Abingdon Youth

By John Gocke

The recent demise of John Ritter (a distant relative of mine) has had the usual flash of media homage to his contributions as an artist. The chief social impact many remember him for was on the sitcom Three’s Company where his character, called Jack Tripper, lived with 2 girls and pretended to be gay so the conservative landlord would not evict him. At that time it was still not socially acceptable for men and women to live together out of wedlock. The show poked fun at societal mores and garnered lots of laughs, especially from Junior High kids like myself at the time. We got used to laughing at what was supposedly immoral and accepted it as okay after all.

A lot of years have passed since 1977 when I watched Three’s Company, and a lot of sitcoms have gone up and down the Nielsen ratings as well. A number of TV shows have prided themselves in “pushing the envelope” of what is acceptable in society and when they no longer are pushing the envelope like they used to another sitcom rises up to take the torch and run to the next level. Think of how many shows have gone well beyond the antics of apartment sharing Three’s Company and pushed society into laughing at and accepting new standards of sexuality, grossness, and nudity.

I have grown older and accepted a lot more as normative since the 70’s, 80’s and 90’s have thrown vast amounts of programming at me to consume. Since I have consumed not only entertainment but also a fair share of Latte’s over time, I have to exercise daily to stay in decent shape. I am fortunate enough to work at a place that provides a gym for the employees to use. For the past year I have arrived early each morning to my workplace to have a sweaty workout and follow that up with a hot shower in the large communal shower area. Since the shower area is only cleaned roughly every six-months, I noticed shortly after my workout routine started that several varieties of mold were flourishing in the corners. I would guess the showers haven’t been cleaned in this century

One morning I saw that a burly cockroach had succumbed in a moldy corner of the shower room. That day I was extremely grossed out by the oversized carcass and stayed clear of that side of the room barely being able to quickly take a shower. I wasn’t going to touch him and it seems that the “cleaning crew” missed their opportunity as well. In the weeks to come I noticed with some disgust that a leg would occasionally fall off and join the dust of the floor. It was nasty but didn’t stop me from taking my shower. Several months passed and the mold was beginning to make my skin itch if I showered for more than a few minutes, and Chico (that was the name I gave the cadaver of the cockroach) had moved all around the room due to being occasionally kicked by unwary shower takers. I was grossed out, but not enough to do anything but step around him. The abused critter had lost all of his appendages and wings in just a few months of wear and tear. Over time I kind of looked forward each morning to Chico greeting me after an exhilarating workout and watching over my towel as I showered. When I reached a new weight goal or made it to five miles on the treadmill he was there to celebrate with me. I know he would have given me a high five if he had had an arm.

When my health was finally at risk, I emailed the building manager and asked for mercy and that the room be cleaned. Chico was becoming an unhealthy feature of my everyday life. After the shower was cleaned, I noticed that the tile was actually green instead of black. The room was much brighter and the itching went away too. Shower time changed drastically for the better though I missed my cute buddy.

John Ritter brought a roach into our living rooms in 1977 with his early sitcom and it became cute and a part of our lives when we laughed at him. We accepted him living with two girls and went on with our lives. Hosts of other sitcoms have placed mold here and there in our living rooms and roaches at our feet with their envelope pushing and we laughed despite ourselves. After time, we not only are used to their dirtiness, but also think it is an integral part of our lives. Can you think of the many roaches of anti-biblical values that popular sitcoms have given us over the years?

John Ritter was a decent guy by Hollywood standards but how many roaches have to be lying at our feet before we call for sanitation services to clean the whole room. Can we get used to a clean house instead of tolerating all of the mold?

Colossians 2:8
See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this world rather than on Christ.

John Gocke is a veteran of youth ministry, having worked in various churches in Southern California and for Al Menconi Ministries, based in Carlsbad, California. John holds an MA in Theology from Point Loma Nazarene University and currently works on the staff of www.ileadyouth.com.

Other articles by John Gocke:
Eleven Signs of a Successful Youth Minister.
Dealing with sharing your office.
Christian Pirates?
Saying what you really think!
Cures for the Summertime Attendance Slump
Going Back in Time
The Epic Struggle Between Youth Pastors and Senior Pastors
You and Conan the Barbarian
A King Josiah-Kind of Christian
Fantasizing About Violence: Violent Video Games Promote Aggressive Behavior In Youth
Chico the Roach
Are you a Batman or Superman Christian?
Ten Skills They Don’t Teach You in Seminary
Teach your youth grace-not just mercy this Christmas
Five reasons you should encourage your youth to experience Christian music
Secular prophets in the business world and their lessons for us
Hollywood Secrets for Your Next Youth Meeting

Brought to you by your youth ministry colleagues at Cokesbury.

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