Christians & Secular Entertainment - To What Degree Should We Avoid / Partake?

Psalm 101 and the Challenge of Discernment in Entertainment

Let's turn to Psalm 101, but this will be lesson number two in our discernment series. So I'm going to try and answer a few questions about how we should interact and partake with media entertainment.

As Christians, we generally all agree what the Bible says, but we don't always agree on how to interpret the Bible and more specifically how to apply things in the Bible to our daily life. So this is going to be a very thorny subject because people don't want to be told what to do.

They don't want you even implying what you should or shouldn't do. So in the past churches, when it comes to entertainment, things like that, recreation media, uh, the internet wasn't around back then, but if it was, they'd have all sorts of things to say about it.

Generations ago, churches had standards and expectations, but when the culture changed standards in the churches usually change with the culture. So the challenge here will be how do we weigh the call to live a holy and set apart life and how some people try to live that out.

Sometimes others will look at people who are trying to live a holy life and they'll call them legalistic. So how do we weigh that with what is called a Christian liberty? So this is going to be a bit of a challenge tonight.

So a few questions were posed to me. Here's one of the questions. Could I address or give clarification on how to practice discernment, especially when it comes to secular forms of entertainment. So I'm going to try to do that.

Another question, is there any enjoyment to be had in secular entertainment? I think there is. However, let's face it. I mean, you look at some of the things on the screen. Okay. Uh, you know, video games, there's a lot of opinions.

Should you let kids play video games? What about these games? They're violent or whatever. People have all sorts of opinions about, uh, movies and television and what people watch on Netflix. And of course there's a, Marcus said, this looks like Odules, but it's, it's Heineken.

Okay. That's some people do this for entertainment. Is that acceptable? What does the Bible say about this? You just know, this is these, these subjects, Christians, everyone has an opinion and a lot of people don't agree.

So let's face it. Um, if a church were to have like rules, they'd be called legalistic, whether that's right or wrong. That's just what they're would be called. But at the same time, a lot of modern secular entertainment is filled with anti-Christian messaging and it often glorifies sins for which Christ died.

So how do we walk this line? I'd just say a few things before we read this passage. There's nothing wrong with music. There's nothing wrong with art. There's nothing wrong with, um, television per se or sports or any of the ways people relax or are entertained.

Setting Boundaries with Wickedness and Christian Liberty

But in some ways they can be morally neutral. They can be used to glorify God, but the enemy can use them as well. So the first thing I thought of, uh, is how Christians are to be in the world, but not of it.

So when I was asked these questions, that was the first thought that came into my mind. And then the first passage or verse of the Bible that came into my mind was this statement from Psalm 101 verse three, where David says, I will set nothing wicked before my eyes.

In other words, if you look at a different translation, he's saying, I will not look upon with approval, or I will not look with approval on anything that is vile. Okay. So when we think of media and entertainment, whether it's things, we see things, we hear things, we fill our mind with our time with, uh, we should be careful about this.

So let's read Psalm 101 one through four. Again, David writes, I will sing of mercy and justice to you. Oh Lord. I will sing praises. I will behave wisely in a perfect way. Oh, when will you come to me?

I will walk within my house with a perfect heart. I will set nothing wicked before my eyes. I hate the work of those who fall away. It shall not cling to me. A perverse heart shall depart from me and I will not know wickedness.

Okay. So what does this passage have to do with the subject at hand? When you see something wicked, when there's something wicked in front of you, something that's not of God, number one, we should not approve of it.

Obviously then number two, if I don't approve of it, or if we know God doesn't approve of it, why would I want to listen to something, watch something, partake in something that I don't approve of? Or if I know that this is, even if it's questionable that God wouldn't approve, why would I want to partake in something like that?

Well, the short answer, the reason why a lot of Christians do, I think is peer pressure. They do what other people do. So if something's normal, we think we see it's normal. So we kind of go along with it, even if we have reservations at first.

So even within Christian circles, if there's a certain worldly pleasure or secular form of entertainment, if you don't go along with it, if people have this idea that you're more set apart than others, yeah, you tend to get branded with this term legalist.

