The Secret Life of the American Teenager

ABC family recently launched a new show called The Secret Life of the American Teenager, a show about a 15 year old girl who gets pregnant at band camp. She is the awkward teen who would be the one everyone would least expect to be in this situation.

Now, admittedly, I watched an episode one night because there wasn't much else on , and because it also stars Molly Ringwald. Yeah, I'm a dork.

So I won't go into a huge review of the show. It is moderately entertaining. I'm not sure how accurate it is for the current daily real life struggles of the American teen, since I was the one who was baffled at what was shown in Mean Girls that apparently was pretty accurate...

What I was not to thrilled with was the way that they portray the "Christian" family. There is one of the popular girls who is a Christian that has decided to not have sex before marriage. Good choice honey. But her Christian boyfriend doesn't really want to wait, sending him to a fairly promiscuous girl, and all kinds of trouble ensues. Now, I'm not upset that they show the real struggle even for the Christian kids. Its not like being a Christian takes away temptation or difficulties of self control.

What kind of made me sad though was the way the family was portrayed. They pretty much seem shallow and superficial, and incredibly hypocritical. I am most sad because this truly is the way many people view Christians. And the way many Christians live give them reason to.

I have begun reading the book unChristian. It makes the point that the way Christians are viewed by others typically can best be described as being "unChristian". We are manipulative, hypocritical, and fake. It is sad.

How do we change this? By changing the way we ourselves act. By being genuine. By being humble. By not making such a separation and thinking of ourselves as better than others.

"... don't think of yourselves more highly than you ought. Instead, think sensibly... Love must be without hypocrisy...Outdo one another in showing honor."

parts of Romans 12: 3 and 9

I love that whole chapter. What would it look life if instead of judging other people we would show them honor and love? What can you do to shift your thinking, and start living out love?

Maybe if we could do this there would be a different presence on the prime time TV set.