In the last few months, my wife and I have found some regular enjoyment watching Little House on the Prairie with Michael Landon.
I remember seeing it as a kid in the early 80’s but don’t have many specific memories of any of the episodes. Watching it now, as a believer, I’m shocked.
I know we like to say things like America never was a Christian nation, but when you consider how utterly offensive Little House on the Prairie would be to Today’s audience, we must reconsider.
The most controversial elements of the show, besides the occasional references to scripture and the prayers offered to what appears to be the God of the Bible, is the implied worldview. It is so utterly different from even most Christian programming.
I see strong evidences of Federal Headship, creation order, the Protestant work ethic, sin, repentance, and so many other elements completely foreign to our post-modern experience.
As I was watching it, I thought, they couldn’t even sell this to most evangelicals today, they wouldn’t buy it. But it’s for certain it’s not because it’s just unbelievable, but because it is too believable.
The normative moral failures that are addressed are complex heart issues that frankly indict it’s watchers, and presents transcendent means for repentance.
Anyways, I’m sure I’m overselling it. We have only watched the first season and the first episode of the second season. In this last episode we watched, the Mill that Engles works at goes bankrupt and fails to pay him for two months wages, and leaves him unable to pay a significant debt owed to the Olsen’s country store.
Ironically, yesterday our passage at Church was on James 5:1-12. The parallels were staggering.
I won’t even get into The Rifleman with Chuck Connors…I mean, seriously, the man exposits Job to his son after his wife dies, he’s dragged behind a horse, and his newly purchased house is burned to the ground.
Anyways, it’s seems to me, it certainly used to be acceptable to be a man, and a Christian one at that. Today the church could hardly tolerate such men, such men are too dirty, too hard, and too bold. Am I such a man? In some ways I suppose, but I have a lot of repenting to do.