Jack is back...but not for long

I am a fan of the Fox show 24. Big fan. Huge fan. I've watched it from the beginning, I have the first three seasons on DVD, and I own a T-shirt. But today, something changed: I was convicted.

Convicted? Of a crime? No, convicted as in the Lord impressing a message upon my heart about my life that is hard to ignore. And that's just what He did this morning. I felt like I needed to take a hard look at exactly WHY I liked 24 so much. The story is very tightly written, the action is nearly non-stop and exciting, and the characters are believable. So what's the problem?

The problem is that at no time has the show ever been glorifying to God. It's violent, it's not very redeeming, and it isn't encouraging to the average viewer. Therefore, I can't justify watching it. It's not to say that secular shows can't be glorifying, nor that I lack the ability to find redeeming qualities in a show. It's just that 24 doesn't have them.

I began to realize this morning that it is no coincidence that the show was moved to Monday night, at least as my life is concerned. See, I am a part of a small group in my church that meets on Monday nights, and in the past, it was never a scheduling conflict to watch the show, since it aired on Tuesdays. But since this season started in January, I have already missed a couple of weeks at the small group, and ended up watching 24. Not good, not healthy for me.

So that's it. I'll never find out how Jack Bauer saves the U.S. from nuclear meltdowns, and while that may bug me at first, I'll realize how meaningless it really is.

11:59:57...11:59:58...11:59:59...12:00:00.