I am currently out of town, so I invited my incredibly talented
daughter to share some of her thoughts with us. –Lisa
If your eye causes you
to stumble, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life
with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into the fires of hell.
–Matthew 18:9
Last week, my mom discussed the dangers of growing
acclimated to our world, with its glorification of sin and depravity. But we
all enjoy entertainment, and to abstain from all TV, movies, music and books is
nearly impossible (and, if taken to an extreme, detrimental). This week, I
would like to share some of my thoughts on how to set biblically-based
guidelines for the kinds of things we watch, read, and listen to.
Before I continue, let me say that I am fairly young, and I
have little experience setting godly entertainment standards for children. I haven’t had to weed through the morass of children’s
entertainment, pluck out a few gems, and set standards my kids will abide by. But as a young adult, I have had to decide for myself what things I want to put
in my mind. I have had to set my own standards and abide by them no matter
what.
When I set those standards, I went to the Bible first.
Philippians 4:8 seemed a good verse to use as a guide. However, the first thing
I noticed about that verse—and I believe you’ve noticed it too—is that it is
open to quite a bit of interpretation. What does “true” mean? Does it mean
“describes an event that actually happened, without fabrication,” or does it
mean “expresses views in accordance with God’s truth”? “Pure” could mean “free
from filth,” or it could mean “expresses a godly view of filth.” “Excellent or
praiseworthy” might mean anything from “won an Oscar” to “had a good production
editor” to “my friend Kevin said it was awesome.”
With all those different directions to follow, it seems a
few biblically-based filters might be in order.
Content
The first thing to ask when looking at entertainment should
be the same as what you ask about a mystery dish at a potluck: “What’s in it?”
For movies, TV shows, and music, Pluggedin.com is an excellent resource. Their
reviewers watch movies and TV shows and listen to music, all the while keeping
tabs on instances of sexual content, violence, profanity, spiritual (both pro-
and anti-Christian) and any other potentially negative content, like gross-outs
and disrespect of authority. It might seem odd to see “Several women wear
low-cut tops” listed as sexual content, but the reviewers list everything that
might be considered objectionable and allow readers to decide for themselves
what they want to endure. The conclusion of each review summarizes the reviewer's reaction to the movie.
Sadly, I have not found a comparable review site for books.
A good alternative is to visit sites like Amazon.com and Goodreads.com, and browse the one- and two-star reviews on a book you are thinking about
reading. (Most spoilers are marked as such, so they can be avoided.) Many of the longer reviews list the reviewer’s reasons for disliking
it; and with a little digging, it is possible to piece together a picture of
the book’s content. If a one-star review criticizes the author’s fondness for
gore, or her negative view of religion, or the fact that the book romanticizes
an extramarital affair, then you might want to skip it.
Context
Once you know what’s in a movie or book or TV show, the next
thing to investigate is why it is there. A violent movie might not glorify
violence, and a movie with prostitutes might not glorify prostitution.
For example: Taken (PG-13)
features violent shootouts, scantily-clad prostitutes (many of whom are clearly
on drugs) a handful of swear words, a morbidly obese sheik who buys prostitutes
by the dozen, and a man who tricks young women into a life of prostitution by
offering to split a cab with them. Yet it is nothing if not moral. It follows
Bryan Mills, a former CIA operative, who journeys to France when his daughter
is kidnapped by an Albanian prostitution ring. The drug-addled prostitutes are abused and imprisoned against their will, and kept drugged to make
them more compliant; the “spotter” who tricks women into the prostitution ring
is held in contempt; and the sheik is presented as an object of disgust. (He also has very
little screen time.) Threaded through all this is the inspiring story of a
father’s love for his daughter—a love that compels him to risk everything for
her. Is Taken for everyone? No, but
if I met a person who enjoys thrillers, I would certainly recommend it.
On the other hand, a story that features Christian
characters may not portray Christianity in a positive light. There are many
such movies out there, none of which I have seen but all of which earned a
decided thumbs-down from Plugged In: Saved!
