The Real Cost of Entertainment

I’ve recently realized that there are a number of things that I allow into my life and my home that I’m not sure I want allowed there. They aren’t bad things, per se, but they are things that have the ridiculous potential to steer my life in a direction I’m not comfortable with.

They make me anxious, unhappy, and critical. They cause my view of life to be something other than what I believe to be healthy and godly.

I allow this – all of this – in the name of entertainment. That’s ridiculous.

I won’t elaborate on all of the things that the Lord is opening my eyes to, because I don’t want anyone to feel badly about them if they aren’t dangerous for you. One such thing, though, is a particular television show.

The King of Queens.

I don’t know if you’ve ever seen this show, or if you’ve ever even heard of it. It’s in syndication now, and being at home during the day affords me several opportunities to find it. At first glance, the show is fine. With the basic premise of a youngish couple living in Queens, New York with the wife’s father, it has a basic plot that isn’t dangerous at all.

The execution of the storyline, however, is quite dangerous for me. The wife is manipulative and demanding, and the husband is selfish and childish. They are both rude, prideful, and generally unpleasant. Their relationships with the wife’s father is sad, and his character is belligerent. Their friendships are self-serving, and their marriage is ungodly.

The show, though, is entertaining. It beats the silence which might otherwise fill my house, and I am to often willing to make that trade.

It was only recently that I realized that after watching the show, I am not the person I want to be. From just watching the unhappy lives of these three people, I become unhappy. I am quick to point out things in my own life that I don’t like, and I am unnecessarily critical of the people around me. I lean toward selfish in my own dealings with others, and I find myself unhappy without knowing why.

Once I realized that, I was nauseated. I willingly allowed that into my life and my home. I let myself veer from the path that is right for me just so that I would be entertained for a half an hour. I permitted things I wouldn’t tolerate in my own life to taint my thinking, and that is unacceptable.

There are others, but this is the one that has been burning my heart. I have promised myself that when something takes me toward a life I do not want, it must be banished. It isn’t an option. It is a necessity.