Studio 60, desensitization, and revolution

My mom is really incredible to us. One of the ways she ministers to us is by recording shows to DVD and sending them over to us every now and then. We get a stack of DVDs that last us a little while so that we can get our entertainment fix and keep up with American pop culture (sometimes scary huh?).

One of the latest shows that we've gotten into is Studio 60. It's a comedy/drama'ish show about the inner workings of a SNL-type sketch-based show on a major American network ("NBS"). If you're reading from the states you surely know the show. If you're elsewhere in the world (without a DVD-recording mom) then you're likely clueless.

Didn't want to give a promo for the show today. Rather, I wanted to talk about one of its characters, Harriet. She's known on the show for being an outspoken Christian...and surprise, specifically a Southern Baptist. Of course she takes a lot of heat on the show because of her "faith", including hits from friends, colleagues, and the media. And evidently her going on the 700 Club was the last straw for her former boyfriend, leading to him breaking up with her.

What's my point? I guess it's just that things just don't add up with Harriet's character and it bothers me. It bothers me that millions of households have this show beamed into their living rooms and are presented with the idea that she is what we as Christians (or less importantly as Southern Baptists) are like. Of course, maybe it's true.

Before posting this today it was sitting as a draft for a few days. Last night was actually the last time we will watch the show (unless we get too weak to fight and give in to our desensitized minds). It's extremely difficult to tolerate blatant blasphemy and that's pretty much what the show was about...writing a sketch that poked fun at the cultural taboo of using God's name in vain (of course followers of Christ see it as a much deeper problem than just an issue with cultural norms). And our Southern Baptist heroine was right in the middle of it, commenting how fun it all was.

What do we do about this? Boycott? Oh, we Southern Baptists are good at that one. No, I'm not leading that charge. But I do think that this show, and others like it, give Christ's followers great opportunities to share the Real Gospel with people. How easy is it to strike up a conversation about what happened in "last night's show"? I know that bringing up spiritual things out of the blue can be tough...leaving people sometimes feeling awkward and linguistically clumsy. But we really can't let opportunities like this slide.

It's funny how the first episode of Studio 60 showed us a worn out, fed up producer that felt Hollywood's broadcasting standards were degrading America (that is, that he was not being allowed to broadcast sketches that would offend too many people...specifically Christians in that case). That's funny, ironically, because I definitely see that one the other way around. Make a joke here...use the name Jesus as an expletive there...show a little more skin each season...and little by little we get used to more and more depravity (a.k.a. sin). The more depravity we accept, the more they give us because it begins to take much more to offend our senses and good judgement (a.k.a. conscience -- given to us by God to know right from wrong, per Romans 2:15).

I know I sound pretty revolutionary...like throw out your TVs, evangelize everyone around you, close off your mind to the evil things of this world. But you know, I'm really only talking to you about the Truth from God's Word (actually the first sentence of this paragraph sounds a lot like Jesus clearing out the Temple). We've - me included - got to learn to protect ourselves. The armor of God is vital to the day to day battles we face. Often the first thing to go is our mind as we give in to whatever temptation or pressure we face...and the rest of the body follows suit. But maybe if we can stay even a little more vigilant...if we can focus on the Holy more each day then (1) we will continue to develop into truer followers of Jesus and (2) we will be able to take all of the opportunities we get to lead others to Him as well.