In an article a few days ago, I discussed moral prudence and the need to carefully choose that which you let into your life. A question that I have for discussion is this: In your opinion, is it Biblically acceptable to watch or to listen to immoral things outside of the company of others who are more sensitive to “adult issues”? (Example: Not wanting to watch a PG-13 or R rated movie in front of young children, but watching it later in the company of adults or alone)
My opinion thus far is that the issue can be decided based upon what the intent of the production is. Is the message of the production a good thing to meditate upon (that will stir us to good action and Godly lifestyle), or is the intent of the production to exploit, destroy morality and goodness, or corrupt? Also, I do not think that moral compromises can be made with trivial things. If there is no purpose other than to entertain, entertainment alone does not justify immoral content. Certainly our primary source of meditation should be God’s word. We should be filling ourselves primarily with Godly things, and we should let everything else be secondary, utilizing prudence to determine what is acceptable for Christians to partake of. If we are cultivating a true relationship with God, His Spirit within us will chastise when we stray from the sanctified life that He is working to produce in us.
5 responses so far ↓
Brade // July 8, 2008 at 9:17 pm
Indeed we should consider the standards of those around us when partaking in movies or music. However at this point in my life, I feel like I personally can handle most of what I come across, and I can readily ascertain what the artists want to convey. Plenty of films get a bad rap in church circles, and I think it’s because many churchgoers are under a lot of guilt that is man-made, either from their own conflicted minds or from the pressures from the pulpit or from family. I tend to subscribe to what I call a leeway principle on judging the moral value of works of art, as I wrote about to some degree here: http://www.bradezone.com/writings/leeway.php
At some point we have to do what Martin Luther did, shake off the bonds of guilt and start valuing grace as the greatest gift we have in living our daily lives.
Daniel // July 9, 2008 at 1:37 pm
Great writing there! I agree with the idea that there cannot possibly be a complete rubric for every single aspect of the Christian life. Certainly God wants us to be conformed to the image of Christ, but the idea of individuality has to play into that somehow. If we were not individuals, we would all listen to the exact same music, watch the exact same movies, wear the exact same clothes, say the exact same things, etc.
I agree with Luther as well. Since all have direct access to the Word of God, all have an equal opportunity to study and determine, based upon the leading of the Holy Spirit, what is fit to partake in and what is not. Other than our best judgement, we have to rely on grace.
mrakers // July 9, 2008 at 6:09 pm
I have questioned this many times before. A family I knew once loved “Everybody Loves Raymond” and they watched it, but they refused to let their daughter (7-9 years old at the time) watch the show. Probably rightfully so, but if the parents are obsessed with the show, not letting the daughter watch it…I dunno, just seems to scream mixed signals.
Daniel // July 9, 2008 at 6:20 pm
True….bringing children into the mix makes for an entirely new set of rules. All children benefit from consistent parents. You can always use the “not until you’re older” trick though. My parents pulled that one out at least a few times.
Christianity and the Movies « The Last Line // October 28, 2008 at 11:22 am
[...] I can’t answer that question for everyone. I have wrestled with this issue before though. I really like what Overstreet said (in the above interview – [...]