Entertainment and the Christian

 I have been in church for 25 years or so, and in that time I have heard many a man tackle the idea of 'standards' in regards to entertainment. Books have been written, and seminars have been taught. While in Bible Institute, I actually took an entire class on appropriate Christian music. I have heard men lament the latest TV show or the latest movie.   I have heard men slander and besmirch all manner of music, picking on vocal techniques and chord progressions, railing on beats and meter, criticizing one instrument over another.  Some apply the idea of 'guilt by association', dismissing entire categories and genres or the products of an entire corporation because of one area of malfeasance. Some use illustrations or anecdotes  that I've heard from so many different men under so many different sermons that they have acquired the status of a Christian urban legend. And most of the time I have sat back and wondered; if an alien dropped down from Mars and asked me why 'X' or "Y' was so harmful, or why X and Y were so harmless, could I take a Bible and "prove all things" ?

  There are entertainments that are inappropriate for a Christian to be involved in.  Only the insensible  would argue otherwise. There is a line out there somewhere. But where we might disagree is where to draw the line.There are a lot of reasons why that would be, but I think the most prominent one is that , while a lost person has no appetite for spiritual things, every saved person has a certain amount of appetite for carnal things, and frankly, we will defend what we love.  So let's establish , in the forefront that just because you or I like something or enjoy something or find something to be harmless doesn't mean it is.  It doesn't mean it's not.  Since we can't trust our own opinions necessarily, it behooves us to , to the best of our ability, take a Bible and view even our own prejudices through that lens , praying for discernment and courage as we do.  The Christian life is a life that requires courage, and though this treatise is by no means exhaustive, hopefully it's complete enough to cast your appetites and mine in the proper light.

  The Bible says in 1 John 5:19-20 "And we know that we are of God, and the whole world lieth in wickedness. And we know that the Son of God is come, and hath given us an understanding, that we may know him that is true, and we are in him that is true, even in his Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God, and eternal life."  Gen. 8 informs us that, from God's perspective "the imagination of man's heart is evil from his youth". A man with a Bible is given the insight that the whole world is broken; a fallen, tainted creation and that even the good things of life are not beyond the subtle warping that man's fall brings to it.  Outside of God's word, everything you've ever seen, tasted, touched, listened to, every person you've ever met, bears in them a certain amount of corruption, and that statement has been true since Genesis 3. Gods words are "pure words", which implies that yours aren't, and never were. "God is not a man, that he should lie" implies that "all men are liars", and always have been.  If you take the position that music was good until the 1950's or that TV was OK until Andy Griffith went off the air, I submit to you that you might not understand the world you live in. Almost anything can have a case built against it, and God knows that. God also knows that you have to live here, at least for now. We are told in 1 Corinthians not to keep company with fornicators and then the very next verse acknowledges that the only way to completely observe that would be to "go out of the world".  Completely isolating yourself from carnal things is somewhere between impractical and impossible, and yet a certain amount of separation is necessary and a claim that 'it was hard' won't wash at the Judgment Seat of Christ. Knowing all this, how do we balance things out?  Where do we draw the line in our personal lives?

  For starter, in 1 Cor 6 :12, the Bible says "All things are lawful unto me, but all things are not expedient; all things are lawful for me, but I will not be brought under the power of any."   Now 'expedient' is an interesting word. Consider an athlete preparing for a competition. Is he 'allowed' to eat an Oreo? It's not against any 'law', and one or two isn't going to wreck him, but it also isn't going to help him do the thing he says he wants to do. It will slow him down, weaken him by whatever degree that it does, and with enough extra work he might be able to withstand or overcome what the Oreo does, but it's 'expedient' for him to stay away from something he is technically allowed to have.

  I submit unto you that the first principle we should consider in evaluating our entertainment (or anything else) is not whether or not it's lawful, but rather whether or not it's expedient.  Does it help me be what God has commanded me to be or do I have to work extra hard in other areas to overcome the damage it does? Am I actually DONG the extra work necessary to overcome it?

 Another principle is found in the second part of the verse "..I will not be brought under the power of any." It's worth asking yourself the question; does the music I listen to or the media I watch or my favorite website, does it have any sort of power over me?  It's really difficult to do this without giving some examples (even though examples don't age well) so here we go.

  Do you understand that these social media companies literally hire people who study you in order to find ways to get you to log in and find ways to keep you logged in? Their entire business model is based on manipulation and addiction.  Is social media lawful for you? Yes--until it gets power over you, which it is literally designed to do.

  That phrase shows up again in 1 Cor 10:23 with an additional caveat; "but all things edify not." Once again, if we are honest, we have to examine the lawful things that we give ourselves to and ask whether or not they edify.  If they don't, then we might consider that we are paying a higher price for these things , in terms of our spirituality, than we reckoned.  The world is, after all, full of Oreos, whether they look like Oreos or not.

