What We Know

My friend Eric Holmberg, of Reel to Real Ministries, often makes presentations to church groups on the smothering influence of media in our lives. He sent me this very telling transcript of a recent encounter he had with a college fellowship group:

“Who's the character in Seinfeld with the funny hair?”

A chorus of hands shot up excitedly. “Kramer!” came the almost universal reply.

“What time does Friends come on?”

Again, there was no hesitation. “Eight!” “Thursday nights.” “NBC,” offered one young lady, nailing the coordinates in both space and time.

“Complete this line from Spiderman: 'With great power comes…?”

“Great responsibility!” over seventy-five voices cried in unison.

“Now can someone tell me the difference between rap and hip-hop? Or emo and goth?” There was a brief silence as the audience cast about for the best spokesman to address the nuances of the question. But after a few initial observations were made, the response again became lively and democratic. Person after person shared either their thoughts on the distinctions or at least illustrated them by identifying their favorite artists in each category.

“OK,” the speaker said. “Let's now change gears a bit. Who was the prophet in the Old Testament who had no hair?”

Silence.

“What hour of the day did Jesus die on the cross?” Emboldened by the narrow range of possible answers, a few hands went up and numbers were offered. But it was obvious that nobody real knew.

“Complete this line from Proverbs 3: “Trust in the Lord with all you heart and….”

“…obey Him?” the NBC girl offered hopefully.

“Sorry, although obeying Him is certainly a good idea. OK, someone explain to me the difference between justification and sanctification.”

The silence among the church's college group was now deafening.

More than a little sobering, isn't it?