How Often Are You a Spectator?

By “Awake!” correspondent in Australia

IF YOU are a spectator, then you are wanted! Your time is wanted, your money is wanted and sometimes your actual presence is wanted. You are an indispensable part of investments and organizations involving millions of dollars.

Sports and entertainment events require spectators. The electrifying atmosphere surrounding a football, soccer or baseball match would be nonexistent without thousands of cheering, chanting onlookers. How the players respond to the crowd’s enthusiasm! Spectators also provide needed funds for renting facilities and paying the players, entertainers and officials. Moreover, there is usually enough left over for promoters to take home a sizable profit.

When it comes to television, spectators are all important. How television stations vie for the highest audience ratings! The results of advertising, as well as the income from advertisers, are very much affected by the number of viewers.

Gaining Your Attention

At times we all would like a change of pace, to enjoy some entertainment or relaxation. The challenge facing the sporting and entertainment world is to capture our attention.

One of the best ways to do this is to get us emotionally involved. If we take sides in a sporting event, for instance, then we are far more likely to watch the event through to its finish. In an effort to win fans, the sports and entertainment industries publish much literature about the personalities involved—be they sporting champions or “pop” stars. If the spectators really get to know the players or entertainers, along with their ups and downs, their hopes and disappointments, then emotions become involved. And as noted by a wise student of human behavior: “The mouth speaks what the heart is full of.” (Luke 6:45, Today’s English Version) So people frequently talk about why a certain team won or lost its last game, what will happen at the next, who is on the team and why certain others are not. Or fans may discuss what entertainers like and dislike, where they are and what they are doing. This habit is so ingrained in some teen-agers that they speak of “loving” certain entertainers, though they have never even met them.

Advertising goes a long way to gain our interest too. Intriguing or exciting excerpts of television or movie programs are shown to “whet your appetite.” Write-ups in newspapers and magazines heighten interest and curiosity.

Keeping Your Interest

Once a spectator’s interest and attention are gained they must be kept. Use of excitement, suspense and curiosity are some ways in which to do this.

The feeling that “something might happen” in the next moment keeps many a viewer glued to a sporting event. A home run or a goal may be scored, or a knockout punch delivered. If one is to see it when it happens, one has to keep watching.

Many crime and suspense programs work on the same principle. A crime takes place or looks like it will happen. Who really is the culprit? How will it be solved? Will someone escape or be killed? With the viewer’s curiosity and emotions involved, there is a compelling desire to keep watching, even though other matters may be crying for attention.

Some presentations focus on the natural interest of people in fellow humans. TV programs feature the same characters in different situations or in a continuing story. The characters can become real to the viewer. He becomes emotionally involved in the events portrayed and has a strong desire to watch the next episode. Before long a person finds himself devotedly setting time aside to view that program.

Are you a spectator much of your spare time? What have been the results to you personally? If watching sports events or other entertainment is merely a means of relaxation, that could be fine. We all need some relaxation. But are you really relaxed afterward? Or do you find yourself frustrated and irritable if in your favorite sports team failed to win? Are you tense and sleepless after an exciting late-night movie? Are you perhaps dissatisfied with the “emptiness” of the entertainment?

Are you controlling your entertainment or is it controlling you? Do you find yourself a spectator because you have been working hard and really feel the need for a break, or is it just an easy way to spend time, requiring neither effort nor thinking ability?

What about the standard of conversation your family? In some homes when the TV is operating, everyone has to keep “worshipful silence.” In others, father may be absorbed in his classical music in the living room, while his teen-age daughter listens to the latest “hit” records in her bedroom. The family regularly may scatter for entertainment in different directions, so that little communication is possible anyway. When families spend little time talking together, sharing viewpoints and experiences, it contributes to a serious breakdown in domestic relationships.

Decisions to Be Faced

Usually the decision is not whether we should be spectators or not, for we are all spectators to some extent in life, even if we are just watching someone learn how to accomplish something. Rather, it is a question of what is being watched, how often and for how long.

Of course, there are times when we should not be spectators, or not stop at just being spectators. For example, when there is a fire or an accident, human curiosity often leads many to crowd around, which can hamper others’ efforts to assist unfortunate victims.

Too, a person could consider whether personally participating in an activity instead of just watching others may be of more value to him. (Note 2 Chronicles 7:1-3.) Some find playing a sport with family members or friends refreshing for mind and body. Others enjoy a hobby or craft, or making something that can be enjoyed by others. This can bring a feeling of satisfaction and accomplishment that one seldom obtains as a spectator. It also results in a special happiness that comes only to persons who practice giving.—Acts 20:35.

Christians must set aside ample time for involvement in spiritual activities. Personal reading or discussion of the Bible or related literature is refreshing and stimulating. It contributes to a person’s peace of mind. Sharing the good things of God’s Word with others is stimulating both physically and mentally. It upbuilds all involved, including the recipients. Sharing in this activity together strengthens family ties and provides a unique joy.

So, after spending an evening or even an hour as spectators, we all do well to ask ourselves: Was that time well spent? Have I benefited in some way? What else could I or should I have done? Remembering that “each one of us will render an account for himself to God,” we want to use our time and our lives in the best way possible. The extent to which we spend time as spectators affects our present happiness and satisfaction in life, and our future too.—Rom. 14:12; Gal. 6:7.