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I’m a sucker for the Olympics.  I’m not sure why, but for several weeks every two years my evenings consist of my wife and I sitting on the couch and watching an evening full of events.  Like every Olympic year, NBC rolls out a whole shlew of stories featuring athletes and their emotional struggles that led to them being the athletes they are today.  Very rarely do I hear stories of an athlete’s faith.  I know it’s probably not to the fault of the competitors, but more likely editorial decisions at the peacock network.

Anyway…I came across this video featuring Chad Hedrick. He’s a USA speed skater who won the bronze in the 1000m race in Vancouver (to add to his gold, silver and bronze from Torino in 2006).

In the video, he talks about his faith as an athlete and how it can be perceived by others.  He says:

I have guys from the media talking to me all the time and I tell them I want to have a great time, make special memories with my family, and if I go there and give 100 percent and it’s not enough, I know God has a path for me, and that‘s the path that I’m going to follow. They interpret that as: I’m soft, I’ve lost my competitive edge, I’m not very confident. But they really don’t understand; and I’m hoping throughout the Olympics and Vancouver that they see that I am still very competitive, and that you can be a Christian and still be a competitive person.

How about you?  Can it be tough to balance being a Christian and being competitive?  Does knowing if an athlete is Christian change to way you root for them in an event?

(This video came from the website Beyond the Ultimate which has a list of Christian Olympians and features their stories.)

Leading up to this year’s Super Bowl, there was some controversy about a pro-life ad from Focus on the Family.  The commercial featured Heisman Trophy Winner Tim Tebow and his mom Pam, who  talked about her decision not to have an abortion (without actually saying the word abortion).   Pro-choice groups criticized CBS for accepting the ad, which was the first “political” ad the network ever approved for the big game.

So what did you think?  Was the ad effective?  Did it live up to the hype?

(Reminder: Quick Thought comments should be short.  Maybe a few sentences but no more than 100 words or so.)

Last week, I watched every episode of Conan O’Brien’s The Tonight Show, all of David Letterman’s monologues, two full episodes of Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, and various viral bits from other shows. But the thing is: I never watch late night talk shows except for bits I find online. So why did I watch? Why was I drawn into all the drama of the NBC late night debacle?

I’ve been trying to answer that for myself.  I read an entry on NPR’s Monkey See blog where writer Linda Holmes put the matter well: “These are late-night shows that most people don’t watch; it’s the difference between two relatively similar hosts doing relatively similar things, neither of whom has been setting the world on fire lately, so … who cares?”

Great question. Reading through the possible draws that Holmes identified (we all relate to inner-office tensions, we love a common villain, etc.), I found that none of them really seemed to be what truly resonated with me. And it took me until this morning to put my finger on why I cared. Without being too dramatic, I think it boiled down to my innate desire for justice. Someone was being wronged, an underdog was fighting for his life, and I wanted the wrongs righted. I wanted to see “good” prevail. Could this red-haired David take on the Goliath network oppressing him?

Of course, there are greater injustices in the world (and in our neighborhoods). However, this was a pursuit for justice, a quest for fair judgment that was safe and far less uncomfortable than watching news footage from Haiti or fighting modern slavery. Just like why I love underdog sports movies and action movies, I want justice done, I want the little guy to win and I long for justice—but self-tellingly in a safe, tidy way.

How about you? Did you get sucked into NBC’s late-night skirmish? If so, what drew you in?

A while back, I read about an interesting experiment on PhilCooke.com.

Worried about the real motivation of TV evangelists, Mary Hutchinson, a veteran in direct mail and fundraising, tested several TV ministries by sending them $20 and a letter asking how to accept Christ.

“After 45 days, I had heard from more than 95% of them,” she wrote to Cooke. “But sadly, less than 25% addressed my question about salvation in a direct, easy to understand manner. If we are really about evangelism, how could this be?”

Reading about Hutchinson’s experiment reminded me of my own exercise this fall: watching 3 hours of primetime programming a night on Trinity Broadcasting Network for a full week. I wanted to get a first-person understanding of what TBN’s all about. Like Hutchinson, I certainly witnessed that money is indeed important to the several TV evangelists who’d supplement their televised sermons with hard sales pitches for their books, CDs, or DVDs. Hey, I understand needing to raise funds and wanting to get your message out, but these sales pitches were often just the tip of the iceberg when it came to mixing money and ministry.

While I’ve long heard claims of prosperity gospel teaching on TBN, I saw it confirmed in my week of watching. Many pastors paying to air their programs on TBN taught that God provides blessings—in the form of material and money—to those he favors.