(PG-13) portrays Christians as judgmental hypocrites; and Easy A (PG-13) features a sanctimonious
Christian girl as the villain. Contrast those movies with Because of Winn-Dixie (PG) which presents faith in God as normal and
even healthy; and The Gospel (PG), a modern retelling of the Prodigal Son parable where Christians are flawed people
working for the ultimate good of other flawed people.
This next part should go without saying, but I’ll say it
anyway: If a movie, book, TV show, or CD portrays negative content in a
positive light, it should be avoided. Movies like The Hangover, shows like Family
Guy, and artists like Lil’ Wayne should not be consumed as a regular part
of a Christian’s entertainment diet. Why would you want to watch a movie or
listen to a song glorifying the very things Jesus died to cleanse you of?
Effect on You
This is the most subjective filter of all, and as such
requires the most discernment. Before setting standards for your entertainment
choices, you should know yourself. What are your weaknesses? Do you struggle
with lust or tendencies toward revenge? Are you trying to give up a bad habit,
like swearing or smoking? And don’t say you’re a strong believer with no weaknesses. Everyone has weaknesses, and denying them only makes them
worse.
Once you know your weaknesses, avoid entertainment choices
that glorify or exacerbate them. Burn
Notice is an excellent example. The story of a former spy who tries to
piece his life back together while using his skills to help ordinary people, it
does have a decent moral center. It also features quite a few bikini-clad beach
beauties, always shown in passing, though a female character often dons a
bikini of her own. (I suspect the producers set the show in Miami for that very
reason.) If you do not struggle with lust, Burn
Notice could be harmless fun. If you do struggle with lust, you might want
to find another show to watch.
Another thing to keep in mind is worldview. This one is
trickier, because it is often difficult to pin down. Most books and shows don’t
carry a title card announcing a Judeo-Christian, postmodern, hedonistic, or
humanistic worldview (though that might be helpful). However, it is possible to
guess the worldview based on how characters solve problems, interact with one
another, and the like. Do people sleep around with few, if any, consequences?
The worldview is almost certainly hedonistic. Do even the “good guys” do
terrible things without regret? You probably have a postmodern show on your
hands. Are characters shown as capable of perfecting themselves without God?
The writer is probably a humanist. Are wrongs righted, even at great personal
cost, while those who willfully do wrong are shown as deserving punishment? The
worldview is most likely Judeo-Christian, at least in part.
Now, here’s the big question: Should Christians enjoy
entertainment that does not present a Judeo-Christian worldview?
For my answer, I refer to Acts 15: 23-29. Here, Paul settles
a dispute between Jewish and Gentile believers over whether the latter should
be circumcised by instructing them to “abstain from food sacrificed to idols,
from blood, from strangled meat, and from sexual immorality.” Now, sexual
immorality is clearly wrong, but why tell them to avoid eating meat sacrificed
to idols? And why put that restriction on Gentile believers, but say nothing of
it to Jewish believers?
To understand why Paul told them to abstain from those
things, a little context is in order. In those days, meat was often left in the
temple of a pagan god or goddess as a sacrifice. At the end of the day, the
meat was collected by the priests and, since they couldn’t eat all of that meat
themselves, sold in the market at a discount. Paul knew that idols had no power
over the meat—the idol was nothing but dead stone, and the meat was just meat.
Gentile believers, however, came from a culture where those idols were revered
as all-powerful, all-knowing deities. Steeped as they were in that reverence
for idols, it may have been difficult for them to abandon that reverence when
eating meat sacrificed to one. Even though they worshipped God, it could not
have been easy for them to let go of all the negative trappings of their pagan
culture. Eating meat sacrificed to a pagan god could have been a Gentile
believer’s first step toward backsliding.
I believe that worldviews work much the same way. What you
can stand depends on your background, your personality, and your weaknesses.
Keep all this in mind as you set standards for entertainment—and check those
standards against the Word. If you come across something you’re not sure of,
ask a friend, parent, or pastor what they think.
Navigating the world of entertainment in our era isn’t easy,
and it never will be. But if you set godly standards and stick to them, you
should be able to find entertainment you can enjoy with a clean conscience.
Finally, brothers and
sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is
pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or
praiseworthy—think about such things.—Philippians 4:8
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