I’ll be honest, Netflix is one of my favorite things. I love binge-watching TV shows, especially The Office, Friends, and This Is Us. That being said, almost as soon as a new, Netflix original TV show appeared in my “Recommended” list, I started it! There were only 13 episodes, only an hour each, so I guessed I’d finish it in less than a couple weeks.
I only got 5 episodes in. The amount of profanity was a major turnoff, as was the constant sexual references and drug usage. And the whole premis of the show was tragic – the entire show is about a high schooler telling people why she committed suicide. If the show would have had just one of these elements, I probably would have kept watching. However, with these constant negative elements being thrown at my face, I felt guilty for watching it.
I wasn’t just feeling guilty, I was feeling convicted. On Sunday, my pastor said something that has stayed in my mind. “You become like the God you have.” In just three days, I had filled my mind with 5 hours of extreme negativity – I don’t want to be like what this show is promoting! So, while I was thoroughly disappointed, I stopped watching this show.
There was one quote early on in the show that has been in my mind ever since I heard it. The father, speaking of his son, says, “He’s 17, I’d be worried if he wasn’t keeping secrets.”
…Come again?
This TV show, based on a book for young adults, is literally saying that something is wrong with you if you are not secretive and hiding things from your parents. To the adults who thought this was okay to tell teenagers: You are implying that something is wrong with us for being honest. That is the kind of adult you are encouraging us to become.
To the teens who heard this: You are completely, totally, without a doubt, better than this. You don’t need to keep secrets, your parents were put in your life to help you! There is nothing wrong with you if you don’t like keeping secrets. (Secrets lead to lying and lying is one of the 10 things God says not to do.) There is nothing wrong with you if you are nothing like these characters, if you have different morals, or if you are simply different in general!
Through Christ,you are set apart.
If you are watching the show I am talking about – I’m not judging you at all. But you do need to know that you are above that. Filling your mind with such extreme negativity is never a good idea, especially when you’re getting nothing but entertainment in return.
My friends, you are set apart. This is not an easy thing! I am not telling you to stop watching this show – please do not hear that. But I am asking you to ask yourself – “What is this doing for me?”
Philippians 4:8 says, “Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable- think about such things.”
I encourage you: fill your mind with pure, admirable things. You’ve been made to be set apart, different from others. This is no easy task, but it is worth it. What is in your mind will come out eventually – let’s be the people who make sure what comes out is noble, pure, lovely, and admirable.
You are Set Apart
