I just got back from a special chapel we had this morning. It was pretty good - this guy, I can't remember his name, has written a book about Christians and movie-watching. He was talking with the kids about how Hollywood tries to manipulate us through films. He wasn't saying this as a negative thing -I mean, what art form doesn't strive for some form of manipulation? Any sculptor, singer, painter, movie-maker should be trying to work our emotions. That's the whole point. He was simply trying to make the kids aware that this was going on and to watch responsibly and with discernment.
He did talk about something that I would like to throw out there: He was saying that we need, to some degree, watch these movies so that we can intelligently engage the people around us who are immersed in this culture. He mentioned Silence of the Lambs and No Country for Old Men as examples of films that help us see the depravity of man. I understand his point and agree with it to some extent. But it raised a question in my mind - here it is:
As we cycle deeper and deeper into God and into His holiness, do we start automatically peeling these "culturally artistic" things out of our life or are we more capable of being in there without being spiritually harmed? Do we gain a greater freedom in this culture, like a Teflon Christian, fully engaged with nothing sticking to us. Or - for lack of a better term - does the 'ick' factor become such a stench in our nostrils that we can't stand to be listening, watching or reading the works of the world?
The strange thing is that I'm preaching through Acts and I've reached chapter 17, where Paul uses the culture of the Athenians on Mars Hill to preach the Gospel to them. Paul obviously has some familiarity with the culture of his age, as he quotes philosophers and books of the day, and he uses it to evangelize. So I clearly see this side of the argument.
However, I also am challenged by Isaiah 6, where the prophet is brought into the glorious Light of the Lord and immediately is disgusted by the filth that is upon him and upon those around him. The closer he got to the Lord, the greater the 'ick factor.'
So - any thoughts?
2 comments:
good questions my friend! i have been thinking about this as well. if i am not more entrenched in God's Word and prayer than I am in the world (movies, tv, internet) than the 'ick' factor won't even come into play. we've been saved from this world so we can jump back into it and show Christ to it. there is so much to talk about on this subject. i hope we get some convo on here...
I go back and forth on this - so I'm not much help. To be honest, at this point, I'm more with the "Ick" than the "Teflon." The world has a stench that I do not want to immerse myself in. Not because I don't think I can't handle it as a Christian - but because I don't WANT to see it, taste it, touch it, read it, watch it, listen to it, etc. It offends my holiness.
Then I weigh that against my desire to see the lost come to Hiim - and the lost are in that stench . . . All I can say is that it makes me even more amazed that the One who is truly holy became sin for me - WOW!
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