Media Abstention

For ten days, I abstained from as many mediums as possible, including regular television, movies, the radio, blogs/tumblers, and social media including twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and HeyTell. I had not considered myself someone constantly tethered by technology, however the results of this fast were telling.

I was initially caught off guard by the unconscious nature of my habits. The first night I turned on the television for about 30 seconds before I “came to” and realized what I was doing. I ate my dinner in silence, and resolved to go to bed early out of my confusion of how to spend my time in the evening hours. The next couple days I learned to embrace my free time as an opportunity to get ahead on required reading, and even had enough time to spare for optional reading (gasp).  

My relationships were challenged, which was not expected at all. Family and friends were at a loss of how to engage with me, whether that was from entertainment or connecting me. “How do we engage if not in front of a TV,” and “how do I contact you if you are not on Facebook,” were questions I had to address. We dusted off the board games and I had the opportunity to share in more detail the nature of my studies. These conversations proved to be a blessing for myself and my friends, and I was encouraged and affirmed and they seemed refreshed at considering some new ideas they had never thought about before.

As I reflected, while taking advantage of my new found free time, I was able to come to a few conclusions. I have always been quick to notice and hold people accountable who are slipping into callousness, yet I deduced how calloused I myself had actually become. It was not that I had intrinsically been sinning by engaging in these specific mediums, but I had let my exposure to them gradually fog my judgment, steal my attention from the Lord, and lead me into temptation from which I am called to flee. Neil Postman has said that “forms of media favor particular kinds of content,” and I understood how applicable this statement is in light of television and it’s utilization of imagery.[1] Sexual immorality is usually stimulated visually, and therefore television must be watched most responsibly, if not simply abstained from all together.

I read in a personal testimony I had written some years ago, that I had noticed a tendency to busy myself out of fear of what I would find in the silence. After reading that I reflected on how I have let the specific medium of television become background noise in my life, again protecting me from the silence. However, I now realize that silence is not something from which to be protected.

During this media fast when I was too tired to study, yet not tired enough to sleep, I would try to sit still in reflect, but initially had to journal because it was so difficult to simply sit still. As Dr. Groothius has stated, I had to sit still long enough to stop twitching.[2]

I began to reflect on certain patterns. I was able to read through the lines on a current theme I had been hearing through lectures, scripture, and sermons, and noticed that God had been trying to get my attention. What God had been trying to teach me was directly hindered by certain media which, again, had fogged my judgment, stolen my attention from focusing on the Lord, and was what had led me into the specific temptation from which God was trying to free me.    

I mediated on Galatians 5, and was able to see it in a blatantly applicable light. Verse 13 tells us to not use our freedom to indulge the flesh (Galatians 13:5). As believers, I think sometimes we get caught up thinking that abstaining from worldliness is an infringement on our freedom, when in reality abstention is a way in which to experience freedom. This should be obvious as humans whom have experienced the effects of sin. 

Paul tells the Galatians “walk by the spirit and you will not gratify the desire of the flesh” (Galatians 5:16), and in his letter to the Romans explains that “the mind governed by the flesh is death, but the mind governed by the Spirit is life and peace” (Romans 8:6). James reiterates this point in his letter (James 1:15).

The Spirit should not be seen only as a helper to keep from what leads to death. Paul continues: “Those who belong to Christ have been crucified in the flesh with its passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit” (Galatians 5:24-25). Living by the Spirit should be seen as an inevitability, as it is the only way to continue the sanctification process after the moment of justification. However, in a world overwhelmed by secular media, we should read this as a commandment to intentionally keep from letting our minds be ruled by anything other than the Spirit, so that he may dwell as Lord.

If our worldview is dictated by which lens we see the world through, this will be evident from where our time is spent: engaging in secular culture or spending efforts to become enlightened to Christian truth. Through this fast I was able to see why there is such a tension that exists when Biblical truth is known and yet a secular worldview is practiced. Most of what our media portrays, though sometimes very subtly, is contrary to that which the Bible teaches gives life. Because of this, abstaining from indulging in secular media should be seen as a necessity in letting our lives become controlled by the Spirit.  

In his letter to the Galatians, Paul states first and foremost to no let oneself be burdened again by the yoke of slavery (Galatians 5:1). When we allow our time to be spent influenced by secular media, we are asking to face this tension mentioned above.  

To conclude in the words of Chuck Colson, the best way to overcome this is to

“demand something better—to seek out, as Paul wrote in Philippians, whatever is noble, right, pure, admirable, and to 'think on these things. Paul is commanding us to discipline ourselves to reflect on excellence. And he doesn't limit that to spiritual things, either. The command applies to everything—the music we listen to, the books and magazines we read, the films we watch." [3]

 Groothius, Douglas. Orientation Lecture, Denver Seminary, August 24, 2012.

Postman, Nail. Amusing Ourselves to Death. Harrisonburg: R. R. Donnelly & Sons, 1987.

Colson, Chuck. "Elvis Mania," Breakpoint with Chuck Colson. June 1993, 17.

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[1] Neil Postman, Amusing Ourselves to Death, (Harrisonburg: R. R. Donnelly & Sons, 1987), 9.

[2] Douglas Groothius, (Orientation Lecture, Denver Seminary, August 24, 2012).

[3] Chuck Colson, "Elvis Mania," Breakpoint with Chuck Colson, June 1993, 17.