So another Bible verse, you can just write this down, make a note of it. This is kind of all encompassing. Maybe this would be a better verse that would apply to all of this. First Thessalonians 5 .22, who knows what that says?

We should avoid all appearances of evil. So we all agree what's in the Bible, but it's hard to kind of make application. In times past, when you talk about media, when you hear media, what do you think of?

Okay, news, television, right? Hollywood, maybe film. I would just, yeah, these are some of the things that come to mind. Back in the day, and I'm too young to really know this, but I've read about it.

I've heard stories that back generation ago, two generations ago, churches would often preach that you shouldn't drink, you shouldn't dance. Christians shouldn't go out to the movies. You should be very careful about listening to this type of music, rock and roll, and this and that, right?

This is kind of the way it was back in 1960s, 1970s. And then things started to change. And now, again, if a pastor were to preach that kind of stuff today, he'd be called a legalist. So is that true?

Were they right back then? Are we right today? So any thoughts, any questions so far? Am I off base? You see why this is kind of a touchy subject? Because no matter, I could give you my opinion all day long, but I want to try to give some wisdom from scripture.

Just my take on all this, if you come from a Baptist church, a more traditional Baptist church, they probably would frown on a lot of these things, but it's just been my experience that some maybe reformed churches, there's just a little more loose of an attitude.

And so depending what church tradition you were brought up in or that you're in now, attitudes are going to be different. Okay. So.

Personal Discernment, Conscience, and the Holy Spirit

Jan, I saw your hand. Well, I had a friend that was saved and he used to feel like he could go into a bar room and order a Pepsi and talk to the men that were drinking. And I used to tell him, you can't do that because that does not give him a good appearance of being a Christian in that kind of an atmosphere.

So I don't know if he ever stopped. He's passed away now. I'm sure he's in heaven with the Lord, but he's sort of a fence rider. You don't know how. Yeah. I mean,.

Most people who go into bars aren't ordering Pepsi and talking to people about Jesus, but you know, if he was, that's between him and God, I suppose, Marcus, you had a hand up.

I thought you might reference that verse, come out from among them and be separate. There is going to be, I mean, we are going to be different than people or should be. Yeah. I do remember this. I was saved when I was like nine years old and I had full assurance of my salvation.

And I do remember a pastor saying, if you are in a movie theater, when Jesus returns, you will not be caught up in the rapture. And even at maybe I was 12, I knew that was wrong.

Yeah. I mean, technically, theologically, that probably is not true. We could say pretty certain that's not true, but let's just take movies for now. Just my approach to it. Okay. If the scripture says that we should avoid, you know, profane and idle babbling, I'm thinking all these verses to, you know, remain separate.

And we know covetousness is a sin. And obviously we don't want to be led into temptation. If there's a, if there's a movie and I knew that there was nudity in the movie, I wouldn't watch it. Okay. So if I knew that going in, I wouldn't watch it.

And I don't think Christians should watch it. I mean, that's my opinion. I think I'm on pretty safe ground because one thing all Christians agree on still is that pornography is wrong. So if there's graphic nudity, even if it's an R rated film, I mean, you know, it's still similar.

So, I mean, that would be one thing that people would at least understand. If for me, listen, I'm out, I live in this world. I try not to be of it. I hear people swearing, using four letter words all the time.

Well, not all the time, but I hear it often enough. It doesn't really bother me when I hear it, but if I had to, I wouldn't put myself in a situation where I would have to hear it all the time. You know, maybe you work somewhere and you just can't avoid it, but I'm not going to put something on.

If I know it's just, if it's excessive, certainly if I, if I'm watching something and, and there's excessive, uh, you know, cursing or certainly blasphemy, shut it off. I mean, these are, these are some basic principles that I would think Christians would agree on, but I know that still, um, you wouldn't find widespread agreement.

So there's some things that we have to look at and say, okay, this, if it's glorifying sin, then I should not approve of it. I think some films, even if there is violence and you can disagree if you want, uh, there, there may be some redeeming quality where the bad guy gets what's coming to them.

