During the course of the day people are barraged with information, music, news, talk shows, printed material, and a wide range of internet sources. Most, if not all, of what they are exposed to is secular in nature. This most likely means that the input they get is vivid, sexual, violent, deviant, and almost always skewed with an opinion – most likely in direct opposition to the Christian world view.
That wears a person down. You are forced to constantly battle against those influences. It’s even worse for parents who don’t always have a choice and must put their children into the public schools where competing life styles are a focus of the educational process. Not only does this require a lot of correction and love on the parents part to bring the children back to the teachings of their church, but it frequently drives a wedge between the children and their parents. That’s natural – the “world” is almost always more inviting and entertaining than what we have traditionally offered as entertainment in Christianity.
For a long time if you offered someone the choice between “Christian” entertainment and what was offered at the theatre down the street, or on the local radio station, most people would choose the latter. An awful lot of Christian music and literature was fairly dull. At least that was the perception. And naturally it was the image provided by the competing entertainment industry of the secular world. Christians, on the other hand, sounded like lunatics when they complained of “Satanic influence” in the stuff their families were exposed to every day. Again, naturally, by the competing industry of the secular world. We didn’t fight back very hard to correct that image.
It is my opinion that that worldview is outmoded. The wide variety of Christian music, literature, film, and internet resource material is ever-increasing in quality and can compete with the secular world quite well if we open our eyes to the potential it holds.
We conducted an experiment in our household a few years ago in which we discontinued listening to secular radio and instead turned exclusively to KTIS for six months. My wife and I agreed that not only did our general outlook improve, but that we really enjoyed the acts on that station. The stress level in our lives declined markedly when we didn’t have to fight the messages of the media in addition to all the other challenges Christians find in adhering to their faith.
I was reminded of this recently when I was wandering the aisles of a local Lifeway store. I was in the DVD aisle of the store and realized that I’d seen quite a few of the titles on the shelf. Not all of them were “Christian” movies as one would usually define them. But they were movies that were within the boundaries of the faith and lifestyle that most Christians try to live. It felt like I’d found an oasis from the world standing there looking at the sleek jackets on the shelf. I felt a smile crossing my face and turned to the woman next to me. “It’s really nice to have entertainment that doesn’t make you feel dirty. I’m glad this place exists!” She didn’t even run away. She nodded and smiled as well.
That entertainment is all around us if we look for it closely enough. It’s on the History Channel with The Bible mini-series. It’s on A&E with Duck Dynasty. It’s on the radio in your car with KTIS or some other Christian station. And if there is no station in your area, fire up the internet connection or IHEART RADIO and find one that you can listen to as you travel around. It’s in the plethora of Christian and Faith movies available on Netflix. It’s possibly at your local theater if the Kendrick brothers are cranking one out this year as they have in the past when they were with Sherwood Ministries. And most importantly, to me, it’s right there on your Kindle or in your local bookstore with the vibrant works of hundreds of great Christian authors.
I’m particularly fond of those authors as I know quite a few of them. I won’t read bad books. And I don’t have to do that with today’s modern authors. They cover the gamut from “Buggies and Bonnets” books (the Amish stories) on to mysteries, thrillers (my genre if I can get one published soon, otherwise it will be a handbook on aging and the final years of life), and science fiction. Every kind of plot that doesn’t involve prurient acts is available. There’s no market for pornography in the Christian Booksellers Association and I don’t see it developing down the road.
It’s more work to do it “the Christian way” in your entertainment, but nobody ever said salvation was without it’s costs. I know we all whine and drag our feet when there are easier choices right in front of us. It’s the same reason we grab a burger and flop on the couch instead of an apple and hit the exercise bike. But just like the bike and the apple the rewards are large. (Except for that first apple…) It’s up to you how you choose to live your life. I’d only ask that you remember that Christ paid a huge price for our salvation – can’t we chip in just a little by watching a better quality of movie?
What have you done to bring Christianity into your entertainment choices? Are you still lost in the secular world? Will you try some Christian authors this week?
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