Cosmic History

The following is a nine point summary I've been working on of the Biblical story. I'm trying to capture an overall picture of Biblical history and where key doctrinal concepts fit in (listed in parentheses). It's not perfect or complete, but I've found it helpful in thinking through the purpose and mission of the church.


The Biblical Story

1. The Trinity exists in loving communion.
2. The Trinity creates man and invites him into this communion (Kingdom of God).
3. Man rejects the Kingdom of God and becomes lost (Fall).
4. The Trinity initiates a redemptive plan to restore man to the Kingdom of God (Salvation & Redemption).
5. Israel becomes the embodied witness of the Kingdom of God and participates in the redemptive plan (Abrahamic Covenant).
6. Israel fails to fully carry out the redemptive plan by becoming parochial and self-absorbed (Apostasy).
7. The Trinity intervenes through the life, death and resurrection of Jesus, the second Person of the Trinity, radically moving the redemptive plan towards its fulfillment (Incarnation, Atonement, Resurrection).
8. Worldwide local communities of a changed, transcultural people, empowered by the Holy Spirit, become the new embodied witnesses of the Kingdom of God, participating in the redemptive plan, and prefiguring the coming New Creation (Church, Great Commission).
9. Christ returns bringing the fulfillment of the redemptive plan (Second Coming, New Creation).

Taming The Tube

Trying to create a policy that would enable us to capture and retain the lessons learned from last summer's TV and electronic entertainment fast was a challenge. We wanted to continue to reap the benefits of having more time for personal development and relationship building, an atmosphere in our midst that spoke of spirituality and peace, and freedom from the tyranny of passive and superficial entertainment.

We didn't want, however, to corporately over-regulate our personal discipleship. This can become a slippery slope and subjective nightmare. The areas we would need to regulate with a policy could easily expand endlessly. And often the standard by which regulations are created can be highly influenced by cultural preferences and outlooks. There's just too much gray. Additionally, while we recognize the benefit of establishing group standards that reinforce personal growth, we realize these can never be a substitute for individually developing discipline and self-control.

Weighing these pros and cons led us to come up with a policy that we're finding is quite effective. To help us regularly awaken to the negative impact electronic entrainment may be having on us, we've agreed to have an annual fast during the Eastertide season. Eastertide is the seven weeks between Easter and Pentecost. This year we started a tradition of celebrating the seven days of creation (and looking toward the New Creation) for each week during the season with special meals and events. We thought it appropriate to sharpen our focus during that time by also fasting from the Tube.

We also agreed to not watch any TV or play video games during the day time. This keeps the incessant noise down and cultivates a healthy atmosphere of work, study, and prayer. Really, there isn't much time available anyways during the day, but this eliminates the before breakfast, at lunch, and after school possibilities. After dinner we do allow the Tube to be enjoyed. But again, with homework, meetings, and other events the time is limited, yet the opportunity is there.

Also, we've decided to declare Saturday evening to Sunday evening our “sabbath” time, so no electronic indulgence during that period. We want to set aside this time to renew ourselves in God and our relationships. Saturday night we usually have small groups and Sunday morning is our main service. Keeping that time clear of distracting electronic noise sharpens our senses for the spiritual.

So, that basically leaves us time in the evenings, except Saturday, for electronic entertainment. This makes it more of a special, planned event, as it probably should be. A couple exceptions: the last Saturday of each month is unscheduled. There are no community planned activities or responsibilities. This is a nice day for fun and renewal for our families. We decided to allow the Tube on that day. The same goes for holidays and vacation.

Well, that's it. We can always change it, but for now it seems to be working for us. Community is a wonderful place where we can, together, figure out how to live out the gospel in practical ways.

Principles for a Policy

Our summer fast from TV and electronic games taught us a lot about ourselves and community. We saw that this medium had a greater hold on us than we would like to admit, and that it could hinder our personal growth and relationships. The fast made us all aware of these things and universally we felt we needed to alter our lifestyle in some way. The difficulty was in trying to figure out what are the principles that should govern a policy we might create.