You know, they're not glorifying evil. Uh, the person doing evil in the fit, cause there's violence in the Bible. There's a lot of graphic things in, in scripture, but the message of scripture is condemning of evil.

So as long as the film, there could be some redeeming value, but as long as it's not celebrating and glorifying things for which Christ died for, then these are just some basic principles I would, I would go on.

I'd just to tell you a story, maybe I shouldn't tell you this story, but I remember as a teenager, I went to a friend's house and we watched the movie, uh, natural born killers. Um, I don't know if none of you ever saw that, God bless you.

It wasn't my idea. Sure. My parents wouldn't have been thrilled about it, but I don't know. I was 18, 19 and I wasn't exactly walking with the Lord at the time, but it was glory. It was glorifying of, of evil and it bothered me.

It just, it didn't sit right. I, I would never, I don't know if I finished it at all, all the movie, but that it bothered me. And I just knew like, I shouldn't be watching this. So I think with all of these subjects, you know, how much time do I spend on Facebook?

Should I engage with this post, right? There's all those things were tempted to, to type something, all of this stuff, the best advice we could give that I could give is to follow the leading of the Holy spirit.

Okay. So let's just turn to John chapter 16 for a moment, John chapter 16, I would say, follow your conscience. Okay. Your conscience should be informed by the word of God. So we, we should read the Bible and we should get sound preaching.

But if we have the Holy spirit within the Holy spirit should, you know, convict us. So it's hard to answer every question. How much should I do this? Should, should I go here? Should I partake in that?

I really can't answer broadly except to say this, John 16, five through eight, Jesus says, but now I go away to him who sent me. And none of you asked me, where are you going? But because I have said these things to you, sorrow has filled your heart.

Nevertheless, I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I go away. I think we could say that it is to our advantage that Jesus isn't here, that he did go away. And of course, the fact that he went away, he was able to send the Holy spirit.

He says it is to your advantage that I go away for, if I do not go away, the helper, the Holy spirit will not come to you. But if I depart, I will send him to you. And when he has come, he will do what he will convict the world of sin and of righteousness and of judgment.

So the best advice I can give, whatever question it is, should I go to this concert? Should I be watching, you know, this, uh, news channel? Cause I know they're lying to me or whatever. You know, if you, if you give it, if you get anxiety over it, shut it off.

Or, uh, if I know someone is not trustworthy, why am I listening to them? You know, stuff like that come to mind, but, uh, follow the leading of the spirit, follow your conscience. If you feel like something is wrong, it's this simple.

If you feel like something is wrong, then it's wrong. At least it's wrong for you. Maybe somebody won't have that. There are some things that are just wrong. Okay. I said, pornography is one of those.

There's no redeeming quality to it. It's one of those things that's just wrong. Period. End of conversation. And 99 of Christians would agree. Okay. So some things are just wrong, but if you feel like something is wrong, then it's at the very least wrong for you.

Cause that's your conviction. The Holy spirit is convicting you, but it might not be wrong for someone else. I mean, I think you could be invited to a concert and you have the, you know, Christian liberty to go if you wanted to go.

And I wouldn't judge anyone for that, but then there's another Christian who couldn't go where they wouldn't go because they would feel it's wrong. You know, there's some bands just growing up. I think like bands that have overt satanic imagery, like no Christian has any business being at a black Sabbath or an ACDC concert.

I'm sorry. Someone will get upset with me about that. No Christian has any business that, well, I'm just going there to evangelize. Well, come on. It's like people who go to pride parades to evangelize.

You're not, you're not going to get anywhere. Okay. You're throwing your pearls before swine. So I don't want to judge other people, but I'm saying there has to be some, there has to be some standard that, okay, a Christian isn't going to do this.

They're not going to go here. Now, the problem is you're going to get branded. If you say stuff like this, you're going to get branded as a legalist. I brought up that term. I just, I feel like I need to define it briefly.

So the term legalism refers to legal, like law of Moses. So legalism, if you look up the definition, legalism is when somebody teaches that salvation comes through the law. All right. So if someone was teaching salvation, you need to believe in Jesus and be circumcised and keep the Jewish feast days and keep the dietary laws.