One pastor on Benny Hinn’s program suggested I’d get a special “financial anointing” if I bought a specific Bible he’d printed. Joel Osteen disputed claims that he’s a prosperity minister—but declared he also isn’t a “poverty minister.” (I think Paul was one of those. And Jesus, too.) Other shows, like Creating Your World with Dr. Mark Chironna, weren’t clearly about seeking riches, but instead focused on using faith to be successful—sort of a Bible-based motivational self-help speech.

What I found most troubling was the message that God would look more favorably on me—and maybe love me more?—if I did certain things. On an episode of Behind the Scenes, TBN co-founder Paul Crouch led a study of John 15:1-10. He said that unanswered prayers are a result of not bearing fruit for the Lord. “I have an easy way for you to be a fruit bearer,” he said. “Pick up your phone” and give to TBN. His wife, Jan, added that God “will meet every need you have.” In other words: God is not answering your prayers because you need to do something. And that something is donating to TBN.

I heard this message at the wrong time. During my week of TBN watching, I was coincidentally going through a tough time of personal loss—a time where it was clear that weeks of desperate prayers had not been answered the way I wanted. And so, hearing it suggested that my prayers would be answered if I’d only given money to TBN, or done anything, burnt deep. My prayers go unanswered because I haven’t done enough for God? God will not bless me if I don’t pray enough, give enough or do enough?

That’s not the God I know. In fact, doesn’t this sound a lot like the argument that suffering and blessing fall differently on the righteous and unrighteous made by Job’s misguided friends?

One of the tough parts of my TBN watching was knowing what to believe out of the mouths of these fellow Christians. I was getting a lot of information and interpretation, but could I trust the source?  After all, when a host equates her excitement for the second coming with her excitement for DVD she was selling, I can’t help but question authenticity and sincerity. And so, I forced myself to “test everything” (1 Thess. 5:21) as I watched. I worry some TBN viewers are not as discerning.

I am happy to report, though, that my fifteen hour TBN experiment ended on a good note. On an episode of Praise the Lord, Paul Jr. started the show by saying, self-knowingly, “Tonight, I’m not offering any CDs or DVDs, but just talking about a man, Christ Jesus.”

Before one fateful week this fall, I’d never watched a minute of the Trinity Broadcasting Network (TBN). All I knew was what I’d read, heard or glimpsed while channel surfing—headlines about mixing money and ministry, a reputation for being cheesy, a talk-show set with golden thrones, and some woman with big pink hair.

I was intrigued by the network, though, when I read that according to Nielsen ratings, TBN is the most watched religious channel in the U.S. (it also reaches 74 other nations). The 36-year-old ministry claims to serve an average of five million households every week during prime time. Well, make that five million and one, at least for one November week when challenged myself with a Julie/Julia-type experiment to watch three full hours of primetime TBN programming for 5 straight nights.

A snapshot of my week: I laughed aloud at something cheesy and unintentionally funny 10 minutes into my first hour of watching. On night two, I spotted the pink hair. By night three my wife decided I was officially crazy because I wasn’t giving up this experiment. She’d often walk by me on the couch and shake her head. On night four, I paused the DVR to run upstairs. When I came down, my wife was watching TBN on her own—and without being forced by any silly dedication to an experiment.

Yes, I was happy my week of forced viewing was over when I completed those 15 hours on Friday night. I’d seen some cheesy stuff. I’d listened to pastors who certainly mixed money and ministry.  But I’ll admit that I was pleasantly surprised by some programs. I liked Precious Memories with Bill Gaither (Tuesdays, 9:30/8:30c), which aired a Johnny Cash documentary, and Kingdom Connection (Mondays, 9/8c), featuring sermons of Jentezen Franklin, a talented storyteller. I enjoyed Ancient Secrets of the Bible (Wednesdays, 9/8c)—specifically, an episode about the alleged 1917 Virgin Mary appearances in Fatima.

It became clear very early on to me that while most of TBN primetime is pay-to-play, the network’s two self-produced shows, Behind the Scenes and Praise the Lord, showcase what can work best on TBN. Praise the Lord, a variety program of music and interviews, featured thoughtful guests with admirable stories and Behind the Scenes gives viewers a background look at the network with interviews of those involved.

What these two shows had in common was simply telling the stories of God’s people. On Behind the Scenes, Paul Crouch, Jr. (subbing for his father), conducted two inspiring interviews: One with an 82-year-old woman who parachuted out of a plane to raise awareness (and money) for a TBN affiliate, the other with a former Muslim (now Christian) who discussed evangelism in an intelligent, respectful way. Moments like this are the true heart of TBN—a passion to share Christ with the world.

Do you watch TBN? Why or why not? What shows do you like? What have you found there that troubles you or supports your faith?