Participants:
Series Code: RQRA
Program Code: RQRA000020A
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00:01 I don't understand.
00:04 Why did this have to happen to me? 00:08 I feel like I just can't make sense of things. 00:12 I need answers. 00:15 Where is God? 00:21 Hello and welcome to Raw Questions Relevant Answers. 00:25 Today we're talking about media and entertainment. 00:29 Media and entertainment. 00:31 You know, if you're watching this right now, 00:33 then you have some participation in media. 00:36 It's everywhere, it's something 00:37 that you can't really get away from in this day and age, 00:39 but what is appropriate for the Christian? 00:43 How do we handle the issues of media and entertainment? 00:46 I have special guests with me today, 00:48 our co-host, actually, Dee Casper and Mark Paden. 00:52 And we are going to be looking at this together. 00:56 So the first question 00:57 that we have here today is from a 21 year old male 01:01 who is asking, 01:02 "Does it matter what we watch or listen to 01:06 if it's just in moderation?" 01:09 Yeah. 01:10 So... 01:12 I let you go first on that one. 01:13 I'll give in. Yeah, this is kind of my job. 01:15 You're a filmmaker. 01:16 Yes, I make films. 01:18 And actually, the first thing 01:20 I want to do 01:21 is just define some of the things in the medium. 01:24 So the Open that people just watch, 01:27 this is a film that we did specifically for this. 01:32 It is a very distilled form of communication, film is, right? 01:36 In that, like I could break down each shot of that, 01:39 how it's put together, what is in each shot, 01:42 how it's framed, 01:43 how we shot off the slow motion, 01:45 everything about it is there specifically 01:47 to communicate very strongly a certain thing, 01:52 and that's all of film, 01:53 you know, in the whole industry. 01:55 It's a very distilled form of art and communication. 02:00 There's another principle that we have that 02:03 by beholding you become changed, right? 02:05 In anything in life, the more we look at something, 02:08 the more we become like that, right? 02:11 Now when those two things collide, 02:14 the effectiveness of the film medium 02:18 and the principle that by beholding we become changed, 02:21 we come up into a situation 02:22 where when we're watching stuff 02:24 that is communicating principles, 02:27 that are decidedly unchristian, 02:29 we have very little barrier to those principles 02:32 becoming our own. 02:34 So if you or I spend a tremendous amount of time 02:37 watching stuff that is not Christian in nature, 02:40 that is putting out principles that are bad, 02:43 and it may not even be just drugs, sex, or violence, 02:45 but do we really want to watch a lot of stuff 02:48 and become a lot of stuff 02:50 that is a lot of backbiting, gossip, 02:52 and hatred, and those types of things? 02:55 That's what we open ourselves up 02:56 to when we start partaking 02:59 of these different types of entertainments. 03:02 There's another principle, I think, 03:03 that's important here in the idea of like, 03:07 how we may be view the topic of temperance, you know. 03:10 Like, it's that we... 03:11 The idea of moderation, 03:13 you know, like if it's okay 03:15 if I take in things that I know 03:16 that I shouldn't be around, 03:18 but as long as I don't do a lot of it, 03:20 it's not a problem, 03:21 which is somewhat implied in the question. 03:22 This is an area where we can get ourselves in trouble 03:25 because anytime we take a willful step in a direction 03:28 that we know isn't in our best interest, 03:29 no matter how far we go, it's not the right step. 03:32 Yeah. Does that make sense? 03:33 Like, if we know if God has convicted us 03:35 that this is not something that is in harmony 03:38 with the will of God 03:39 or with the principles of how heaven operates, 03:41 it's not a wise choice for us to make, 03:44 to move in that direction 03:46 even if it's a short step, right? 03:48 For our personal enjoyment and downtime. 03:49 If someone's going to be a missionary in a hostile area, 03:52 that's a whole another situation, right? 03:53 But when someone's willfully 03:55 subjecting themselves to influences, 03:58 it's best for us to abstain from things 04:00 that are not in our best interest. 04:02 The principle temperance is actually to abstain 04:03 from what's not in your best interest, 04:05 and to, in moderation, 04:08 partake of the things that are in your best interest. 04:10 Say about some other principle to maybe consider. 04:13 Philippians 4:8 tells us, "Finally, brethren, 04:16 whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are noble, 04:19 whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, 04:22 whatsoever things are lovely, 04:23 whatsoever things are of good report, 04:25 if there is any virtue 04:27 and if there is anything praiseworthy, 04:28 meditate on these things." 04:30 And I ask myself sometimes, with a lot of the media 04:34 or entertainment that I'm taking in, 04:36 does it fit those characteristics? 04:39 And if it doesn't, should I be meditating on it 04:42 even if it's a little bit? 04:44 And there's a couple of things here. 04:46 First of all, there are some things 04:47 that are okay in moderation, 04:50 but if you have too much, 04:52 it's not a good thing, right? 