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~~Truth, Love & Entertainment~~
I have always admired the way Paul
wrote. He spoke truths with conviction, and yet, he always
seasoned his messages with love. The thing that is hard to
remember for many Christians (like myself) is that truth and
love don’t have to be separate things, and that they should go
hand in hand. When we are convicted of something and feel the
need to share it, we need to share it in love. 1 John
3:14 says “We know that we have passed from death to life,
because we love our brothers.” With this in mind, I am going to
attempt to write with conviction, like Paul, and yet in love, as
a believer ought to…
I write this website because I love the
position God has put me in as a wife and mom, and I love that
there are so many women out there wishing to bless their
husbands and children in their position. I want this site to be
an encouragement to such women (you!), and I also want it to
challenge you where you are at. Not to condemn you or place
guilt trips on you, but to encourage you to press on and look to
His Word.
There is an area that my husband and I
were convicted of a few years ago, and that is entertainment.
We feel that in our family, we should no longer watch TV, and
that we should screen every movie we watch for sexual content,
vulgar language, etc. That God brought us to this place is
actually an amazing testimony.
I love visual media, and I think it is a
powerful tool. In college, I took a screenwriting class and 3
film classes. I have several screenplay ideas go through my
head every week. I have analyzed films (ones I wouldn’t dare
watch now!) and learned how visual media works, and how it makes
you think. I have learned (and wrote so many papers) about the
power of camera angles, and about how producers want the viewer
to feel that they are vicariously living through the
protagonist—doing the things that they do, even sinning in the
ways that they sin. (If you watch movies or TV, look for camera
angles where they are making you feel like you are seeing out of
that character’s eyes—where you don’t see the character, but you
see what they would see). I love analyzing movies, and there
are parts of me that would enjoy seeing every new movie that
comes out, to analyze the new filming styles, the artistic
camera angles, and more. With every movie we watch, I think of
at least one essay to write about it! I majored in English
Literature and after I took those film classes, dreamed of
“maybe someday” teaching about film at the college level. As
far as TV, I grew up in a home where it was almost always on.
“AM Northwest” was a morning staple, and evening staples
included “60 Minutes,” the news, and other prime time shows. I
got used to always having the TV on, and I liked it that way.
Likewise, my husband appreciates visual media. Before we were
married, he’d buy the newest, latest DVDs whenever he went to
Costco. This continued with us when we were first married, and
we didn’t see anything wrong with it. I watched Oprah, Dr.
Phil, and sometimes other shows, and really felt like I was
gaining some good information and things to talk about with
others.
When God convicted us that it was time to
turn off our TV, it was a big step for us, and we weren’t sure
we would be able to follow through. It was hard at first, but
we believed it would be best for our family. When we started
noticing the fruits we were bearing in our lives because of not
watching TV, it was suddenly easier to stay away. We were
fighting less—we were no longer being taught bad attitudes, and
we were not being shown poor representations of the marriage
relationship. We had more time with each other, and more time
to keep up our house, have people over and to start up other
ministries (like this one!). In fact, I started this website
soon after we decided to turn off our TV for good.
Since we have made this
change, we are increasingly sensitive to visual media that is so
commonly watched. My desire would be that all Christians reach
this level of sensitivity—that we not conform to the world in
its media habits, but that we would be transformed by renewing
our mind—by cleansing it from inappropriate visual media. Only
then will we be able to test and approve what God would desire
for our eyes (Romans 12:2). I believe that many believers out
there watch TV every day. And it is my conviction, because I
was once there, that when we spend time after time watching that
which is sinful, we will eventually not even realize it is
sinful anymore. I say this in love, because I want you all to
understand the transformation that God has brought us through
and the joy that we have because we are not watching TV any
longer. When we were watching TV, we believed that we were
sensitive to that which is sinful and wrong for us to watch. We
only watched shows that we considered to be “good” or “tame.”
We watched movies that we considered to be clean, and we
recommended them to others. Now, looking up some of those same
“favorite” movies on
Screenit.com,
we can see the bullet list of ungodliness that we as believers
should never be a part of. I challenge each of you to look up
some of the movies you’ve seen recently, and see what you’ve
been exposing yourself to. Go to
Screenit,
scroll to the bottom and click “No Thanks” and then look under
“All Movies” for the movie title (in alphabetical order). Hold
up what you’ve been watching to the following verses:
“Be imitators of God, therefore, as
dearly loved children and live a life of love, just as Christ
loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and
sacrifice of God. But among you there must not be even a hint
of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity, or of greed,
because these are improper for God’s holy people. Nor should
there be obscenity, foolish talk, or coarse joking, which are
out of place, but rather thanksgiving. For this you can be
sure: No immoral, impure or greedy person—such a man is an
idolater—has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of
God. Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of
such things God’s wrath comes down on those who are
disobedient. Therefore do not be partners with them. For you
were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as
children of light (for the fruit of the light consists in all
goodness, righteousness and truth) and find out what pleases the
Lord. Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness,
but rather expose them. For it is shameful even to mention what
the disobedient do in secret.” Ephesians 5:1-12
All of this said, I feel as
though I might be “preaching to the choir” with many of you
ladies. I need to address those of you who are in the same boat
as me—those of you who do not watch TV or movies that have
improper content—and who have the same desire for all
Christians. We need to be careful that by our convictions, we
do not divide brothers and sisters in Christ. A friend of mine
lovingly pointed out to me that “In the same verses from
Galatians 5 that warn against immorality, impurity and
sensuality, it also warns again disputes, dissentions, and
factions.” Please read the following verses:
“Now the deeds of the
flesh are evident, which are: immorality, impurity,
sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy,
outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions,
envying, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these, of which
I forewarn you, just as I have forewarned you, that those who
practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. But
the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness,
goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such
things there is no law. Now those who belong to Christ Jesus
have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we
live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit. Let us not
become boastful, challenging one another, envying one another.”
Galatians 5:19-26
Let us not cause divisions
among believers. Let’s not think of believers as “the TV
watchers” and “the ones like us.” Rather, we are all one in
Christ. We are to love one another, and as 1 John 3:14 says “We
know that we have passed from death to life, because we love our
brothers.” This is more important than being right—or proving
our point—or getting other believers to feel convicted about the
same things we have been convicted of. That is the Holy
Spirit’s job, not ours, our job is to love them. Share truth?
Yes. Share what we’ve been convicted of? Yes. Love?
Absolutely—first and foremost.
And for those of you
who are still wondering about the TV and movies you watch, I
urge you to be praying about it. Read Scripture, about the
lifestyles and choices that are/aren’t acceptable for
believers. If something isn’t acceptable for a believer to be a
part of, would it be acceptable to watch? As you wrestle with
these issues, seek Him. J
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