By John Lindsay

Many people, young and old alike, agree that they are reluctant to read the Old Testament because they consider it boring. From the popularity of movies like The Ten Commandments, one of the greatest movies of all time, it might appear that we could use current technology to bring these important stories to life in a way that not even Cecil B. Demille could imagine.

There’s no arguing that the imagery of movies and television has the power to do many things with or without the aid of state of the art enhancements. In its defense the can bring us closer to things we could never get near ourselves. Political analysts agree that without Television JFK would not have beat Nixon in that first televised debate, which taught early advertisers how very persuasive this controlled enhanced imagery can be. So why shouldn't we use this power for the furtherance of the Holy Scripture?

The real issue isn't what is right or wrong with movies or television. If there’s a problem with TV or movies, it’s due to what we’ve chosen to demand of it for over a half a century. Even in black and white we sat back and stared, and for generations experienced everything imaginable without the slightest effort – the equivalent of being fed information intravenously. Today, with explosive stunt-filled emotional audio-visual roller-coaster rides, it might seem more like we’re lying back while someone is pouring pitcher after pitcher down our experiential gullets. But if we’re taking in ever-increasing amounts of information, why aren’t we any smarter? The truth is, sitting through hours or even decades of entertainment will never make us entertainers. Listening to a teacher without practicing the teacher’s instruction dishonors the teacher and proves the student to be a bad investment. True accomplishment comes only through effort, and therefore, simply watching movies about God will not make anyone godly.

Have we been duped into assuming we can learn without effort? Can we expect children to pay attention when they’ve been conditioned to take in record amounts of information from multiple senses effortlessly through modern-day technologies? It’s becoming increasingly evident that what we’ve lost, through our lust for entertainment and the convenience of a video-driven education, is discipline. What we’ve been given in its place is the illusion of knowledge.

Could it be that being bored with reading the Bible is the result of relying on the convenience of technology for so long that we’ve forgotten how to chew our intellectual food? There are many cultures where mothers will chew the food for an infant, but do these same mothers continue this practice into adulthood? All evidence shows that we have reverted back prior to the stage of helpless infants sucking milk. By demanding an automated means of information, we’ve reverted back to the womb where we were fed through an umbilical chord. As adults, if we take in mouthfuls of food and fail to chew, the food will not be digested. If this is true of the physical, how much more should we concern ourselves with the means and purpose of consuming spiritual truth? Babies suck, adults chew, and what we assimilate is determined by our effort not our intake.

In retrospect, we can only consider the collateral damage of the great literary works that were never read because of our regression, but worse still are the stories never written because of the lack of demand for quality that only spiritual maturity brings through discipline. Are we where God wants us to be individually and collectively? Maybe it’s time to start chewing the cud through a laborious good old-fashioned study of the Bible. Yes it will be hard work, and time consuming, but the blessings will be residual, and our children will be infected by our example. Looking back, there's no way of knowing how much joy we may have missed. But, looking forward, there's no telling how much peace will be rewarded if we choose to take the long way home. 
 

 

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