Recently
I walked into a room where a relative of
mine was watching a reality TV show,
something that’s not uncommon these days,
as you know. It was about a very
dysfunctional family with six kids, one of
whom is a model for various trashy
magazines, loves glamour and fame and dates
a popular football star named Reggie Bush.
The setup of the show is along the same
lines as MTV’s “Real World,” “Life
of Ryan,” and other reality shows,
typically, celebrity reality shows.
You’ve probably heard someone at school or
work talk about it. If you don’t
know about the show, it’s called
“Keeping up with the Kardashians,” and
shows like it are all over American
television these days- reality television.
I’m not sure just how much TV you
watch, or what channels are your favorites,
but I’m almost positive that a big part of
most people’s weekly television diet these
days includes reality TV.
Frequently
in these shows, the main characters talk
about their hopes and dreams- Kim Kardashian
wants to break into show business, be
popular, and be loved. “The
Bachelorette” last season wanted to find
her dream husband. In shows like
these, you have relationships, rivalries,
competition, all characters talking about
their personal lives, and where they hope to
go in life. We get wrapped up in these
shows so easily, because we identify with
not fictional, but real characters, whose
goals in life we often share.
My
question to you is this: when these people
talk about what they want to do with their
lives, what do they use as their guide,
their compass? How often do you hear
these people say, “This would make me
happy,” or “I just really want this”?
In so many episodes of these shows that
I’ve run across, it seems that these
characters are driven by “What do I
want,” or “what makes me feel
good/accepted/popular”? Of course
there’s nothing wrong with this by itself,
because we all have different dreams and
things that make us happy. But if
being happy is the only “compass” that
we use in our lives, then often we’re
going to find ourselves at points in our
lives where we don’t know where we’re
going. For example, the Kardashian
family is always fighting; the bachelorette
divorced her husband just a few months after
she picked to marry him, and how often do
people in “Real World,” “Survivor,”
and other shows get mad and hate each other,
curse each other out, sleep together, etc?
Before we know it, we’re watching a show
that has nothing to do with what really
makes our life meaningful and gives us an
awful example of how to go about our lives.
What
gives our life true meaning is not only
following what we think our heart wants or
whatever makes us happy, but also finding
where God wants us to go. How God
wants us to live our lives and where he
wants us to go is the greatest, most
fulfilling way we can live our lives.
It is not restricting or just a set of rules
the Bible tells us to follow- this is the
greatest freedom, greatest compass we can
have in life. What God wants for
us is also what’s best for us and what
makes us the most happy we can be. How
many people in reality TV shows do you hear
saying “I think this is what God wants me
to do”? Probably not many. In
the book of Proverbs, there is a verse where
God says “Blessed are they who keep my
ways,” and in some translations, “Happy
are they.” (8:32) If you apply this to
your life, I know you will find this to be
the truth. Let us use this freedom,
too, as a filter when we watch any
entertainment on TV or any pop culture.
Try reading your Bible, a little at a time,
with your priest as your guide, and opening
your mind and heart to God’s example for
us, not reality television’s example. By
keeping His ways, you won’t have to worry
about keeping up with the Kardashians.
