Andy

Contemporary television shows hardly ever grab my attention. Probably the closest today is the TV show “Ghost.” I have mixed feelings about it because I believe that dead people don’t exist around me. I believe that when a person dies, they either go to heaven with Jesus or apart from him, to a place of weeping and gnashing of teeth.

“Remember also your Creator in the days of your youth, before the evil days come and the years draw near of which you will say, “I have no pleasure in them”; before the sun and the light and the moon and the stars are darkened and the clouds return after the rain, in the day when the keepers of the house tremble, and the strong men are bent, and the grinders cease because they are few, and those who look through the windows are dimmed, and the doors on the street are shut—when the sound of the grinding is low, and one rises up at the sound of a bird, and all the daughters of song are brought low— they are afraid also of what is high, and terrors are in the way; the almond tree blossoms, the grasshopper drags itself along, and desire fails, because man is going to his eternal home, and the mourners go about the streets— before the silver cord is snapped, or the golden bowl is broken, or the pitcher is shattered at the fountain, or the wheel broken at the cistern, and the dust returns to the earth as it was, and the spirit returns to God who gave it.” - Ecclesiastes 12:1-7 ESV

Regardless, I’m comfortable enjoying the TV show without compromising what I believe.

To watch something on TV that has good moral lessons, I have to watch reruns. One of my favorites is The Andy Griffin Show (if you google it, you will find out that he required a positive message in each show). The episode I watched this morning (in my opinion, the later episodes weren’t as good as the earlier ones), was where the character Goober, took over running the gas station and came up with a prize draw with a 5-gallon minimum purchase. The prizes were supposed to range from $1 to $20 (remember this was supposed to represent the late 1950s/early 1960s) and added up to a $200 total give-a-way. The printer assumed he wanted 1 prize of $200 and it was included with the other ones.

Floyd, the barber (if you are not familiar with the show, the barber shop was an epicenter of male bonding), got the unintended $200 prize. Goober tried to explain that it was a mistake and he could not afford to give a $200 prize. Floyd demanded the prize and insisted that Andy, as Sheriff, make Goober give it to him. 

Andy, in his usual creative manner, concocts a plan to have Goober locked up when Floyd comes by to show Floyd the result of his insistence (in my limited legal understanding, I think Floyd would have had to sue Goober for breach of promise - a civil case). Of course, when Floyd realizes that Goober is locked up over the mistaken prize that he can’t pay, he agrees to drop his claim.

“For we all stumble in many ways. And if anyone does not stumble in what he says, he is a perfect man, able also to bridle his whole body. If we put bits into the mouths of horses so that they obey us, we guide their whole bodies as well. Look at the ships also: though they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are guided by a very small rudder wherever the will of the pilot directs. So also the tongue is a small member, yet it boasts of great things. How great a forest is set ablaze by such a small fire!” - James 3:2-5

I have been pondering recently the difference between the law and gospel (a lot of this pondering is because a part of my daily devotion is a deep dive into Romans - I highly recommend it). We spend a great deal of time and effort demanding our rights or legal allowances.  We even apply this attitude to gain an advantage.  For example, have you ever followed a car very closely to prohibit a car from a merging lane to get in front of you (uh oh, maybe it is only me)?  I truly believe, especially in this country, we were all raised with that attitude of independence and ‘what is rightly mine’ attitude that just doesn’t exist to the same level in other countries.

The real question, Christian, is how you balance that with this:

“And he said to him, ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.’” - Matthew 22:37-40