Entertainment for Christians: What Is the Standard?

You are here

Entertainment for Christians

What Is the Standard?

Login or Create an Account

With a UCG.org account you will be able to save items to read and study later!

Sign In | Sign Up

×

Entertainment takes many forms throughout our society and influences our lives and our culture to a great degree. Therefore, it is important for Christians to take a stance on when enough is enough. How much violence? Is this too sexual? What about swearing and Satanism? We must individually examine our entertainment through many lenses and carefully consider a variety of factors as we strive to reach the spiritual goal of “bringing every thought in captivity to the obedience of Christ” (2 Corinthians 10:5).

Violence is real, but glorifying violence is evil

One thing I’ve noticed is the amount of violence that can be found in the Bible itself. The godless bloodshed and enmity before the Flood is written of, as is how everyone but Noah’s family was drowned or pummeled to death (Genesis 6:5-8, Genesis 7:17-24). We can also read of how a young woman was abused and violated by a gang of men for an entire night. When the man at her house found her corpse he sliced it into twelve pieces, and sent one to each tribe of Israel (Judges 19:22-30).

God’s prophet Zechariah speaks of a time when the city of Jerusalem will be ravaged, captured, looted, and raped. These attackers will then be destroyed with fire by God: “Their people will become like walking corpses, their flesh rotting away. Their eyes will rot in their sockets, and their tongues will rot in their mouths” (Zechariah 14:1-2, Zechariah 14:12).

Violence is a fact of life, and to say that it is impossible or did not happen would be dishonest. The violent and gruesome events of the Bible happened, as well as the ones we remember more recently, including the Holocaust, D-Day invasion, and Dresden bombing of WWII. Of course, detailed knowledge of such events is inappropriate at young ages, but it is clear that there is a need to scrutinize the context and purpose of violence in entertainment. There is a difference between glorifying grotesque violence (which is sinful) and referencing violence as part of a work to tell a thematic narrative, symbolic or historical.

The standard God has set

We need to make detailed judgments and prove, with research if necessary, what is good and acceptable by God’s standards without conforming to the low standards of this world (Romans 12:1-2). Do we outwardly proclaim God’s Word while our entertainment denies Him?

What type of entertainment would deny God? Perhaps those that are filled with and which glorify and exalt sexual immorality, evil desires, uncleanness, idolatry, covetousness, envy, wrath, malice, drunkenness, blasphemy, strife, filthy language, unrighteousness, wickedness, deceit, pride, and those that are atheistic, murderous, rebellious, disobedient to parents, dishonest, undiscerning, unloving, unforgiving, unmerciful, and practice that which is sinful, deserving of death (Colossians 3:5-8, Ephesians 5:3-7, Romans 1:28-32).

God warns us that continual consumption of this harmful material can lead our conscience to become “seared”, rendering us unfeeling to the reality of unrighteousness, violence, and sin (1 Timothy 4:2). Instead, search for entertainment that is truthful, noble, just, pure, lovely, virtuous, praiseworthy, honorable, admirable, excellent, peaceful, loving, joyful, longsuffering, kind, faithful, gentle, patient, self-controlled, righteous, obedient, and that which is of God and His nature (Philippians 4:8-9, Galatians 5:22-26). Considering this, we can bring our mind closer to what God desires for us to have: His mind, and a place in His Family during the coming Kingdom of God.

As people in the world, we, along with everyone, are inundated and bombarded with entertainment sending a plethora of messages to us at all times. However, as a people not of the world, like Christ, we must set the standard high and let it shine on to others. With God, we can rise above the mud of this world’s morality to reflect the clear, stunning example Jesus set for us.

Our entertainment should not define us—we should define our entertainment!

You might also be interested in...

Comments

  • EvanToledo
    Thanks, Kevin, for bringing up this most IMPORTANT topic! I struggle with this issue myself. Yes, you are correct that in God's Word, the Bible, there are many narratives that, if graphically portrayed, would not be good entertainment. They were recorded for our learning and admonition upon whom the "end of the ages have come" (I Corinthians 10:11) As an older person, I have seen the transition from "wholesome" movies and TV of the 1950s to the horribly corrupt movies and TV of our modern time. As a result of this, I have discovered there are a lot of Christians who watch only movies and TV made BEFORE 1960. Those type of productions were made in compliance with broadcast and movie production codes that ensured "wholesome" portrayals of stories. As a classic movie fan and presenter, I take great interest in the Motion Picture Production Code of 1934 which cleaned up the movie industry. This code forbade any kind of graphic violence, sexual sin, graphic occult practices or other perversions. (The enforcement of this code diminished as the 1950s wore on.) Enforcement of this code from 1934 to 1959 resulted in many good movies to enjoy by those who have MORALS AND VALUES! This code, while disdained by today's permissive society, actually was written by men who used the Bible as a reference to their regulation of movie content! (Do a Google search and read the details of this code) So far, I use this standard to select from the above mentioned OLD MOVIES AND TV: 1. Is there a strong MORAL to the story that crime or sin does not pay? 2. Is any violent act more implied or not shown in a bloody, graphic way? 3. Is there an absence of scantily clad or revealing female costuming? (Movie producers of the early 1950s got around this restriction by producing BIBLICAL EPICS, so beware of their depiction of "pagan splendor". In the World Tomorrow, entertainment will be MUCH different--let's be very careful what we imbibe now!
  • Jacob Hitsman
    Good job Kevin! We do live in a violent world and as I like to say to people put a filter on your mind and do not let all matter of information enter it. Factual information is something different because we should know and understand the times we are living in. The war in Syria and Iraq and the diseases such as Ebola in Africa should be known about and not avoided. But on the other hand do we need to go into Netflix and rent a movie containing such ugly movies that God would not approve of? I think not and this is where I draw the line at entertainment. There has been more than one time that I have told people if you want to see the face of Satan just go into a video store and look at the movies on the shelf and there his face will shine into your life in almost every movie. Almost every form of entertainment these days has at it's core Satan and his way of hate and malice. It is amazing how there is not too many places where you can find wholesome entertainment. The question is where to we draw the line on this issue. As our love for God grows then less and less entertainment that is contrary to His Way enters into us. Are we not called out of this world to live differently than others around us? Let us rejoice in our calling and be proud to claim Christ crucified and resurrected after the third day according to the scriptures. Let us praise Him and glorify Him daily thanking Holy God for keeping us pure in mind. We must do our part to show Him we love Him by keeping this trash the world offers us out of our mind. May Your Kingdom come dear Lord Jesus. Amen
  • kimandtroy
    Excellent, I totally agree!! There is so much filth, violence and sex on tv that we do not pay for it. Our only entertainment is what we put in the dvd player and I always ask myself 'is this something I would still watch if Jesus was sitting next to me'? I hope many read this and think about what they are putting into their minds thru 'entertainment'.
  • Join the conversation!

    Log in or register to post comments