickly and then they had hours in which they let their imaginations soar in a number of ways:
- built amazing Lego creations (#1 favorite toy of all times in our house)
- play-acted with their Playmobil sets (#2 favorite toy of the Stanish kids)
- immersed themselves in exciting books (not sure if we have more books or Legos)
- enjoyed a number of books that were read out loud as a family
- donned dress-up clothes and acted out the stories they had heard
And the fractious, whiny episodes that had been so typical of our days were drastically reduced. The sibling squabbles minimized and overall they were much more pleasant and content. Seeing their marked improvement in behavior demonstrated the grip that we had allowed media to have in their life and made it easier to continue on that path.
After that four months, we did occasionally watch a movie as a family, but we never returned to the frenzy of daily TV viewing. And then when televisions all went digital, we somehow never could find an antennae that actually gave us reception (sorry, not sorry). Not having network television cut down on a fair amount of idols that my kids could have started to worship.
They weren't seeing commercials for inappropriate movies or television shows. They weren't targeted by marketers for brand name clothing, unhealthy snacks, expensive gadgets and toys. Those were some of the most wonderful years because my children didn't develop an appetite for all the trappings that America in all its "First World" wonder offers.
During their growing up years, we also limited time on computer games (this was before streaming and internet gaming took over). Back when games were on discs (and it was not multi-player with strangers online), our kids were given 1 hour per week (you read that correctly, 60 minutes every 7 days) and that was only after they had completed their school for the week and changed their sheets and put away their laundry (such cruel parents we were!).
I admit that when my older ones reached high school, those guidelines were relaxed (a decision I now regret as it tended to isolate them from family activities). In today's world, now the battle is against cell phones and trying to manage and tame its ubiquitous nature. I am so glad that I do not have elementary age children in this age of technology because the stakes are much greater and the pressure almost unbearable for every child to own a cell phone. And all I can think of when I see phones in the hands of children is how much like a stick of dynamite that gadget is. A danger that an adult paid for and handed them.
Parents, I want you to consider how media and technology have become idols in our lives. We have become a culture that feels naked without the comfort of a cell phone (or an apple watch) within reach. Culture has become one large guinea pig of experimentation as we have learned to regulate our day by the dings and rings of a gadget that fits inside the palm of our hand. We have traded human interaction and the sound of human voice, for superficial interaction on social media or quick texts we send off in rapid succession.
And we wonder why we are tired, frazzled, discontented? If we added up the amount of time we looked at or communicated with our cell phone, how would that compare to the amount of time we commit to spending with God? Is the Lord and His Word as readily at hand as our cell phone? Yes, the Bible is most likely on hand through an app on our phone. But are we as in tune to the "notifications" of the Holy Spirit as we are to our phone? Do we hear the "ding" of the Lord reminding us to pray for someone or to show a kindness to someone? Do our thoughts turn to the Lord as often as our eyes turn to our phones?
The concept behind the show "American Idol" has always made me uncomfortable as we celebrate the idea of making people an idol. It's not that the notion of idols is novel. Musicians and actors have long been in the business of selling their image through posters and merchandise in the hopes of becoming an idol to American teens. When my kids were younger there was Hannah Montana and Justin Beiber to name a couple. But what sadly happened was that often those idols were quickly tarnished. Whether it was societal pressure to perform or peer pressure to fall into temptation, it would seem that anyone who aspires to become an idol (whether through American Idol, YouTube or now TikTok), are painting a target on their chest.
It's interesting how timeless the Ten Commandments really are. And the first one hits us right between the eyes: we should have no other Gods before the Lord Himself. When God created us in His image, we were created to worship. It is in our very nature to worship but the object of worship is intended to be God. Reading the Old Testament, we can find ourselves dismissing those ancient people as backward and ignorant--crafting idols out of gold and bowing down to them. And we can feel so superior and enlightened. After all, we aren't creating golden calves. No, just gold iPhones.
Prior to covid, when stadiums would be filled completely while churches were empty, who or what was the object of worship? When concerts sell out, while Bible Study attendance falls off, who is being worshiped? When images of the latest singer/actress/influencer are plastered on a teen's walls, who is being worshiped?
When we go to great lengths to excuse behavior that God has condemned, who are we really worshiping? I grieve over the idols that I have allowed into my own life and those of my children. And I grieve over the influences that distract, tempt, and encourage my children to worship anything other than the Lord Himself. Consider this summer how to put away the idols of entertainment and technology. Let's all try to find ways to create tech-free times and spaces where God's still small voice can still be heard.
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