Can a Christian Watch Tv and Movies? — Zac Poonen

Life Rather Than Knowledge of Good and Evil

Jesus did not come to give us knowledge of good and evil. He came to give us life. And when you have life, that will always tell you what is right and wrong. Otherwise we can have information in our head.

Questions About Christian Freedom and Entertainment

See, many times in some of our conferences we have question and answer sessions. I find from the type of questions people ask, can a Christian do this? What is wrong in doing that? How much can we do this?

Avoiding the Edge of Worldliness

What type of movies can we watch and we should not watch? That is like little children asking, on a railway platform, how close can I stand to the edge of the platform when the train is coming in? Daddy, how close can I stand to the edge of the platform when this train is coming in?

Three inches, six inches? What will a sensible father say? Stay as far away as possible. But these people who ask, how much can I do without becoming worldly? They are not seeking for life. They are saying, how close can I go to the edge of the cliff without falling down?

Rules, Spiritual Immaturity, and Spiritual Death

These are all babies. Grown up people are not trying to find out how close to go to the edge of the cliff. So, today we have a generation of Christians growing up saying, what is wrong with this, what is wrong with that?

They don't want life. They want some rules. This man of God said, this thing is okay. So we can do it. They live by rules. When you live by rules, it is a proof that you don't have life. I'll give you, it means you are in spiritual death.

The Leprosy Analogy for Lacking Spiritual Sensation

I'll give you an example of this. See, when people have leprosy, my wife used to work as a doctor for lepers and that's how I know something about it. And you know, when people have leprosy, they don't have sensation in their hands or feet or things like that.

So, and so they can put their hand on a hot stove or something and don't feel anything. You know, a burning hot stainless steel vessel. They don't feel anything because no sensation. Or a thorn can get into their foot.

They don't know anything. So we have to give them laws. Don't touch hot stoves, don't touch stoves without finding out if it's hot or cold. When you see one stainless steel vessel in a kitchen, first find out is it hot or cold, don't touch it.

At night before you go to bed, look under your feet if there are any thorns there. So there are so many like that, many, many rules we have to give because they have no sensation. Do you need such a rule?

Spiritual Life Makes External Laws Unnecessary

Why? Don't you know you need a rule? Because as soon as you touch a steel hot plate, your hand will come off. Why? Because of some law? No, because you've got life in your hands. When you have life, you don't need a law.

Why do you not have to check your feet at night if there are any thorns? Because if you walk somewhere and a thorn comes, immediately you'll know because you've got life. So where there is life, you don't need laws.

But where there is no life, you need laws. So when people have not come into the new covenant of life in the Holy Spirit, then you have to make laws for them. Like we make laws for children. Brush your teeth.

Change your underclothes. Go and have a bath. Finish your homework. Eat the vegetables. So many laws. Why is it grown up people don't need laws like that? Your father doesn't have to tell you now to brush your teeth.

Being Led by the Holy Spirit Rather Than Under the Law

When we need laws, it's because we are babies. Or we don't have life. That is the meaning of Galatians 5. Verse 18. Galatians 5 .18. If you are led by the Holy Spirit, you are not under the law. But if you are not led by the Holy Spirit, you don't seek to be filled with the Holy Spirit every day, then you need rules.

Applying Spiritual Discernment to Television and Computers

Don't look at the cinema posters. Don't go to the cinema theater. Don't watch these television programs. You have to make a list of 30 -40 television programs you should not watch. But one day they may add a new program which is not in that list.

What do you do? Then you have to go to the man of God again and find out this new program, can I watch it or not? But when you have life, and you are watching something on television, the life inside will tell you, turn off that channel.

Just like if you touch a hot plate, immediately the whole life says, take your hand away. Supposing you are on the computer and some pornographic channel comes up. Immediately life will say, get away from there.

Get up and run. Or turn off the computer. Or change the channel. And if the computer is slow to change the channel, turn it off. Sometimes computer takes some time to change the screen. 5 -10 seconds.

Pull out the plug, it will stop immediately. You don't say, okay, after 5 seconds I will…. When you touch a hot stove, you say, ah, I will just keep it for 5 seconds. 5 seconds is enough to burn your hand.

And that's what happens. You watch this for 5 seconds on the computer screen. It's burnt into your memory. And it will come out in your dreams. That's why you have those dirty sexual dreams. Because you don't have life.

You don't take out your hand immediately. And you don't even keep the law, which says, turn it off.