A well-known philosopher of our day has this to say about our McDonald’s society. “I’m tired of people acting like they are better than McDonald’s. Okay, you may never set foot in McDonald’s, but you have your own McDonald’s. Maybe instead of ordering a Big Mac you read Us Weekly. That’s still McDonald’s, it’s just served up a little different. Maybe your McDonald’s is telling yourself that a Starbucks Frappuccino is not a milkshake, or maybe you watch Glee. It’s all McDonald’s—McDonald’s of the soul. Momentary pleasure followed by enormous guilt eventually leading to cancer.”
This satire is a new way of looking at an old question, “What are you putting into your soul/mind?” It is evident that “McDonald’s” style information is everywhere and very easily accessible via cell phone, television or internet. It soaks though our society the way a Double Quarter Pounder with cheese soaks through the bag. While these tidbits of information, images, videos, movies and television programing may seem great at the time, they really leave you with nothing. With the advent of Netflix and other streaming media services, you are allowed to watch hours of your favorite TV shows in a single sitting. “Binge watching” is what this practice is called. It was examined in a recent study that suggests that there is a link between binge watching and depression.
We may not be depressed, but we are consumers of a lot of fast food media. In contrast, what are we doing to fill ourselves up with the “pure milk of the word, so that by it you may grow” (1 Peter 2:2). The Bible is full of God’s plea to learn more, grow in His understanding and walk closer to Him. We must keep renewing the mind (Romans 12:1-2) and not allow ourselves to fill and dull on a diet of junk. It is so easy to get pulled into a habit of mind-numbing media and forget about the time passing around you. If you were honest with yourself, how much time would you say that you spend on entertainment? How much time do we spend plugged in and tuned out to the world around us? Have bad habits set in and pulled you away from the good ones you used to have? According to the American Time Use survey, the average American watches 9 years of television in his/her lifetime. The average American youth is in school 900 hours a year and watches 1,200 hours a day.
There are a lot of ways and methods that we can use to keep our senses exercised. Setting aside time for reading or memorizing one verse a week will lead to having more of a focus. Involve a friend in this process. Get together and study, read, or meditate on the word of God. These are just ideas, but in the end, they require action on your part. Keep your eyes focused on the prize. Everything else is just McDonald’s.