  In Matthew 13 we have a future event portrayed in parable form with an explanation given by Jesus.  Verse 41 says " The Son of man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity; And shall cast them into a furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth."  We have to deal with the text as it lies, the items gathered up fall into two categories; "all things that offend " and "them which do iniquity". At some future point during His earthly reign, the Lord Jesus is going to really clean house.  He won't be concerned about  'freedom of expression' or 'the peoples rights'; He will be concerned about what He wants and what He likes to the exclusion of literally everything else.  Mankind had its run, and now the one true King will be finally getting His way in the world that he made and among the people He created. It will be glorious.  

  It's not clear to me whether or not this is a one time cleansing or an ongoing process, and I'm not sure it matters.  If you offend Jesus, you're gone. I have often pondered how different the world will look with all things that offend God removed by force. How many books will no longer be sitting on the shelf? How many magazines will no longer be published? How many businesses will be shuttered for good?  How many TV shows will be off the air? How many singers will be out of a job?  Will there even be a Hollywood?  How many of the things that I enjoy will be gone?  And if they offend Jesus then, odds are they offend Jesus now. And if they offend Jesus now, why am I enjoying them?

   In Psalm 101, the Bible says  "I will sing of mercy and judgment: unto thee, O LORD, will I sing. I will behave myself wisely in a perfect way. O when wilt thou come unto me? I will walk within my house with a perfect heart. I will set no wicked thing before mine eyes: I hate the work of them that turn aside; it shall not cleave to me."  The Bible uses the term 'wicked' in two different ways; to identify a people and to  categorize their works. The Psalmist takes the stand that he won't watch what they do. In fact , he will purpose in his heart to hate what they do because  otherwise, it WILL affect him.  It will "cleave" to him.  The best biblical example of this is "just Lot" who, was a  "righteous man dwelling among them, in seeing and hearing, vexed his righteous soul from day to day with their unlawful deeds;)".  Lot's close proximity to the wicked and their ways led to horrible consequences for his family. It's worth noting that Abram didn't have that sort of trouble, even though he dwelt literally surrounded by pagans. Joseph also somehow avoided all that while a prisoner in Egypt. It's akin to Prov 22:3, to wit "A prudent man foreseeth the evil, and hideth himself: but the simple pass on, and are punished."  Are we putting wicked things before our eyes and hoping it won't cleave to us?  And what are the odds that we're wrong?

  Let me stop just for a moment to address something because it's something that gets said a lot in certain circles. I see no evidence from scripture that evil spirits inhabit questionable media. I really don't think there is a devil hiding in your DVD player or on some crummy website waiting to pounce. I just don't see it from scripture. Perhaps another study for another time.

  The idea in Psalm 101 is the idea presented in 1 Cor 15 ; "evil communications corrupt good manners" or in Proverbs where we are warned that "Make no friendship with an angry man; and with a furious man thou shalt not go:  Lest thou learn his ways, and get a snare to thy soul." Over and over again, Gods people are warned against learning the ways of wicked men because there is a snare associated with it. It's not that some mystical foul spirit of pigheadedness will attack you; it's that you will "learn" to be that way by observing "their ways".

  Another thing to consider in light of Psalm 101 is that, in Romans 1 the passive enjoyment of wickedness done by others carries with it a certain amount of culpability for the wickedness itself. Verse 28 starts out "And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient; Being filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity; whisperers,Backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, Without understanding, covenantbreakers, without natural affection, implacable, unmerciful: Who knowing the judgment of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them."

  I'm trying to stay away from too many personal examples, but this one is too perfect. At my place of employment it was common practice to watch, in the employee break room, a daytime talk show that was a constant parade of depravity and bad behavior. The guys I work with, some of whom were professing Christians, delighted in the over-the-top nature of this program, and would try to justify it to me. It was harmless, they would say, and besides, these deviants were often portrayed in an unflattering light.  All I could think about was the last part of Romans 1;."they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them."

   To nail this principle down a bit better, we go to Ephesians 5, which says "Be ye therefore followers of God, as dear children; And walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweetsmelling savour. But fornication, and all uncleanness, or covetousness, let it not be once named among you, as becometh saints; Neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor jesting, which are not convenient: but rather giving of thanks. For this ye know, that no whoremonger, nor unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, hath any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God. Let no man deceive you with vain words: for because of these things cometh the wrath of God upon the children of disobedience. Be not ye therefore partakers with them. For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord: walk as children of light: (For the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness and righteousness and truth;) Proving what is acceptable unto the Lord. And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them. For it is a shame even to speak of those things which are done of them in secret." Once again, if we lay aside our sacred cows and just look at what the text actually says it admonishes people who "were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord" to "walk as children of light", and to "Be not ye therefore partakers " with the children of disobedience."  It goes on to say "..have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them."  What then counts as  "unfruitful works of darkness"? The list goes something like this; "fornication, and all uncleanness, or covetousness","filthiness","foolish talking",  "jesting".  It includes the works of  the "whoremonger", the "unclean person", and the "covetous man, who is an idolater."

   Now that's a bit interesting because some take the position that the spiritual or moral condition of the one producing the entertainment has no bearing on the entertainment itself. God does not appear to look at it that way, as he warns against not only the thing they do, but the people doing it.  After all, Matthew 7 tells us "Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles?Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them."  It's not just the fruit that's corrupt, but also the tree that produces it. 

