www.DoYouKnowWhy.org
Entertainment
Entertainment is a very important consideration for our spiritual lives as Christians. Many Christians will honor God with their lips one day a week, and dishonor Him the rest of the week. They do this through the choices they make in how they spend their free time; the activities and entertainment choices they make in music, movies, magazines and books.
Matthew 15:8 "These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me".
Do you consider God when you make entertainment choices? Would you invite Jesus to join you in what you watch, listen to, or read? ! am writing this section after the opening weekend of a major movie release.
The reviews for this movie indicated there are over 400 F-bombs, and reviewers classified the movie similar to what porn movies were in the past. This movie made a huge profit the first weekend, meaning that a very large number of people spent money to see it. Considering the amount of people who saw it, there were undoubtedly many Christians who saw it as well.
I saw a movie in 2009, which was a remake of what was an excellent movie in the 70s. I didn't check the review before I saw it because I thought that due to the major actors starring in it, it would be acceptable. I should have checked the reviews. While the plot and just about everything else of the movie was done very well, there was so much profanity that it was a major distraction to the movie. I checked the review after I had seen it and the review indicated there were over 100 F-bombs in it. I left the theater thinking the way I would describe the movie as the following: “I’d like an order of F-bomb, and can you supersize it and throw in a side of movie?” I know that God was not honored by my watching the movie.
It has been proven that we become desensitized to what we choose to consume as we allow ourselves increased exposure to it. I remember hearing one of Pastor Wayne Stockstill's sermons broadcast. In the sermon he told of an experience he had. He told about going into a video rental store to rent a video. This was long before Redbox and Amazon. He found while he was there that the store rented adult videos. He also noticed the cashier was a woman who attended his church. He asked her "Does it bother you that they rent adult movies here?" She indicated that it used to, but it didn’t anymore. He then asked her, “Does it bother you that it doesn’t bother you anymore?” Do This illustrates how we become desensitized to things, and unfortunately many things in this world. How many things do we now accept that we would have avoided in the past?
Why Are Christian Women Watching 'Fifty Shades of Grey'?
www.christianpost.com/news/why-are-christian-women-watching-fifty-shades-of-grey-135272/
Desensitization Due to Media
https://childrensmedia2day.wordpress.com
Is Social Media Desensitizing Us?
www.theodysseyonline.com/social-media-desensitization
Parental Desensitization to Violence and Sex in Movies
http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/134/5/877.full
Quotes by Non-Christian Musicians - about Family, Christianity and Religion
www.thugexposed.com/satanism-music
Worldviews in the Movies
www.worldvieweyes.org/resources/CIY-Conference-Materials/WVs-in-movies.htm
A good list of questions to think of when watching movies, TV, commercials, listening to music, etc.
Do you think God is pleased when we choose entertainment that dishonors him? Remember GIGO - Garbage In, Garbage Out? Also remember what I mentioned earlier about the way we spend the limited resource of time,
"When we choose to spend time on one activity, we are automatically choosing not to spend that time on any other activity."
It is up to each of us to determine what we will fill our mind with. If we want to please God in our entertainment choices, we must be intentional in the choices we make. The Internet is a powerful tool enabling you to find information about the content of movies before you watch them. The first group of sites below review the content of most of the current movies and provide insight into the message/worldview promoted by the movie. The second group of sites provide a listing of different non-Christian music artists, and the similar styled Christian alternatives to the non-Christian artists/bands. How would you evaluate your entertainment choices? What entertainment choices would you change to honor God?
Sites Which Show Reviews for Movies and Music (Plugged In)
Movies
Plugged In
Movieguide
Christian Answers
www.christiananswers.net/spotlight
Music
Should a Christian listen to secular music?
www.gotquestions.org/secular-music.html
Christian Alternatives to Non-Christian Music
http://extreme-youth.com/Christian_music_comparison.html
Compare Christian and Mainstream Artists
www.thoughtco.com/compare-christian-and-mainstream-artists-708422
Secular Music Vs. Christian Music
ww.teenink.com/hot_topics/what_matters/article/372592/Secular-Music-Vs-Christian-Music
Lastly, what if you find yourself watching a movie or listening to something that you realize doesn’t honor God? You can always leave or turn it off. A Christian music group from the 80’s, Farrell and Farrell, had a song "People In A Box" (eluding to the people in the TV). The last verse in their song went,
“When will we learn that off is as easy to turn as on?”
I’ve walked out of a few movies in the past because I realized that to stay would not honor God. I’ve also wished that I had walked out of others but didn't. God will always honor your choices when you choose to honor Him. Here are the very insightful lyrics for the entire Farrell and Farrell song:
People In A Box
www.farrellandfarrell.com/images/PEOPLE%20IN%20A%20BOX.pdf
I did a Youtube search and found that someone had created a very good custom video for the song.
Farrell & Farrell - "People In A Box" - custom music video
www.youtube.com/watch?v=mA9DYdP2U6w
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