As our culture becomes less and less Christian, it is becoming more and more secular* (duh). The reality is that we are being bombarded by the media with fifty shades of everything that is undesirable. I’ll be focusing specifically on media in this post.
Some Christians shrug and say, “Jesus, yeah!” They then proceed without discretion and absorb everything our zeitgeist’s media produces (zeitgeist is German for “modern age”). Other Christians decide to lock themselves in sterilized rooms with a Bible and a glass of water. Both parties shake their heads at the other.
Who’s right? In short, neither. What does the Bible say about what we view and listen to?
To kick us off, I’ll give you Paul and Philippians 4:8, “Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think of these things.” (KJV)
What we think about (meditate on) is who we are. Our mind produces our thoughts, and therefore our words and actions. If all we are taking in is junk, that’s what we will meditate on. Garbage in, garbage out. And the media produces a lot of garbage.
However, that doesn’t mean to shun media. Jesus hung out with prostitutes and tax collectors, while the Bible contains rape and murder. We can be around things that aren’t always true, pure, holy, lovely (etc.), because Jesus was.
Wow, That Sure Helped
Okay, so I know those last two paragraphs seemed to contradict each other. Let me try again. The deciding factor on what I allow myself to watch and listen to is this: can I glorify God and keep Him first while I am engaging in this media?
For instance, there are certain movies that I know I can’t watch. The women show everything (and this is even before the bedroom scenes), people get murdered slowly/graphically, and everyone is cursing like crazy. I can’t say with a straight face that what I am meditating on allows me to put God first in my life.
As for music, it’s the same deal. Anything explicit goes out the window because of Philippians 4:8.
But how much is too much? That’s the thing for a lot of Christians, but there is a fundamental flaw with questions like that. The flaw is the mindset behind it.
Mindset: I want what makes me feel good.
Question: How much can I get away with?
Proper mindset: I want to glorify God.
Proper question: Will this (movie/song) allow me to do that?
For me, all R-rated movies are off the table (“The Last Samurai” being an exception). For PG-13 movies, I have to judge them individually*. The factors that ban music for me are explicit lyrics and lyrics that encourage explicit behavior.
That’s Better
Just like the end of the last post, I leave you with a warning. The left (liberalism) often tells you to accept whatever as long as you “have Jesus”. The right (conservatism) often gives you a list of do’s and don’ts. Neither is correct because they don’t deal with the heart.
In the Old Testament, God makes it clear that He cares more about the heart than laws. The first chapter of Malachi deals with mindless rule-following. At the same time, God calls us to obedience so that we can show we actually love Him. It’s too easy to pay lip-service.
*A great website for Christian movie reviews is Plugged In. They do the messy job of watching movies so you may not have to.
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