When the Robertsons, most famous for their television program, “Duck Dynasty,” first told members of their family and their friends they had decided to give the world of reality TV a try, the one thing they heard time and time again was, “don’t go to Hollywood.” Which is understandable advice when you realize just how morally bankrupt the entertainment industry is and how destructive it can be for those who enter it. It’s basically a giant blender that slice, dices, and chops your soul into oblivion. Don’t believe me? Look at what happened to actress Amanda Bynes, Lindsay Lohan, and many others. Nervous breakdowns a plenty.
However, God had other plans, providing the Robertsons with a response to the well-meaning advice. Wife of Willie Robertson, Korie Robertson, who is also the mother of Saide and John Luke, did an interview with CBN for their Faith vs. Culture program, where she revealed the Lord brought them to 2 Tim. 1:7.
Here’s more from CBN:
The New Testament passage reads, “For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline” (NLT).
“[God] says He will be with us wherever we go, so we just asked God’s favor on us, His protection [to be] on us,” she said. “God says to go into all the world. So whenever anybody asks me, ‘Should I get into entertainment as a believer?’ I’m like, ‘Yes, we need more people in entertainment. We need more light in that [industry].’”
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Newly released data from AllConnect found average internet users spends nearly seven hours a day looking at screens — a 60% increase from before the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. And children ages 8-10 are spending about six hours a day staring at screens, while 11- to 14-year-olds are using the internet for upwards of nine hours every day.
All that to say, Robertson realized there is immense power in the media industry. So why not leverage it for good?
“Whenever we started ‘Duck Dynasty,’ it wasn’t necessarily a faith show,” said Robertson, noting there was no way to “get around” talking about their Christian beliefs, though, “because it’s who we are.”
She then added, “The hope is that people might see our story and see our testimony and say, ‘Why is [your life] different? Why do you seem to have love, joy, peace, patience, kindness?’ That’s because we have the [Holy] Spirit living in us and we can tell [people] a little more about what Jesus has done for us. It’s not because we’re so great. It’s because we have the Spirit of God living in us and we try to live our lives that way.”
Robertson quickly realized they had an amazing opportunity to reach people with the message of Christ in a huge way by meeting them where they spend the vast majority of their time, which is behind a screen, whether that screen be on a TV, a phone, tablet, or computer. People on average only spend an hour or two a week at church, which is better than nothing of course, but in order to really give people a picture of what the Christian life looks like, you need to do life-on-life kind of discipleship.
The reality show gave the Robertson family an opportunity to make connections with people and show them what being a Christian looks like day-to-day. In fact, as the show continued, more than anything else the family did during each episode, it was the prayer delivered at the end of each show that really left an impact on folks.
“People would come up to us with tears and say, ‘My husband now goes to church because he saw real men who love Jesus,’ and, ‘Our kids will not let us eat before saying a prayer now, because of your show,’” Robertson recounted during the program. “So we just saw so powerfully how entertainment is shaping people and is changing people and how it can move people.’”
“You look back at Jesus and He told parables, He told stories because stories do move people and people relate in that way,” she went on to say, pointing out it was the response to the reality series that led the Robertsons to create and build their own production studio, Tread Lively, which produced “The Blind,” the feature film that chronicles the faith journeys of Phil and Kay Robertson, the patriarch and matriarch of the family.
The movie made its debut last year in theaters. You can watch it now on the Great American Pure Flix streaming service.