S4 E2 - Kids Shows (guest staring Satan)

Children's television programs are not what they used to be more often than not. Rather than promoting what is good and right, imorrality and godlessness are promoted and packaged as something that is "good" in the form of a cartoon. If we're not careful, we'll teach our children to accept the lies of Satan because they were packaged in the fun form of a fire truck or a dinosaur. 

Isn't that one of the greatest tactics of Satan? To disguise himself as an angel of light? He is the master of deceit. He's so good at it, we can even start to beleive that which is good is really evil, and that which is evil is really good. We must be aware, and we must not allow ourselves to be fooled. Let's listen to the voice of Truth. 

#SetYourMindAbovePodcast

Transcript

What if I told you that God could be seen in the most ordinary things every day? 

What if I told you that every day, ordinary events could teach us extraordinary eternal truths?

Would you believe me? 

 Welcome back to season 4 of the Set Your Mind Above Podcast! My name is BJ Sipe, and I am a Christian, a preacher, a husband, and a father. And I’m excited to share a few moments together with you learning some important lessons from the simplest things. Thanks for tuning in! 

Real quick change, as you might have noticed from last week to this week, I have had a shift in my schedule and Thursdays have quickly turned into one of my busiest days – which is ironic because it used to be my most free day. So, as I will start announcing at the end of this episode, we’re going to actually shift season 4 drops to once a week on Fridays instead of Thursdays. Same amount of content, just 24 hours removed! And today’s episode is one that I am certain that most of us can relate to, but especially those of us who have small children. I grew up in what I would call the “golden ages” of children’s television. As a 90’s child, you can likely guess what programs I watched as a young child growing up. Of course, there were the very popular programs like Mr. Rogers (which was the best hands down in my opinion), Sesame Street, Barney, Blues Clues, or Thomas the Tank Engine. Now, some of my personal favorites are a little bit more “deep track” level – but I would guess that many of you remember them too. These would include shows like Reading Rainbow, Dragon Tales, Wishbone, and Franklin. Even thinking about these shows has their theme songs running through my brain for the first time in a very long time, but don’t worry, I’ll spare you by not singing them today. And this was the thing with kids shows back then – their content was always safe for young children. The kinds of things that they focused on were as simple as the alphabet, counting, or basic day to day life skills like brushing your teeth, cleaning your room, etc. The shows that went deeper to teach life lessons were also always child appropriate. Lessons such as kindness, sharing, taking turns, or using polite manners were always encouraged and taught at an age-appropriate level. My parents did not need to necessarily screen everything that we had watched first so long as they had seen a few episodes and were familiar with the content. Never once did we have an instance where Mr. Rogers or Thomas Tank Engine went “off the rails” (pun intended) and suddenly we were being exposed to some very mature content. And that’s what you would hope to expect, because after all, these are kids shows…right? Well, we live in a very different time and place today, don’t we? Television has changed drastically in a period of 30 years, and I am afraid not for the better. For starters, there are thousands of more options than there were for kids programing for me growing up. While that certainly has its advantages, it also has its disadvantages. It is harder to keep which show is which straight, and it’s nearly impossible to screen everything before hand – so you end up telling your children “No, I’ve not seen that yet” which you get tired of having to say every time you turn on the TV. Now make no mistake, we have found some of our favorites for our children that are wholesome, safe, and very child appropriate. These would include shows like Bluey, Daniel Tiger, Curious George, Paw Patrol, or even Sophia the First. But here is the problem, there have been a lot of shows that we started that we quickly had to turn off. It is astounding to me the kind of content that studios are trying to pump into the minds of children as young as 2 or 3 years old. Issues regarding gender identity, as more and more children show depict open and even intimate instances of homosexuality or transgenderism. Regardless of your position on an issue like that, it does not take a scholar to recognize that kind of content has no place in a children’s television show. But it’s not only limited to that issue. Inappropriate language, evolutionary claims, political stances, and overall just inappropriate behavior are not only depicted, but encouraged in many programs aimed at children. It’s very deceiving and very frightening to be honest. Afterall, it’s just a show about cartoon fire trucks or friendly dinosaurs, that should be safe, maybe even good…right? 

The lesson that we need to understand today is illustrated by this modern problem, but it is certainly not limited to this direct application alone. Nor is the lesson limited to modern issues, rather it is a lesson that mankind has been learning from the very beginning. In 2 Corinthians 11, we find Paul in the middle of a discussion concerning false teachers that were disguising themselves as apostles. In that discussion, he says something powerful that we must remember as Christians. For context’s sake, let’s begin in vv. 13, “For such people are false apostles, deceitful workers, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ. And no wonder! For Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. So it is no great surprise if his servants also disguise themselves as servants of righteousness. Their end will be according to their works.” Did you catch that from Paul? What makes Satan so effective at being the father of lies? It’s the fact that often times his lies and his destructive schemes are packaged in such a way to make them appear as though they are righteous and good. Satan is a master of disguise, and I’m not talking the 2002 Dana Carvey film with a 1% Rotten Tomatoes rating. I’m saying that if we do not pay very close attention, we can bite hook, line, and sinker into something that on the surface appears to be good, but in reality is tainted by the lies of Satan and will do great damage. As a matter of fact, Satan is so good at disguising that which is wrong as being right that we can even become convinced that it is. This is exactly what took place among the people of Israel, as Isaiah would prophecy in chapter 5:20-21, “Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who substitute darkness for light and light for darkness, who substitute bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter. Woe to those who consider themselves wise and judge themselves clever.” How did this happen? People did not just wake up one day and decide that everything they ever knew to be wrong was now right and vice-versa, so how? By buying into Satan’s lies one at a time that have been disguised as good. By not being aware of his schemes, and carefully examining the things that they watch, listen to, follow, and accept. And again, it’s not just children’s programing – it’s all around us every day. Much like what Paul was dealing with, it’s the modern false teachers proclaiming the social gospel of health & wealth. It’s the lie of abortion, packaging that pulling an unborn child limb from limb is a “right” that women should have and is actually protecting women as a good thing. It’s the lie of promiscuity, packaged by Satan as “sexual liberation” and releasing people from the “archaic bonds” of marriage or a patriarchal system. We could go on and on, and with each example there should be a growing level of awareness and concern for just how much Satan disguises that which is evil as good in this world. May we, the children of God, the sheep of his pasture, be trained to listen to the voice of Truth, the voice of the Good Shepherd. The light of the Lord exposes the darkness and lies of the devil. May we be ever more vigilant to pursue that which is truly and right and truly good as declared from God, so as never to be deceived by Satan posing as something he very clearly is not. 

This has been the Set Your Mind Above Podcast, season 4 episode 2 – and I’m so thankful that you decided to tune in today! A new episode is dropped each Friday, so be sure to listen in again next week! Also, if you’re able to, go ahead and like and subscribe to the podcast, as well as share it with someone else – it would help me greatly in trying to reach others. And more than anything, always remember the following: know that I love you, that God loves you, and may we all each and every day set our minds above.