I was painstakingly reminded through the conviction of the Spirit today of the need and absolute centrality of purity and goodness of the mind to Christian living.
With all of the talk recently being on the Supreme Court’s ruling on marriage, or perhaps the proper vs. improper nature of the Rebel flag, or perhaps the shootings that have occurred around the world, the Sates included, Father Theron of Emmaus Anglican Church was quick to remind Christians that we are indeed in a world where the Church is the enemy. Though it may not be explicitly stated, though by some it is quite well stated, the enemy of the world is the Church. We have clear teachings of this in the scriptures. We are despised and loathed.
Through this, Father Theron made mention of his personal entertainment habits and how most of his life in the past 20 years or so has been spent, as far as it deals with entertainment, deciding where he will draw the line on whatever form of media he consumes.
He made mention of wanting to watch Two and A Half Men, and found it indeed quite funny. However soon after starting to watch it, the Spirit was quick to convict him that such a show was full of perversions and not a thing to be watched.
His children (if my understanding is correct) were interested in watching Glee while it was still airing and popular, however he refused to have it played in his home as he called it propaganda for the total acceptance of homosexuality by all people, specifically the young, both in and out of the church, as well as being sexually explicit and morally devoid, though not in all cases as many episodes of the show are about simply treating others with respect and dignity despite their gender/sexuality.
As he spoke of shows and movies that he had watched and regretted, shows he could no longer support, and general entertainment that he did not allow himself to consume, I had to take a serious step back and look at my own entertainment habits.
My favorite sitcom of all time that I just finished a good ol’ Netflix marathon through not but 3 weeks ago, is How I Met Your Mother. I frequently watch a random episode of something like Family Guy or American Dad because it’s funny enough and easy to leave on in the background.
When I have an hour or so to burn, I go to the video game streaming site, Twitch.tv and put on my favorite streamer, who by their own right spend the entire time they stream swearing and cursing as they both succeed and fail at their task in whatever game. The music I listen to while I work out is either heavy metal or modern rap/hip-hop, both genres full of explicit content and messages.
I had to realize that during the extent of my day, I am never more than 5 minutes away from the next bout of cursing, violence, or sexually explicit content, and I pay it absolutely no mind. This has been my life for YEARS now and it has become the norm.
The Scriptures are quite clear:
“Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth.”- Colossians 3:2
“Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things” Philippians 4:8
My meditation of heart is no longer on the things above, but I didn’t have the wit about me to sense it. This is a troubling matter.
You see, perverted and explicitly sexual, as well as excessively violent and overly foul television, movies, books, music, and any other form of entertainment, become Novocaine to a dying soul. This attack of entertainment from the enemy dulls the convictions of the Spirit to live and believe in sound and right Biblical principles through a fundamental reshaping of the mind; to which is a truly wicked sin as the believer is an already transformed being. How then should we be re-transformed of mind?
The same reasoning here is why the scriptures prohibit drunkenness, though other practical reasons exist.
If you would not operate a vehicle, not go out in public, could not stand upright or walk a straight line, how then do you suppose to defend against an enemy who has a personal hate towards you; who has a goal to systematically destroy everything you are as a means of killing the truth of the Gospel to the nations? Could you truly say a drunkard is the man you want standing next to you on the battlefield as the enemy charges dead on to personally kill you and salt the earth where you once stood?
As the servant of Christ, you have enemies. We have enemies. They are looking for the soft of mind, the lacking in resolve, the malleable of conviction that the church might be brought to her knees. Thus the believer must remain sober of mind in all things, both in the practical sense and the spiritually defensible. We do this by meditating on the things of God as per the command of the holy Word. 4 to 6 hours a day of perversion and explicit materiel when, in all truth, I read my Bible for little over 25 minutes, is not being faithful to my King, his commands, my fellow squad members, or my mother the church.
Christian, watch yourself before the funny show or the action movie. Watch your King and do as he would. Cry out for growth in the Spirit and in truth, as God would have you grow, but know that until you give up the ways of your old life, now put to death, you are asking for food and then throwing it on the ground as God hands it to you.
For myself, I’ve got some things to take off of my Netflix list, delete from my hard drive, and some stuff to get off of my Spotify playlist.
God’s peace be with you, God’s fury be within you.
