Let's face it. The media is more than a reflection of our current culture; it is the springboard from which every "evolved" cultural generation in America stems. It holds sway over millions of minds and poisons them with faulty beliefs about love, sex, and morality. I cannot blame the media single-handedly for being the cause of everything immoral in our country. The media would never have gotten as far as it did with its immorality if it were not for the complacency of the viewers. What caused the viewers to allow this shift in standards? I cannot say exactly, but I can assume love of sin had something to do with it. Instead of complaining to the company about the sex scene in a TV show, most viewers probably found themselves watching and enjoying it -- feeling guilty about it afterward and not wanting to be hypocritical by calling it in. Oh, I can imagine how Satan used these opportunities to convince people that their 'minor sin' was not a big deal. The minimal outrage was stifled by the rise in ratings; as a result, the current moral standard of our age was born, promoted eagerly by the media: there is no absolute truth; truth is specific to the individual.
Anyone find it ironic that the statement "there is no absolute truth" is in itself a statement of absolute truth?*
I believe I am very well qualified to discuss the negative effects of media on the mind. I have seen more than my fair share of the media's attempts to normalize sex, drugs, and violence. My opinions and actions were once majorly influenced by the media. My internal sense of right and wrong became clouded over the years and replaced with society's morals. This "truth" is so prevalent in our culture it permeates every area of life, from relationships to schools to careers. It is like people take the Romans 14 idea of "some things are a sin for you and not for me" and blow it wildly out of proportion. (Reference is Romans 14:16 "Therefore do not let what is for you a good thing be spoken of as evil. The faith which you have, have as your own conviction before God.") Our culture is so tired of feeling judged it is trying to make the problem of "judging sins" disappear altogether and react by judging the righteous. If you say fornication is wrong and you do not fornicate, you are now considered sexually repressed and scared of sex. These kinds of people are explained in Scripture as well: "And although they know the ordinance of God, that those who practice such things are worthy of death, they not only do the same, but also give hearty approval to those who practice them." Romans 1:31-32
Society's truth: If you are the only one doing something right, you must be wrong. Any truth is the truth except for Absolute Truth.
Absolute Truth: "We must obey God rather than men." Acts 5:29
Society's dangerous and evil ideas were preceded by the media's portrayal of what is "good" by normalizing evil. The media twists the idea of righteousness to a more carnal pursuit, so that all may stay where they are morally and feel less guilty about their sin. Who would want to watch TV if they feel guilty all the time or feel like they have to change? Most people believe characters should not be goody-goody all the time -- there is no character development and people cannot relate to the character. It is better to create a flawed, but dashingly heroic character so the audience will relate on one level and fantasize about being this character on another. TV characters can get in and out of bed seemingly without emotional consequence. Real humans strive to be like these characters by sleeping around and expecting not to get hurt emotionally or damaged physically. Then when they realize real life is not like the TV, they attempt to take a pill for every sexually transmitted disease they receive so as not to reap the consequences of their actions and possibly lie to themselves about how emotionally damaged they are. The typical person will rationalize their behavior by saying sex is good, it is natural. Now don't get me wrong -- sex is good and natural, but God decrees that it meant only for traditional marriage. I will address the topic of sex, love and relationships in my next blog.
The media tries to keep their characters morally ambiguous. It is like when somebody asks you if you would be willing to rob a bank if that was the only way to keep your wife alive. Humans can see the pros and cons of the situation, and eventually talk themselves into sin because it is the "only way", or it "isn't so bad" or "you would do it too." For example: If McDreamy and whats-her-face are hopelessly in love, then by golly -- who's to stop him from marrying her, his wife?! How preposterous! He doesn't even love her anymore! Nothing can stop true love. So what if you have to commit adultery? Love is way more important than mere commitment. Or if Harry Potter cannot save the wizarding world without lying to a grown up, isn't it more important to lie and save the world? After all -- they would not be around to know he lied if he didn't save them!
You know what is so sad about this? I used to believe these lies! I used to internally struggle with the question of "is it okay for a man to abandon his wife if he doesn't love her anymore?" I tentatively settled on "yes" until the same thing happened to my mother. Then I wasn't so keen on the whole adultery for the sake of love thing. I used to mistake sin for nobility until God revealed to me why He hates it so much: sin causes destruction and separation from Him. "Hate evil, you who love the Lord,/Who preserves the souls of His godly ones; He delivers them from the hand of the wicked." Psalm 97:10
I bet Satan pats himself on the back for leading humanity into a revolt against righteousness. As Christians, we must not settle for complacency. We should constantly re-evaluate the content of movies, TV shows, books, magazines, and websites we allow ourselves and our loved ones to absorb. With God's Word and personal conviction from the Holy Spirit we should know what we ought to avoid and what we ought to promote. Philippians 4:8 gives us some direction: "Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things".
If you think your brother or sister in Christ is involved in media that you would consider dangerous, first put it in perspective. If it is something as drastic as porn, it is absolutely wrong. If it is Harry Potter, you can always respectfully discuss with them why you think the material is immoral, but chances are you will agree to disagree. For example, I find it difficult to watch a movie with any sort of intimacy in it without turning away. But if I were watching a movie with another Christian friend and they were not affected by a happy kissing couple the way I was, it is not my place to judge whether that would be a sin for them or not. My life has certain boundaries that do not apply to others. I have to take certain precautions to avoid temptation in ways that my fellow Christian has never been tempted. I find these two verses in Romans very important when dealing with a situation like this: "Happy is he who does not condemn himself in what he approves. But he who doubts is condemned" Romans 14:22, 23a and "Therefore let us not judge one another anymore, but rather determine this -- not to put an obstacle or a stumbling block in a brother's way." Romans 14:13
It is important for me to feel confident about what media I take in. It is equally important for me to not cause my brother to stumble. I always try to check the content of any movie I watch or recommend and warn others ahead of time if it has questionable content in it. I use the website of www.screenit.com to get detailed reviews of movies from reliable sources. There are plenty of websites out there and I urge you to use them. It may seem dorky or overly cautious at first, but you will soon find it a blessing. "Therefore I, the prisoner of the Lord, implore you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, showing tolerance for one another in love, being diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace." Ephesians 4:1-3
Do your best to keep the content clean, but remember that you cannot know everybody else's temptations (you DO know all of yours). I have made the mistake of getting a movie I thought was clean because I could not find a review of it telling me otherwise. I put many people in an uncomfortable situation. This lesson taught me to look harder for a review next time and to review it myself if I had any doubts so as not to "put an obstacle in a brother's way."
More important than the differences in individual temptations is the calling we have to stay obedient to God's specific Word that applies to everybody. This is one of many, many examples of sin to avoid:
"There are six things which the LORD hates,
Yes, seven which are an abomination to Him:
17Haughty eyes, a lying tongue,
And hands that shed innocent blood,
18A heart that devises wicked plans,
Feet that run rapidly to evil,
19A false witness who utters lies,
And one who spreads strife among brothers.
Proverbs 6:16-19
Let us follow His righteous commandments with a joyful heart, united in Spirit and love. The Lord is Truth, and His reign is Absolute.
* not my original quote
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