 

So, one could argue, it DOES matter than Michael Jackson was a pedophile.

  Anyhow, there you have it. A handful of principles (and a probably unnecessary swipe at the character of a serial child molester) by which you can take a Bible and judge the very things that you would never judge if left to your own devices.

 

This Has Nothing to do with Anything, and Yet Everything to do with Everything

   In my community there stands a gas station and tire center that has been there since the main road was dirt and owned by one family.  For decades the proprietor, Mr. Buck Addy, (along with a cast of kids, grandkids, and in-laws)  sold gas, fixed cars, and sold tires there.  It's the sort of place that you just take for granted- a throwback to an earlier time. Everybody knew where 'Addys' was. It was, in a lot of ways, the heart of the community and for a gas station it holds a surprising amount of memories for me.  As a teenager I bought Cokes and gas there on my way to someplace else. As a young husband I took our cars there to have repairs done and for 20 years I bought tires exclusively from them. The Addys knew my parents, they knew me, and they knew my kids.

  Mr. Buck was tall and hard-working--generous to a fault. Mrs. Addy ran the business side of things, and I don't know if I've ever known a sharper woman. I suspect she was the reason they didn't go bankrupt as her husband would probably given the store away without her interference. He certainly gave me my fair share of free tows and free labor.

  The shop was plastered with pictures of old cars and grandbabies and a big black and white picture of the Bucks on their wedding day. The cooler was full of Yoo-hoos and RC colas. There was an ice bucket in the front with Cokes.

  Mr. Addy's son worked there--Mr. Stanley. Mr. Stanley was old my entire life, but he could fix anything on a car and I cannot even tell you the times we came in as a young couple with young kids and a car that was on the verge of disaster and  Stanley took care of us.  One time in particular I remember I picked up a car from them , and as I was pulling out of the parking lot, Mr. Buck ran me  down. It turns out there was a part they had pre-emptively purchased but had not installed. I came back inside, and they adjusted my bill.

  Once I had an old beater car ( that I still own) that needed wheel bearings. Mr. Buck looked at it and told me how much it would cost to put in new bearings. I was broke and asked him if it was safe to drive home. He said "Son, I don't even know how you drove it here."  Mr. Stanley got out there and did something that made it drivable for another 2 or 3 years.

  Let me say this as best I know how.  Some people contribute to the world through hard, earnest labor, and in doing so they improve the lives of those they come in contact with. They fix other peoples cars, they put roofs on other peoples houses. They, as Mike Rowe used to say "make civilized life possible for the rest of us". They add value to the world through their skills and labor. They literally build the world, and keep it turning. The Addy family were exactly those people.

  Time rolled on as it tends to do, and Mr. Buck began to 'slip a little', as the old folks would say.  But all he ever knew how to do was work so as his dementia progressed his wife would still bring him to the shop to help keep the routine. He would sit in a chair in the corner, greet people and try to get involved in things he no longer understood. Once he introduced himself to me 3 or 4 times and I had to tell him that he had known me since I was 13 or 14 years old.  Eventually , at 94 or 95, he went the way of all the earth, and his wife ran the shop by herself . Then we didn't see her very much and we saw her daughter a lot more.

  Yesterday I went to buy tires, and everything was different. The daughter had sold the business and it had been radically transformed into a place that didn't sell tires or fix cars, but rather sold lottery tickets and CBD gummies and vapes.  The place was crowded with trinkets and baubles and nonsense.  Strangers stood behind the relocated counter.  I will probably never set foot in that building again, and I was struck with a near-overwhelming sense of melancholy.  I felt like an era had passed.

  I know, I know. I'm a middle-aged guy who is watching the past slip away and I am making a bigger deal out of a gas station than is necessary.  But man do I have some complicated thoughts about all this. I don't even know if I have words for some of these thoughts.

  We did business with the Addys because we knew them.  Our parents had known them. Everybody knew them. We took our cars to them because I knew that Mr. Stanley would keep my family safe and he wouldn't overcharge me. It was a business relationship based on a sense of community and a mutual, though unspoken understanding  and trust.  I don't know that I will ever see that again.  I bought tires, sure--from somebody else.  And they did a good enough job, but it wasn't the same.  

  You know, it's funny. Even the guy I eventually bought tires from had some Addy stories to tell.

 Community is a nebulous concept --a surprisingly fragile thing.  And though we shop at Wal-Mart and we buy some stuff off Amazon, we also know the lady we buy our vegetables from and the guy who installed my A/C went to school with me.  Once that's gone, I'm pretty certain all the vape shops in the world can't replace it.  

One more thing, though.  The reason the daughter sold the business?  She couldn't find or keep good employees.  Think about that. Her parents kept the place open since the late 40s and now she cant find people like her parents to do the work. There are no more Mr. Stanleys. No more Mr. Bucks

  I'm telling you folks, something is changing, and I don't know what it is, but it's significant.