Wake Up, Look Up

Hello everyone, and thanks for listening to Wake Up, Look Up, a podcast where we connect events happening in real time to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I'm Zach Weihrauch, and in today's episode we're asking the question, when is your next movie night? Now, this is prompted by an article I read recently in the Wall Street Journal about the need for families in America, to restore the time honored tradition of a family movie night. The argument goes a little bit like this. Attention spans are shrinking due to constant digital stimulation. Short form content. Scrolling through TikTok Instagram, YouTube shorts. It's training our brains to crave content that changes every 15 or 20 seconds. Now, this is not great for us in a lot of way. It turns us into people who can't handle a book, can't handle a conversation, a lecture. So many environments where we need to be able to lock in, pay attention and follow a thought line for longer than 30 seconds. But also it's isolating us. What is happening now is the families are in living rooms, each on their own device, in the same room, but not really together, which of course will have long term social damaging effects as we fail to raise children who can connect interpersonally. And we realize that we didn't sow the seed of strong family bonds that we want to reap later on in life. And what the article was arguing is that movie night is a great substitute. It forces the family to put down their phones, lock in on long form content, as well as being able to share snacks together, laugh together, talk about the movie together, and create an opportunity for families to actually be spending time together. Well, it might surprise you to hear that the idea of kind of getting away from the hustle and bustle of life to relax and spend time together is not just something that's celebrated biblically and considered spiritually positive. Biblically, it's something that Jesus himself did. Now, Jesus didn't have movie night, obviously, but in the Gospel of Mark, chapter six, right after he sent the disciples out to do some ministry, right before he feeds the 5,000. This is what it says. It says, the apostles gathered around Jesus and reported to him all they had done and taught. And then he said to them, come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest. See, Jesus understood that hustle and bustle is good, especially when it's aimed at the kingdom. Jesus was a hard worker. He called his disciples to be hard workers, but he also called them to get away and recharge fathers. Mothers need a similar message for their children, kids who are really the, older they get grinding school, work, sports, other activities, living in a busy, overstimulated world. Parents need to find an opportunity every Monday night, every Wednesday night, once a month, whenever it might be, to say to their kids, come away by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest. I just did this with my family, with my two youngest kids, where we threw on Steven Spielberg's classic E.T. we're eating candy, we're laughing together, we're hiding under the blankets together. And in the end, I'm not ashamed to say, we're crying together. We are spending time together, riding the roller coaster of a great story. And do you know what's true is in that moment, no one is reaching for their phones, no one is bored, no one is arguing or fighting with each other. We are fellow travelers in the story world of Steven Spielberg. Listen, Movie Night is a spiritual good because it reminds every member of the family of what a blessing families are are, as well as teaches our minds to reengage with the concept of a story, with the concept of long form content. It creates opportunity for conversation, even spiritual conversations, as you answer robust questions from your 9 year old. Like if aliens came back, what would that mean for the Bible? Great times, great conversations, great fun and great rest. Listen, if you find yourself feeling stressed, call the people in your life you love, pop the popcorn, buy the candy and throw on a movie. You might just find that Jesus was onto something when he invited us in to rest. Hey, thanks for watching this episode of Wake Up, Look Up. If you enjoyed it, please help us get the word out by sharing it with someone you think might benefit from it. And while you're here, make sure to subscribe to our YouTube channel to get further content or even download the CCC app where you'll find even more resources to help you grow in your faith and relationship with Jesus Christ.

Have an article you’d like Zach to discuss? Email us at wakeup@ccchapel.com!