The world we live in is rapidly changing. The world my parents grew up with is not the same as the world I have grown up with. And it scares me to imagine the world that my kids will grow up with.
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Leave it to Beaver debuted in 1957, showcasing a young boy and his adventures around the neighborhood. The television show highlighted the life of the Cleaver family and typically showed Beaver getting into trouble and then facing his parents for reprimand and correction. What’s fascinating about the show to me is looking at it now 57 years later. What is shown on TV is simply nothing like what was on at that time.
Did you know the first episode of Leave it to Beaver almost didn’t air? It was too controversial.
Why?
Wall and Beaver in this episode purchased an alligator for $2.50 and needed to then decide to hide it so as not to be caught with a living alligator in the house. Then comes the conflict...
"We were going to put it in the toilet because we knew alligators needed water," Mathers said. "At that time, you not only couldn't show a toilet, you couldn't show a bathroom on television. It was prohibited.” - FoxNews Entertainment
And what about the sleeping arrangements?
June and Ward have two twin beds in their bedroom. In 1957, it was far too controversial to suggest that a married couple shared a bed together.
Fast forward to 2014...
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Things have changed a bit. And this isn’t to suggest that our world is going to hell because of shows like Modern Family. And certainly not to say that Modern Family is of the devil… I love Modern Family. But I just want to highlight, what is socially acceptable in our culture.
This can be scary depending on the world you grew up in.
But regardless it is important. Because the world we are trying to reach is a world that is growing up with Modern Family, Family Guy, and the Walking Dead. The commonly held values are changing, the way people talk are changing, and the way people understand right and wrong are changing.
But not everything is changing.
While culture changes, people really don’t.
The most basic needs that people haven’t are really any different. People still are born with the same problem. People are still all curved inward upon themselves and seek their own wants and desires. People still don’t naturally have the desire to choose the things of God. And people still seek to find hope, joy, and satisfaction in all kinds of things that are not God.
The difference in today’s culture?
People are okay talking about these things and sometimes even celebrating them.
But sin, that’s always been around. The sins that are being celebrated, these have always been around. There’s nothing new. People have the same problems and the same sins; culture is just revealing those problems in a new way.
And if people don’t really change, what people need is also the same. The message of our culture is the same message that was given for all cultures throughout history.
But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!” So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God - Galatians 4:4-7