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MEDIA – what we take in

In Philippians 4:8 it says, “Finally, brothers, 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.

Regardless of where we each stand concerning what we watch, what we read and what we listen to, I think we can all admit that the most of modern media has become very, very, very secularized.

So I really don’t see much of a debate when it comes to the level of “un-Christianness” of what we take in.  I personally think that the debate is at least these two…

Practicality vs. Relaxation and Redeeming Qualities vs. Maintaining Holiness

In my own personal experience, I “relax” by way of media, whatever it is, books, movies, TV shows, etc. way too often.  So tend to lose my grip on the structure and healthy balance of a disciplined life.  I miss out on hanging out with friends, I miss out on more time with God, I miss out on educational opportunities…I just miss out.  Now, I am in no way saying that these numerous forms of media are bad.  But if we cannot balance them out, if we cannot give them their proper place, then perhaps they should have no place at all.  This is my own personal struggle with media.  The only exception to this is music.  I love music.  I can listen to music and work, so I leave music out of this one, as it doesn’t impede my ability to be practical and disciplined.

But music is a great example of the other debate, Redeeming Qualities vs. Maintaining Holiness.  I have listened to everything, and I mean EVERYTHING.  As I’ve gotten older and have drawn closer to the Lord in my Walk, I’ve noticed that I’ve tended to stray away from music that is not true, beautiful and excellent.  Now I still find myself sometimes listening to music that is secular, quite often in fact, so its simply up to me to discern whether or not the music is, in it’s wholeness, it’s completeness, true, beautiful and excellent.  I have a hard time saying, “oh I just listen to it for the beat, and just ignore the words.”  I’m sorry, but unless you are literally listening to an instrumental track, you cannot ignore the words.  So that is my personal struggle with that.  Movies, TV shows and books are this way with me as well.  As in music, I don’t simply seek after things that are explicitly Christian, I seek after things that inspire, interest and relax me.  But, in doing so, I have watched, played and read so many things that I shouldn’t have, because I was very poor at understanding the nature of how we need to maintain our holiness.  God has set us apart from the world, to be in it and not of it, and when we immerse ourselves in the world, and with media that is exactly what we are doing, then we are mixing our holiness (as declared and granted us by the sacrifice of Jesus) with the world’s lack of holiness.  And when we do this, we are essentially muddying the waters, stirring up the pool that was once still enough that when we looked at our reflection, we saw Jesus and now all we see is a dirty, swirling pond that might as well be a toilet.  But its worse than that.  Because you can simply clean a toilet and walk away.  But our minds, our hearts, our souls, do not lose the stain so easily.  And I’m not talking about sin, I’m talking about how we are emotionally and intellectually impacted by the materials that we consume with our eyes and ears.  And I agree with Jesus when he said, “What goes into a man’s mouth does not make him ‘unclean,’ but what comes out of his mouth, that is what makes him unclean.”  (Matthew 15:11).

And this is a really, really big thing for me, and I’ll end with this.

The power, the fight, the struggle, the war we wage against the world and the old creature that clings to our hearts, souls and minds, is a very real, very important thing.  Now it’s obviously not something we think about all the time, otherwise we would be walking around as emotionally dead war veterans, so intense all the time about “waging war” that we wouldn’t be able to function.  No.  It’s about balance, and we address balance as Christians by developing good habits and trying to rid ourselves of bad habits.  This is exactly why I mention both the stain of taking into too much of the world through media and also the quote by Jesus of what makes a man (or woman) unclean.

Media doesn’t make us dirty, it doesn’t make us sinful, or unclean.  But if media is anything, it is most definitely experienced in our lives habitually, and if practice makes perfect, then whatever we choose to take in, in a habitual manner, we are digesting here, in our heart, in our soul and in our mind.  And if we want to maintain a strong, healthy, vibrant, honest connection to God, then we should do as it says in Philippians 4:8.  Because if we continue to immerse ourselves in movies, TV shows, books and music that push a worldly, sinful agenda and make light of the life that God calls us to, then we are going to be fighting a constant, daily battle against that dirty stain of the world, that like a fungus will grow in our lives.  Or…maybe we won’t fight it.  And we will live as malnourished Christians, spiritually emaciated and in a state of intermittent worry, or frustration, or anger, or selfishness…all because we choose to habitually partake of the world, practicing to perfection a worldly immersion that will only serve to make our lives harder and more shallow and far less fulfilling.

And if we are too caught up in the world, we shouldn’t be surprised if we often cannot hear or feel God.  He’s right there with us, but it’s hard for light to get through a window that isn’t properly cared for.