Purity in Media Part One

Do you ever find yourself tempted in the grocery store? Not by the food, but by the checkout stand--or more specifically, the magazine racks? All the gossip…the rows of airbrushed models and actresses with designer clothes and perfect teeth…throw in a few whacked out headlines from the tabloids, like “Man gives birth to bat baby” or “Loch Ness monster visits Hudson River”, and you’ve got a buffet full of what the world wants us to eat--garbage. Junk food for the mind that will rot our self-esteem and give us fat, covetous hearts that can’t be satisfied with what God gave us. Two minutes in front of the magazine rack can do more damage than what’s in our carts; at least food takes time to digest and our stomachs let us know when we’re full. When it comes to the way we consume media, however, we have to be careful to know when we’ve had enough--or when we need to change our diet altogether. The Bible tells us in Philippians 4:8 to think about whatever things are true, noble, just, pure, lovely, of good report, virtuous, and praiseworthy. With that in mind, let’s take stock of what we’ve already allowed into our lives and minds, and pray about what needs to go!

First, head to the place in your home where you keep your DVD and VHS movies. Start separating them by rating. Be honest--how many R-rated movies do you have access to? These are the easiest to cut out of our entertainment diet, because their R-rating is almost always an indication of objectionable content. It’s not about being “old enough” to watch them; it’s about not allowing graphic depictions of sex, violence, drug use, or other ungodly behaviors to be a part of what we consider entertainment at any age. Continue going through your other movies. It’s highly probable that many with the PG-13 rating are not much different than their R-rated cousins. But what about the ones that aren’t “so bad”? There’s several in this category, plus a number of PG-rated movies, that may not seem to be a problem at first glance. But just because something’s not in-your-face offensive doesn’t mean it’s good for you. How do the themes of the movie line up with the standards of God’s Word? Is there a lot of crude humor and language? Do the main characters treat themselves (their bodies, their attitudes about life) and others (parents, peers, authority figures) with respect? Does the plot contain references to magic and sorcery, portray risky behavior (clubbing, drinking, inappropriate relationships), or does it glorify greed and materialism? These things might be accepted by the world, but they’re not going to teach us how to walk closer with God. And a steady diet of questionable movies is going to weigh us down and ensnare us with a dangerous attitude of complacency towards sin and its consequences (Hebrews 12:1-2).

While you’re at your movie cabinet, you’re probably in close proximity to your TV. This is one place you can easily find cheap material that looks good enough, but in reality, is so bad for you! In that way, TV is like a fast food restaurant: It’s a lot more difficult to find and choose the healthy things on the menu when they’re surrounded by all the tasty junk! Grab your remote and do a drive-thru of your program choices. Television shows with potentially objectionable material are no longer limited to cable or prime time programming. Instead, we have 24-hour access to talk shows that both mock and glorify people’s personal conflicts, soap operas (day and evening, and yes, Gossip Girl counts--check the title) that romanticize emotional and sexual infidelity, style and home improvement programs that teach us to want the bigger and the better, and reality shows that take all of the above and put it out there for the world to see in unedited and unapologetic brashness. (Don‘t even get me started on MTV). Once we remove all of the shows that have a negative influence, we’re left with very few choices to enjoy that won’t compromise our integrity. More than likely, if we find that we have been allowing TV to mindlessly amuse us, then we probably need to unplug and find a better way to fill our free time.

Speaking of free time, a lot of us enjoy reading a good book; after all, parents love to see their kids reading, right? But would your parents approve if they really knew what was in that book? Tomorrow, we’re going to take a heavy look at some of our not-so-light reading, as well as what else we might have in our media mix.

Read Media Pt 2 now
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------