Articles
The Andy Griffith Show and Bad Influences
The Andy Griffith Show and Bad Influences
I just recently found The Andy Griffith Show on Amazon Prime. I had always heard about the show and had never really watched it; that all changed. I have thoroughly enjoyed watching it. It is good old-fashioned entertainment. As a Christian and a father I value anything I can turn on and not worry about a stray word or a shortage of fabric!
Having grown up in the rural south, the country vernacular is not lost on me. It reminds me of many people I grew up around. That improper, informal communication is learned much easier than it is unlearned. It was always much easier to remove letters in words and leave the end of sentences to the imagination. When I started preaching the gospel, this informal speech was brought to my attention as a potential distraction. In efforts to avoid being distracting, I gave much more attention to enunciating in all my public discourses.
When I started watching The Andy Griffith Show and hearing that old communication, I noticed that I was slipping back into my old ways of conversation. It was subtle and likely unnoticed to most, but I picked up on it. I know that hick speech can be charming and endearing, but it can also be distracting in public format. When you are dealing with the greatest truths in the world, you don’t want to do anything that could distract from the message! But that isn’t the point of this topic. Consider this, as it pertains to influence.
Paul said, “Be not deceived, evil company corrupts good morals…” Oftentimes we consider that verse with social issues, like the way we dress or talk. But that isn’t really what that section of scripture is about. It is about the corrupting influence those who were denying the resurrection had over others. If resurrection deniers could “corrupt” resurrection believers; how much more possible is it with more subtle issues!
The Andy Griffith show causing someone to quit enunciating is quite harmless in the grand scheme of things, but what about something less harmless? How does it affect your thoughts when you hear vulgar and filthy language? The more mud you play in — the more mud you get on you. You can’t pick flowers in the garden of immorality and not get grass stains on your pants! Those are the things that fill your ears, but what about things that fill your eyes? The same muddy logic is applicable. You can’t unsee things very well; especially when those things feed an ungodly thought! It goes further than just planting sinful seeds in your mind and conduct; it can even impact your thought process. You can only see or hear something so many times before you start thinking it is acceptable. “Everyone else talks this way! Everyone else is wearing it! Everyone else is doing it!” Why do those statements become the catchphrase of our youth? Because that’s all they see and hear around them.
The old children song is still quite appropriate. May WE be careful about what our ears hear and our eyes see! For the Father up above is looking down in tender love.
