Christianity: The New Reality TV Moneymaker

If you do not know by now, reality TV has taken over.  For the last decade, regular people have become stars from doing regular stuff.  From housewives, to bakeries, to weight loss competitions, to dancing, to singing, to bad girls: these things plus more have found its way into a reality television program.  But the American audiences are not the only ones that love these programs; cable networks do too.  As they should. These programs are crazy cheap to make compared to scripted shows and they don't have to worry about dealing with celebrities with huge egos that want a million dollars per episode.  Even with the popularity of reality TV, you would think that some subjects would be too sacred to touch.  But as my mom use to say, "If you think this world can't get any worse, just wait a few minutes." 

[Disclaimer: I am not trying to convert anyone to Christianity.  This is just strictly my opinion of the shows mentioned.] 



Source: www.theblaze.com



In the last month, the cable channel, Oxygen, has premiered Preachers of L.A. and now Bravo has launched Thicker than Water.  Before that, TLC had Preacher Wives.  All of these shows showcase pastors, bishops, reverends, first ladies, or whatever they want to be called living lives as lavish as rappers and ball players.  You see them in the big fancy homes (or mansions to be more specific) and luxury cars.  They can all be seen with flashy jewelry draping their wrists and necks.   If I was just flipping through the channels I would think I had stumbled upon a repeat episode of MTV Cribs.  Surprisingly (or maybe not), they have no shame in showing others how God has "bless" them.

I don't even know where to start.  Like I'm dead serious; the blasphemy in these shows gave me writer's block for a second.  All that keeps coming to mind is that working class members of mega church congregations have funded these "men of God" with multiple homes and thousand dollars suits.  These so-called shepherds make millions off book deals, movies, and music using God's word.  Some of them boldly preach: someone has to have this stuff, why not me?

For centuries, religion has been seen as sacred.  Even when you are in a place of worship you conduct yourself a different way because of it's sanctity.  Now religion is being shown on TV as casually as pageant girls.  It is now considered weekly entertainment.  Some might say that those who are not a part of organized religion are getting exposed to Christianity.  But can you honestly say that Preachers of L.A. and Thicker than Water are bringing people to the good news?  People who are already skeptical of religion are not going to watch these men in Armani suits and  run to their local place of worship.  These shows do the exact opposite. 

What about the excuse that God wants them to have these things?  Well, preacher man let me introduce you to a king.  King Solomon to be exact.  The thing about King Solomon was that he was the richest king of his time.  In in his words:

"I accumulated silver and gold for myself, the treasures of kings and of provinces.  I gathered male and female singers for myself, as well as what brings great pleasure to the sons of men-- a woman, yes, many women.  So I grew great and surpassed anyone prior to me in Jerusalem..... But when I reflected on all the works that my own hands had done and on all the hard work that I had toiled to accomplish, I saw that everything was futile, a chasing after the wind."  --Ecclesisastes 2:8,9,11 New World Translation, 2013

Now what moves me the most is the last part of verse 11: a chasing after the wind.  King Solomon compared all his riches to chasing after the wind.  Some people might see material things as a reward of hard work but Solomon refer to these material things as futile.  Yes, futile also known as useless, unimportant, or frivolous.  God could have inspired (2 Timothy 3:16) anybody to write this in the Bible but He chose to have the richest king record this verse. 

Now rather you believe in God or not this is such a beautiful scripture.  You see, Jehovah God knew we would not all be able to acquire riches.  He also knew we would be surrounded by people with many things and because of our imperfections we could easily become envious of those who do have many things.  Jehovah wanted us all to know that riches were not important and does not define our lives.  However, how we live our lives is what define us. 

You will not get a weekly recap of the previously mention shows because I can't stand to watch more than five minutes.  These shows will not be getting anybody to wake up early on Sunday and visit a place of worship.  The men who choose to partake in these shows need to  take a look at their instruction manual (the Bible) and see what it has to say about their lifestyles (Matthew 6:24). 

What are your thoughts on Preacher of L.A. or Thicker Than Water?