At first, we were tempted to have a “throw the stupid thing in the dump” reaction. Obviously, electronic entertainment was sapping a lot of life out of us, so why not just do away with it? That seemed like the righteous thing to do. But we could see some good that has come from the Tube: educational programs, dramatizations of classic literature, teachings, fun, and fellowship. Also, some of the fathers have had memorable times playing video games with their kids.

Our next thought centered on regulating content and usage. We know of other communities that have committees that approve movies and music for their community's consumption, and they strictly regulate when these things can be enjoyed. This thought had some appeal because it would keep a unified standard in the community and would also act as a helpful control structure for those less disciplined. The downside was that we weren't sure where to draw the line: why just movies? Perhaps we should think about regulating books, desserts, attire, etc.. We do have some general standards for these things already, but should we form a committee to regulate these more specifically? Why limit just electronic entertainment (that's making you stay up late and exercising a negative influence) when reading a book can have the same effect? And besides, where is self-control in all this? Shouldn't the Christian be actively developing his judgment and self-discipline?

Yet, it was the joint fast that really helped us. On our own, most of us probably wouldn't have come to the insights we have now. The group dynamic really made a difference (kind of like exercising together with a friend or in a class...it strengthens your resolve). Plus, the atmosphere created in the community during the fast was noticeable. We wanted to retain that. None of us had an appetite to just go back to how it was.

Principles began to emerge as we discussed these things. External policies are good for creating corporate atmosphere or environment. Generally, that is their proper purview – regulating the common life among us. We want to model a different value system and priority in this world. We want our home to be a place of peace and spirituality, not noise and dissipation. In one word, we want to create “liminality.” Benedict Groeschel defines what I mean by this, “Liminality derives from the Latin limen (which means threshold or edge) and refers in this case to people who live beyond the accepted norms of the establishment.” We want to stand in contrast to a society that doesn't recognize the way of the kingdom. So, whatever policy we come up with should somehow help us in this goal.

Secondly, the policy should help us get a vision for a more disciplined life and yet not dominate in such a way that one's will is atrophied. In other words, if I never have to exercise self-control because the options for indulgence just don't exist, I won't grow. We want to cultivate interior righteousness, not lifeless, external righteousness. For the Christian, love is a “want to” not a “have to.” Our policy must aid us in our endeavor to mature as Christians.

We were able to craft such a policy and next post I'll share what it is.

Blood-Sucking Parasite

Our summer fast from electronic entertainment has been an interesting experiment. One consequence of the fast was to see how much power this medium had over us. Foregoing something you enjoy for a significant time educates you about yourself and your motivations. You learn that you may have overestimated your level of self-control or that your use of time has been unwise. It can teach you about what you're neglecting and what you're missing out on.

Two of our teens, Pat and Brittany, have written down some of their thoughts about our experiment and some articles we read together during the fast.

Pat says:

The passive pursuit of television is a key idea that has stuck out to me through this article and our TV fast. Above any other psychological effect TV has on us I think that the passiveness of TV watching or video game playing is the main danger of the medium. Something that surprised me when we ended the TV fast was that I actually did not have the desire to go watch TV or play video games like I used to. Being unplugged forces you to spend your time actively, engaged with those around you.

Another subject that I found interesting is how TV feeds emotionalism and hinders the logical thought process. It is so true that you can watch the news for an hour and really not get any more information out of it than you would reading a ten minute article on the event. TV flashes images which make you feel in touch with what is going on without the need of giving you real substance. Emotionalism blocks your mind from judging reality for what it is.

TV can truly be a “blood-sucking parasite” as Frank Schaeffer puts it. The passivity of TV watching leaves a hole in one's life if left unchecked. I have greatly benefited from the recent awareness in our community to this subject.

Brittany agrees and adds:

The one point that really stuck out to me, however, was this: television encourages a loss of the “immediate community.” It makes you out of sync and out of touch with the people who are around you. I can relate. I have found myself getting so sucked into the hockey game I am watching that I don’t pay much attention to the people around me. Short of the house burning down, I really won’t know what’s going on – until the next commercial. Television, in and of itself, is not evil and is not bad. However, if we allow ourselves to be accosted constantly through this medium, it can be harmful. Television is to be used as entertainment, not as a replacement for reality.

Next post I'll share how we decided to manage the Tube.