That's legalism because you're trying to bring people back under the law to tell new Testament Christians, they have to follow all these old Testament, uh, laws, right? So that's legalism, salvation by works, the works of the law.

That's the definition, but there's this other secondary definition where pretty much if somebody sees somebody that has a higher standard than they do, they often will charge someone as being a legalist because they have a higher standard.

And I think people get convicted and then they just want to, it's like calling someone a racist, you know, in the world today, if you, if you can't support a lot of politicians do this, if they can't support their argument, if they can't back it up, uh, they just brand their opponents as racist.

Even if they're not racist, it doesn't matter. It's a way to shut down conversation because they can't back up what they're saying. So Christians will do this. Sometimes they feel convicted. They see someone is living, uh, sometimes people are called holier than thous, right?

Some people are holier than others. That's true, but they'll, they'll see that and they'll feel convicted and they'll just call them a legalist. Now at the same time, there are, there are people that don't really focus on a relationship with Jesus Christ.

They miss the big picture and there may be too much a stickler for rules and they don't show grace. And that's kind of a diff a different definition of legalistic behavior. And I recognize that can be a problem.

Um, but I just wanted to define that. Mark, you have a hand up.

Legalism, Modesty, and Applying Biblical Standards

Yeah. When we look at the Mennonites and the Amish, right. And see their lifestyles and how far overboard I feel that they go into. It's almost like a workspace. You got to do this or.

You're not going to heaven. Right. Well, you know, as far as the Amish, I mean, I contend that they will shun you for things that aren't even sinful. Like using, taking advantage of modern technology is not a sin.

There are dangers, but it's not a sin, but they will shun people just for, yeah, they have a code of their lifestyle. And if you stray from it, you'll be shunned. And I think they do bring things way too far.

They'd probably be a good definition of legalistic type of behavior. But at the same time, Mennonites or other independent fundamental Baptists, who I might not agree with everything they say, you know, they really are trying to apply the word of God just to use another kind of thorny example.

You know, modesty, doesn't the Bible teach modesty? Okay. Well, everyone agrees the Bible teaches modesty. How do you apply modesty? Well, a lot of people who have Mennonites or Baptists or just most Christians 60 years ago, women would wear a dress or a skirt that would go down at least to the knees or below.

Okay. It didn't go. If it was above the knee, I've heard stories of people going to school in the 1970s and they would be sent home from high school in California because they had a skirt that went above the knee.

So that was just like in society, nevermind in the church. But again, if a church preached that, or if a church had a rule that, Hey, all the ladies, their skirt needs to be to the knee. I mean, that church is going to get called legalistic whether you like it or not.

Right. But what are they trying to do instead of hurling the insult at them? We have to have a little grace. Number one, not everyone is at the level you're at. So let's try to be patient with people and understand where they're coming from.

But let's understand what they're doing. They're seeing that the Bible teaches modesty. They're just trying. Most people are just trying to be faithful in what the scripture says, whether you agree with it, whether you come to the same conclusion, they're trying to be faithful and apply the word of God to their life.

So I think we should be very slow to speak when it comes to some of these topics. Try not to pass judgment in the past. The judgment would go one way. When people would go to the movies, they'd be judged.

When people would dance, they'd be judged. Now the judgment's going in the other direction. Anyone who preaches this stuff is being judged. Either way, it's a judgmental attitude towards the other group.

But this was really the question was media and how do we interact with media? One last thing I do want to bring up. People, if you follow my YouTube channel, you notice that I'll speak against some like Christian films.

There was one film, um, Jesus revolution that I had some criticism of that film. But obviously if I was critiquing the film, what does that mean? I went and I saw it. So here's the thing. We can't engage with the culture and speak intelligently unless we have some knowledge.

So there, I'll just end with this. There are some Christians who maybe are weak in the faith and maybe they're not even weak in the faith, but their conscience, they just, I can't watch this. I can't go here.

