It was late at night, and Adessa and I were getting ready to watch a rerun of a very popular television show when our Dad walked into the room. Knowing that he had issues with some specific sins in his past and knowing there would be plenty of sexual innuendo in the show, we waited until he left the room to start watching. Only the Holy Spirit wasn't happy with our choice.
At that moment, He spoke to me and said, "If it isn't okay for your dad to watch, why is it okay for you?"
Ouch! Bullseye! That was it, we haven't watched that show again.
But honestly, the real question should have been even deeper… "If your Heavenly Father wouldn't be comfortable watching it, why are you comfortable watching it?"
When it comes to the topic of things godly men do, one of the biggest areas that Christians need to evaluate is our choice of entertainment. Simply put: if your choice of entertainment does not fall within the guidelines of Philippians 4:8, then you shouldn't be entertaining it.
Let's take a look at that verse:
"Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things." (Philippians 4:8, NIV)
This applies to television shows, movies, music, and the things we watch online. As Christians, we must be careful to pursue godliness in our entertainment.
"What's the big deal? It's just entertainment."
However, the truth is that entertainment influences us. It affects how we think, act, speak, and alters our view of God, ourselves, and the world around us. If we want to live pure lives, then we need to stay away from impure influences.
As it says in 1 Corinthians 15:33, "Bad company corrupts good character." (NIV)
In today's technological society, the things we watch and listen to are the company we keep.
For this reason, Adessa and I have committed to being extremely careful to pursue purity in our choice of entertainment. Toward this end, I've taken several proactive steps:
-I set the parental controls on the television to PG and blocked all sexual content, language, and violence.
-We do not go to movie theaters and are extremely selective about the movies we watch on television. (Again, we take advantage of the parental filter.)
-We are extremely careful in our choice of music, avoiding anything with profanity, sexual content, or foul language.
I've taken these steps because I genuinely believe that as men of God, we are called to be careful about what we consume.
We can't just go along with whatever is popular. We need to live by a higher standard.
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