The Biblical View of
Entertainment
07-21-13
Introduction
There is a common theme in many
movies today…It is a fear of something that at one time we thought would never hurt
us…and then it turns on us.
And that enemy? Technology!
Many of us have at least have heard of the premise of The Terminator movies—machines gain a
consciousness, and then go after humans.
And though these accounts are
clearly science fiction, the idea that technology can hurt us, even
spiritually, is not that farfetched. Is
there anything that we invite in our lives openly, that later, sometimes
without our knowledge, become our enemy?
Colossians 3:17
And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of
the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.
This verse gives us two major truths: (I’m going to start with the second)
1. God gives us
things in which to be thankful!
This verse assumes good things in
our lives—things that we will enjoy. In
the Westminister Catechism, an early church statement of faith, it says: “Man's chief end is to glorify God, and to
enjoy him forever.” Our entire purpose of living is to glorify God and enjoy Him! To enjoy what He has given us—all of creation. God wants us to look at nature and be
encouraged; to enjoy the food He grows…to enjoy the people he brings into our
lives…and to do it all in thanks!
We should constantly be giving thanks to God for what he has
provided, because it is all from Him!
James 1:17
Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father
of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.
If it is good, it is from God! Anything good in your life is directly from
God.
Enjoying What God has given us, definitely
includes fellowship with each other! In
fact scriptures encourage us to spend regular time in fellowship…just
encouraging each other by being around each other. Who is it in your life that getting together
with them is just a huge relief; you just naturally relax and can feel at ease.
(notice I did not say to “just be ourselves”;
that is NOT our problem today.
However, we DO put the weight of the world on our shoulders.
2. Secondly, according
to Col. 3:17, All our activities should please God!
I often laugh when I hear political
commercials. They now always end with
“this message was approved by….” It is
like saying “this commercial was done in the name of…” To do something “in the name of [someone]”,
is to do it to please them, or honor them.
For example,
when we give a donation to a cause, often we do it “in the name” of
someone. Another example is when in the
medical or financial world when we make someone a “power of attorney.”
An Ambassador to another country
speaks to that country’s leadership, only on behave of his leadership back
home. The Bible says that WE are
ambassador’s for God! We speak on behave
of Him to the lost of this world. To do
anything in the name of Jesus means that that thing would only bring glory and
honor to God.
And what are we to do in the name
of Jesus? Everything! But We need to acknowledge that SOME things bring
him glory, and some don’t. So far this
is not a new concept to most of us, but we have to acknowledge that there is
contradiction in most believer’s lives.
We have a significant dichotomy today!
What we say and do, don’t often match up. And more than that, we often don’t intend for
them to. Many powerful people have lost
their jobs because of what they have done on their “free time.” Their reasoning is: “I can do whatever I want
on my free time, and it won’t affect how I do my job.”
We often think the same is true with our walk with God. I get “breaks” where I can do anything I
want’ and it won’t affect the rest of my life living as a believer. It’s just not true!
We make certain
things an exception.
One of those things is definitely entertainment,
especially movies. I want to be straight
forward here: Watching movies CAN be a sin!
There have been times that during watching the movie, I realize that
this is NOT wholesome…I then have the choice to leave it on…or turn it off.
Philippians 4:8 NIV
Finally, brothers, 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.
We could spend time going through each of these, but you are
going to do that in small groups in a moment.
But let’s look at the big concept here:
This verse is saying: Morally Neutral isn’t enough! Why Not? Paul talks about in 1 Cor.
8:8, that certain things are morally neutral. Things like alcohol,
money, food, etc. are morally neutral. But Paul points out that those morally
neutral things CAN be used to make us or other people fall into sin.
He goes on to say in 1 Cor. 9:19, &
22:
1 Corinthians 9 NIV
19 Though I am free and belong to no man, I make myself a slave to
everyone, to win as many as possible.
22 To the weak I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all things
to all men so that by all possible means I might save some.
We have a higher expectation than just living morally
neutral lives (as if that existed). We
are to live GOOD lives, in order to reach the lost
We are under the
influence of what we spend time doing.
God makes it clear that he does
not want us to be under the influence of nonbelievers—immoral thinking. Yes,
He wants to associate with them, as Jesus was our example and ate with the
worse of sinners, but scripture is also clear that we need to stay away from
compromising relationships.
2 Corinthians 6:14-15
14 Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do righteousness
and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness?
15 What harmony is there between Christ and Belial? What does a believer have
in common with an unbeliever?
Belial, means “one who extremely low.” Obviously it refers to the Devil. He asks, what does a believer have in common
with a non-believer? Often people use
the excuse of being around non-believers in order to witness to them, but then
they just blend it, and are no longer a witness! We should be living for God in all things! It should always be clear at all times who we
worship?
In 1 Cor. 15 NIV Paul is arguing the idea that ‘of course’ we will
be resurrected again, otherwise:
32…If the dead are not raised, "Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow
we die." 33 Do not be misled: "Bad company corrupts good character."
34 Come back to your senses as you ought, and stop sinning; for there are some
who are ignorant of God--I say this to your shame.
The people they were hanging out with, was affecting their
theology, to the point that they no longer believed that we will be resurrected
someday. In the statement, Paul is
saying that what we do on earth DOES effect eternity. He reminds his audience that being around
“bad company”, or ‘ungodly influences’ corrupts the Christian heart and
destroys their character. We are tempted
to do things that we would never do if around those who also believe and live
for God.
It is the idea we get from the
phrase “Garbage in, garbage out.” There
was a great song they played on the radio with this term, but they didn’t play
it for long because people apparently got annoyed with it. But it was so true! I think it has to do with not wanting to be
reminded of what we do wrong.
Proverbs 4:23 NIV
Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.