I can't do this. That's fine for them. Respect that they can't get involved. Other people, they don't have those hangups and they can watch something and they're mature enough and they're not going to get led astray and it doesn't bother them.

We have to, we can't live under a rock. We have to, you know, know what's going on in the world in order to speak to it. Right? So we have to know what's happening. So as far as how much should I have a Facebook account?

That's up to you. How much time should I spend on it? That's up to you. We all agree, probably spending six hours a day scrolling on your phone is probably not a good idea, but you know, follow the leading of the Holy Spirit.

That's always the best thing to fall back on because another Christian can say things that make you feel guilty, but then, you know, you're conforming to their expectations. You want to be conformed to the image of Christ.

So all that to say this, I'm just going to, I'm just going to leave it with that. Read the word of God, sit under sound preaching, follow your conscience, do what you feel is right. If you're not sure, pray about it, get advice.

But when churches start, you know, making new rules and because when people behave poorly, that's when people make rules. It's like with laws, when bad things happen, new laws are made. And after a while, there's just so many rules and so many laws that becomes a problem in and of itself.

So follow the leading of the Holy Spirit. That's my advice. But, you know, this is one of those topics that, it was a question, so I want to answer questions if anyone has anything more specific. Yes.

Discerning Entertainment Without Putting the Mind in Neutral

Yeah. I listen to Dr. Paul Stanley's sermons sometimes, and he is pretty anti-ending your day watching television. And so it's better to go to bed or, you know, wake up fresher and all this type of stuff.

But one thing I heard him say at one point is that people will sit in front of the TV and they'll put their mind in neutral. And I just guess I'm thinking what you were just saying when it comes to discernment, if you're watching something, but you're not putting your mind in neutral, if you're actively engaging with it, applying your God's word to it.

Right. I think there's a difference. One thing, you're just sitting there and you're just ingesting all this garbage. Or you can sit here with a discerning spirit and I'm watching this for educational purposes, that I can take what I learn here to teach or warrant someone else.

I do think there's a difference. You have to be careful with it. Here's a few principles I read. Let's see. Does your entertainment choices add anything of value to your life? What desires do my entertainment choices cultivate in my heart?

This is a good one. Do I want my entertainment habits to be imitated by my children? This is something you could do. Say, if people from church could see me right now, what would they think? I don't know.

Maybe that's not the best thing. But like, if you feel tempted to like, if you feel ashamed of it, like, oh, I hope so-and-so doesn't find out about this or I wouldn't want my kids doing this or watching this.

I mean, that's a pretty good indicator that maybe you shouldn't be doing it. This is something I should have brought up that we need to be very careful not to cause other people to stumble. So even if, even if you're convinced it's not wrong and maybe it's okay for you and you do it privately, but if you know, it's going to offend people and you flaunt your liberty anyways, and you don't care about offending people.

I mean, that, that creates division as well. And we need to be careful, even though technically it's not wrong, but we need to be sensitive to the needs of others. But then even that, you know, people, there's some, there's a great sermon R .C. Sproul preached called the tyranny of the weaker brother, you know, where there are people that are offended and sometimes they can, you know, tyrannize other people because, hey, I need to get my way because I'm offended at everything.

Therefore, everyone needs to pander to what I want. Well, that's, there's always, there's always two sides, right? So, all right. Did I make anyone mad? Good. Let's end here. Yeah. Good. All right. Let's close in prayer.

Christian Liberty, the Weaker Brother, and Closing Prayer

Lord, we thank you for the liberty that we do have in Christ. We thank you that we don't have to obey a system of 613 rules that really was impossible to keep, but Lord, at the same time, help us to remember what Jesus said.

If you love me, keep my commandments, Lord, help us to have balance in our lives to always think of you first and what you have said. We thank you that you forgive us when we stumble and Lord, we don't want to make other people stumble and fall.

So help us to give us the wisdom through your word, to be able to understand these principles and to rightly apply them. And we thank you for the leading of the Holy Spirit who lets us know when we're out of bounds and father help us always to be sensitive to his leading.

And we ask it all in Jesus name. Amen.