No TV? II

“Let’s be Power Rangers,” said Johnny.

“What are they?” said Billy. The boys were playing in Billy’s treehouse. Billy’s Daddy had helped him to build it. It had a real roof and everything.

“They wear special clothes that make them able to jump a long ways. They can run very fast, and they help people who are in trouble.”

“How do they help them?” Billy asked. He was thinking about the Good Samaritan that his Dad had read about the other night. He helped a man who had been robbed and beaten.

“They beat up the bad guys,” said Johnny. He swung his fist at a pretend bad guy in the air. “Wham!” he hollered. “Pow!”

“That sounds like what the bad guys do,” said Billy. “They hit people and hurt them.”

“Well… the Power Rangers hit the bad guys for a different reason,” Johnny protested. Soon he went home and sat down in front of the TV. It was time for the Power Rangers show. The music started and the Power Rangers jumped onto the screen. They wore bright clothes, and could run and jump better than anyone else. They could really beat up bad guys, too. But Johnny kept thinking about why they did it.

“Mom,” he called, “why do Power Rangers try to help people?”

Johnny’s mother looked at her husband. Finally Jonny’s dad said, “Johnny, they do it for the money.”

“What?” said Johnny. He had never seen the Power Rangers given any money.

“It’s all make-believe, Johnny,” Mother said. “The people you see on the screen are not even boys and girls. They are grownups who are paid to act like that.”

“Why?” said Johnny.

“Well, it’s all about money,” Daddy said. “If it will sell, companies pay money to show it.”

“They don’t want to try to help people?” said Johnny.

“No, not at all,” said Daddy. He looked at Mother and asked, “Remember that scripture that Billy’s father read in our Bible study last time?”

Mother nodded seriously. “Yes,” she said, “Provide things honest in the sight of all men.”* (Romans 12:17)

“This TV is no good,” said Daddy thoughtfully. “What good there is, is mixed with bad.”

“And there’s a lot of bad,” said Mother very quietly.

“Let’s get rid of it,” said Johnny, a little surprised a his own words. “Let’s really help people.”

“You don’t want to watch Power Rangers, anymore?” Daddy asked Johnny. Johnny nodded.

“Let’s do it, Frank,” Johnny’s mother said, with tears in her eyes. “Honey, I feel that I need to live better. I want to get right with God. And I don’t feel that I can live right if I watch this thing.”

Mother and Daddy carried the television to the back yard dump. Johnny hollered to Billy. “Come on, Billy! We’re throwing away the TV!”

Billy came running, carring a hammer. The television hit the trash barrel with a loud crash, and he asked, “Do you want me to hit it with my hammer, Mr. Johnson?”

“Yes, sir!” said Johnny’s daddy in a determined tone of voice. “I’ll get a hammer, too.” They smiled with satisfaction as they fixed that television so no one could watch it again. Then they all went in and read the story of the Good Samaritan, who helped people in trouble for the right reasons.