Movies and Sin...My Perspective

Brothers and Sisters,

I used to love movies...all types of movies. Though I claimed to be a Christian and had said "the magic prayer", I was entertained by the things God hates and I often ignored or was bored by the things God loves. Was I truly "saved"? By the test of God's Word, "If any man be in Christ he is a new creation...," I certainly hungered for all the things of the old man of the flesh. I acted like a Christian, and had gone forward and prayed the sinners prayer, and I had the decision card that proved I was a card-carrying Christian, but the desires of my heart were inclined towards evil, immorality and lust. Oh, I still felt sorry when I sinned, but in my police career I saw that even the most evil reprobate still will usually feel sorry when caught in his sin.

What does all of this have to do with the question of movies? About 1 year ago I was finally ready to get honest with God. I went to Him in sorrow and frustration and admitted that I was a phony...I was simply playing the Christian game. I loved many things that God hates and hated many things that God loves. Don't get me wrong. I appeared to be everything that a "good Christian" man is supposed to be, and yet my heart was far from God and desperate for the truth. When I finally got honest with God, that was the start of a process that I can only describe as revolutionary. It was as though my conscience was magnified many times and I was suddenly very aware of God's presence in my life and how my words, actions and thought life affected my relationship with Him. Almost overnight, I found it grieved the Holy Spirit to watch most shows on T.V. and to attend movies. My wife and I have always enjoyed going out to movies but we became convinced that even relatively tame PG or PG-13 movies offended the Spirit and really hurt our relationship with Christ and quenched the power of the Holy Spirit in our lives.

Within a couple of months, cable TV was disconnected and this was an extreme adjustment for our family. That one decision has had a dramatic effect on the spiritual life of everyone in our home. Obviously, getting rid of T.V. did not eliminate all of the challenges.My teenage boys often want to see some movie that all of their friends are raving about. The standard in our home has become consistent with Phil. 4:8:
"Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things."

When you apply this standard, the decision on most movies and T.V. in general is pretty simple. Another tool we use when deciding what media is acceptable is to ask the question, "Would I be comfortable watching this with Christ in the same room?" That test will also clear up many gray areas. When we discuss these things my boys will often roll their eyes and complain, "With that standard we can't watch anything." I tell them that the day is soon coming when they will build their own homes and it will their responsibility before God to determine the standard in their own home. Until then, unfortunately for them, it is my standard that determines the entertainment in our home.

In closing I will share one recent example that illustrates the nature of this war we are fighting. A Baptist pastor friend of mine recently remarked that he wanted to share something and get my opinion. He said that whenever the Victoria's Secret Christmas commercial comes on the T.V., his 4-year-old son would run to the screen and touch the screen. The pastor and his wife think that the boy just loves the music...I beg to differ. We are raising children who are losing their innocence at extremely young ages. We recently saw in the news the story of two boys (I think they were 6 or 7) raping a girl on the school bus. I told the pastor that I thought that he should be very concerned, not only about why his young son was running to touch the screen, but also why he was comfortable watching Victoria's Secret commercials. In our grandparents' day, these commercials would have been considered X-rated.

I hope others in this union will weigh in on this issue regardless of how you feel. The standard of holiness is a foreign concept to 21st century Christians...but it remains God's standard for His people.

Your brother, Steve