Making Entertainment Choices
FrontLine — September/October 2018 | VOLUME 28 | NUMBER 5
Prove It!
Prove all things; hold fast that which is good. Abstain from all appearance of evil. 1 Thessalonians 5:21–22
I have a secret passion. I grew up in Phoenix, Arizona, and as a child of the 1970s I became a rabid Phoenix Suns fan. Do not laugh at me! I know things have not been going well for my team lately. But the passion still exists. I could easily spend all day, if my life allowed, reading articles, talking about the team, and watching clips and highlights. It is an entertainment part of my life; but if I am not careful, it could become a dominant part of my life.
I remember watching the Suns lose a playoff game a number of years ago and being so bothered (disappointed, angered) by their being bumped that I started to get a little depressed. The next day I watched several interviews with players and ashamedly realized that I was more bothered by their loss than they were! I immediately became convicted that something was wrong, not with them but with me, especially as a Christian. I needed to step back and evaluate my interest in sports. In the subsequent years I have watched very few full games. It’s not that watching ballgames is sin, but it had become something beyond appropriate for me. I had to consider my sports consumption in the light of 1 Thessalonians 5:21.
First Thessalonians 5:22 is one of the most misapplied verses in all of Scripture. We often use it to offer a proof text for abstaining from things that might be misunderstood to be sinful (but are not necessarily). That is not what this verse is saying.
There is a logical sequence here. It begins with a simple command: “Prove all things.” The idea is to put everything to the test. Use discernment, evaluate, and make deliberate choices. The object of the test is described by the most inclusive word Paul could possibly have used— “all.” Test everything. Make a judgment about everything. All areas of life and ministry are in view. Nothing is exempt. Believers are required by God to biblically evaluate everything in their lives and then respond accordingly. This would include entertainment.
These verses are about responding to the moral substance of things and the moral impact of things, not just the perception of those things to others. Once the judgment is made, hold onto the good things and avoid the evil things wherever they might appear.
There are places for entertainment and leisure activities in the Christian life, but we must pursue these things with biblical discernment. Our choices must be informed by more than what everyone else is doing or by what we like to do. Even Christians seem to think the standard of “like” is somehow appropriate. “Testing” means that we must dig deeper. Why do I like it? What is it in me that likes what I am seeing or doing? Is it my sinful, carnal self? Or is what I am doing lending itself toward more noble virtues commended by the Scripture? Is what I am watching or listening to an innocent momentary diversion (and rest) from the rigors of my everyday reality, or am I using it as an inappropriate escape from the appropriate stewardship of my real life before God? (This is what I concluded my sports obsession had become.) We have to learn to be honest with ourselves about why we like what we like.
Once we start thinking critically and biblically, whole genres of entertainment become hard to justify. For example, how can the blood and gore of horror films appeal to anything good or produce anything good in me? Music that glorifies violence, immorality, and rebellion is in the same category.
“But beauty is in the eye of the beholder!” some would claim. Says who? Is that what Scripture claims? Philippians 4:8 commands us to meditate on what is lovely or pleasing. Surely Paul is not telling us to do what is right or whatever is lovely in our own eyes. Doing what is right in our own eyes is the mark of rebellion against God (Judges 17:6). God has defined for us what is beautiful both morally and aesthetically in His Word and in creation itself. Our goal ought to be to bring our loves in line with His and then truly enjoy what is pleasing to Him.
So that is what this issue of FrontLine is about. We want to challenge God’s people to be more biblically discerning about their entertainment choices. We trust it will be helpful.
Kevin Schaal
Features
Our Hearts on Display
Michael Riley
A changed mind and changed actions without changed loves is a stunted Christianity.
The Wise Use of Social Media
Gordon A. Dickson
“When we insist that God must loathe a certain human activity though His thoughts are hidden, we offer conjectures, not facts.”
Does Your Media Presence Mirror the Word of God?
Rand Hummel
God has not changed His mind about moral excellence and moral purity since the beginning of time.
Anything for a Laugh
Kevin Schaal
We must be careful to make sure that even our humor reflects godliness.
The Christian Uses of Leisure
Kevin T. Bauder
The Bible places a premium upon both labor and leisure.
Can Taking God’s Name in Vain Be Entertaining?
Kristopher Schaal
We would all agree that taking God’s name in vain is a sin, but is it a sin to watch movies in which God’s name is taken in vain?
Does God Care about Sports?
Caleb Phelps
The whole point of sports is that they’re not the point.
Making Wise Choices
September Washer
DEPARTMENTS
Mail Bag & News from All Over
On the Home Front
Wit & Wisdom
David Atkinson
Dogmatic Confusion
David C. Innes
Regional Reports
Notable Quotes
Robert Condict
On Language & Scripture
Mark L. Ward Jr.
At a Glance: Select Studies in Isaiah—Chapter 55
Layton Talbert
“Don’t Just Do Something—Stand There!”
John C. Vaughn
King David’s Good Friend Hushai
Jerry Sivnksty
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