Entertainment is
enjoying what God has given us!
The ‘pursuit’ of happiness is NOT
a goal God has given us. Rather, it is
to see the great things God has already given us!
Hebrews 13:5
Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what
you have, because God has said, "Never will I leave you; never will I
forsake you."
His promise to stay true to His promise should give us great
joy! Not money. Not things!
But we often don’t see what we have.
Most of us have heard the song, though we may not recognize it from the
title:
Big Yellow Taxi
They paved paradise
And put up a parking lot
With a pink hotel, a boutique
And a swinging hot spot
Don't it always seem to go
That you don't know what you've got
Till it's gone
They paved paradise
And put up a parking lot
They took all the trees
Put 'em in a tree museum
And they charged the people
A dollar and a half just to see 'em
Entertainment
Rebellion
But the reality is that the pursuit of entertainment IS
something that is a serious danger to believers.
Matthew 6:24 NIV
No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the
other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve
both God and Money.
Make no mistake, ‘Entertainment’ is a ‘god’ or ‘master’ in
our lives. We can serve him, or we can
serve the one true God.
Let’s start by just being honest
with ourselves. Too often we look forward to being entertained, more than we do
time with God, or even his people. Being
addicted to our phones, social media, TV—it is severely handicapping the Church
today.
Instead, we need to have an
“Entertainment revival.” Take a look at
your live. First of All, keep in mind
that each part of our lives should be honoring to God. So think about what you watch, read, and see online.
We need to ask “why?” Is it because we are addicted to
entertainment?
Should Christians be
on social media?
I believe the simple answer is yes,
because people are there. I believe the
call of scripture is to go where people are, and be a light to the world
Once again, we need to be the
influence, not them. Be the positive
influence online, in comments, what you post, etc. I have told people before that, based on what
they have posted, they are seen as “nominal Christians, at best.” Through social media I have prayed for
people, remind people of scriptural truths, etc.
But remember that social media has
its dangers. It can be addictive—we
can’t go a day without it. It can lead
us away from Christ, either theologically, or simply just because of
“A great rule: Don’t go online, until you have [spent time
with God].” This can be a good practce
to make sure we are spending time with God, and not letting technology
interfere. At other times, we can simply pray before you
go online for God’s will and protection.
My job as a pastor is
to do two things:
·
Help point out Biblical Truth / Reminding of
truth
·
Encourage you to do something with it in your
lives
The problem is that there becomes
an underlying expectation for pastors and church services in our society. And that is: To entertain the audience—to
‘put on a good show’, so that people walk away with ‘how cool the service was.’ Sometimes this fanes, or tries to come across
as, ‘motivation’, but in a way that really dis-serves people, and only feeds
our addiction to be constantly motivated, but have little to no action in a
response.
Unfortunately there are many pastors
and churches out there that have fallen prey to this demand for entertainment. Their worship leaders focus more on quality,
than life-change. It seems that their
job is to entertain you in a way, that you feel you have spent some real time
God. Unfortunately, there are too many
that have given you an emaciated shadow of a god that does not even look like
the God of scripture
The Cause?
It is caused by the age old
problem of man wanting to only hear what they want to hear, and see what they
want to see. It is not just Ignoring
biblical truth, but putting in its place something that only because addictive
in and of itself, and actually pulls us away from God.
We have a strong draw towards
entertainment. Scripture most often
refers to it as laziness—which is
simply define by NOT doing what we should be doing. I think what scripture says about Laziness
also says much our culture that is drawn towards constant entertainment
Our Struggle in the
Chasm
Apparently Aristotle said that all virtue could be defined
as a Golden mean, or ideal, between two vices.
Boring…..Arresting…..Amusing
It is clear that church should not
be boring. Often we as church leaders
contribute to that end, in our week-to-week planning from un-inspired
hearts. I even wonder how often God sits
in our services in America and says “I’m bored.” Essentially, ‘boring other people’ can
actually be a form of sin. Wasting time,
when we should be using our time wisely for God, is sin.
But then there is the other
extreme: to be merely amusing. I
think of Blue Man Group. I don’t know if
they ever come to valley, but one of their shows is the epitome of “pointless entertainment.” Many churches (larger) border on merely
amusing.
Think of the word “a-muse-ment.” “Muse” means to reflect and ponder on
something. “a” in front makes it the
absence of reflection. Amusement is a
way of avoiding anything that would stimulate
or exercise our minds in a way that will stretch us or grow us. Though not all amusement is bad. It takes us away from any fear or anxiety for
a period of time, that otherwise might consume our thoughts.
In the way of our time of worship,
amusement just wastes our time. Once
again, to entertain people and not lead them to worship, when our whole goal is
to have a “worship service,” it means we are sinning against God, and leading
other people to sin. (We often call our
music leader our “worship leader”, but the reality is that both Joe and I are
“worship leaders”). Spending time in
prayer, listening to a message, is all ‘worship’ for the audience if it means
you are considering God. I take it very
seriously, that if I am not leading you to worship God, than I am failing as a
leader.
Instead, in our lives, we want to
always head towards “arresting.” This means to stimulate the mind towards what
is good and true! Our Worship Services should be arresting! It is doubtful we would ever experience the
power of the Holy Spirit moving in us and say “that was boring.” To arrest someone’s attention is to cause
them to take serious notice. It is to
awaken then from the drone of life, as if waking up a sleep-walker
For instance:
·
When we notice something is truly beautiful
·
When we see a knew truth that we have never seen
before, or never seen it in that light before
·
When we hear a cry out of joy, or hope
·
When someone accepts salvation and goes from
death to life
A Challenge for You:
This week, record everything you do with technology, and how
much time you spend on it.
Then ask what things in my week were:
Boring…..Arresting…..Amusing