04:54 Food, you need it actually, though in the wrong amounts 04:58 or the wrong types, it's not good. 05:01 Media can be like that. 05:02 Some of it is good, 05:03 but too much of it can be a problem, 05:05 and then some of it just may not be helpful at all. 05:09 And then why am I doing that? 05:11 I know for me 05:12 this is a struggle because growing up, 05:14 I wasted a lot of my childhood watching TV and media. 05:19 I would just come home and I would say, 05:21 "No, I'm just going to watch one thing." 05:22 And then four hours later, there we were. 05:25 And I realized for me, it actually was an addiction, 05:28 that whether I was watching bad or good stuff, 05:30 that was a problem, 05:31 and I had to just stop in order to get away from that. 05:35 And so weighing that up, 05:37 and then also the content that we're looking at. 05:40 It's a highly emotional vehicle too, 05:42 whether it be music or digital media and movies, 05:45 they're highly emotional. 05:47 And sometimes one of the reasons 05:48 why we're going there in the first place 05:50 is because we're just looking to escape reality. 05:53 We want to live vicariously through the emotions 05:55 that we're partaking of. 05:56 And again, even if it's, 05:58 you know, Christian music, 05:59 but they just really gets us jazz 06:00 and excited or moves our emotions 06:02 to one direction or another, 06:03 even if it's stuff that we feel 06:05 that heaven would approve of, 06:06 the problem is we're running to something else 06:08 to deal with the current problem internally, 06:10 emotionally, and psychologically 06:13 as opposed to coming to Jesus with our pain, 06:15 and that's where even something that's a good thing 06:17 can be a problem 06:19 because we're using it to supplants 06:20 or usurp the place in our heart that only God should have, 06:24 that He's the thing 06:25 we should run to when we're hurting, 06:26 not something else if that make sense. 06:30 Do you have any other point you want to go through? 06:31 Yeah, I just wanted to also comment... 06:34 You know, 06:36 I've seen a lot of my peers growing up within the church 06:40 and I've seen in my own experience 06:41 and how starting down a road 06:46 of watching stuff that isn't the worst, 06:50 I mean, it just has a little bit of... 06:52 I mean it's not... 06:53 You wouldn't say it sinful, but, you know, 06:56 you get what I'm saying, right? 06:57 You start down that road, and I know in my experience, 06:59 once I started down that road, it ended when... 07:03 I started this far from God, I ended this far from God. 07:06 And that's something 07:08 that we really have to take into consideration 07:09 is that these types of things... 07:12 You're playing with your eternal salvation. 07:14 Right. It's not a laughing matter. 07:17 You give him an inch, he takes a mile 07:18 as far as Satan like. 07:20 To willfully take a step in a direction 07:22 that heaven would not have us take 07:24 is opening a door that's not easy to close 07:27 because it's by degrees many times that people end up 07:30 in places they never thought they would, right? 07:32 And no one comes out of their high school graduation 07:35 thinking, "I'm going to be a drug addict, 07:36 living on the side of the road in, 07:38 you know, in a metropolitan area." 07:40 Like that's not what they want to do, 07:42 but this is what happens, that you know one decision 07:44 leads to another decision leads to another. 07:46 And it's far better for us to take steps 07:48 that would be in the direction that heaven would approve of, 07:51 than to try to survive 07:52 and think that we could handle a situation 07:55 that's not in the direction heaven could approve of. 07:57 True. Good points. Good points. 08:00 We'll get a little more specific on this next one. 08:02 Let's do this. 08:03 We have someone that's asking, 08:05 "Do I really have to give up pop music etc. 08:08 to get into heaven 08:10 as long as it doesn't have cussing 08:12 or saying bad things?" 08:14 So can you get into heaven as long as you're not cussing 08:17 and saying bad things? 08:19 Good question, right? Yeah. 08:20 I think this is... 08:22 The fundamental thing in this question that I see, 08:26 we want to have as much of something 08:29 as we possibly can 08:31 while still thinking that we're okay, you know. 08:34 And I'm not just putting this on the asker of the question, 08:36 I'm saying like, I've seen this in my own experience. 08:39 When I ask similar types of questions, it's like... 08:42 "You know, I really want to do this and, I mean, 08:44 as long as it doesn't have this and it doesn't have this..." 08:47 My biggest thing with this whole type of question is, 08:51 okay, maybe it doesn't have... 08:53 Maybe it's not dropping the F bomb, 08:55 maybe it's not doing some of these other things, 08:58 but is it really advancing good principles? 09:00 Let's take a lot of the love songs. 09:02 Are the love songs really advancing 09:05 true genuine deep Christ-like love? 09:07 Yeah. Or is it an emotional frenzy? 09:10 Like Christianity is not just made up of... 09:13 Not of the world's version of morality, 09:16 there's this world's version of morality 09:18 that as long as it doesn't have drugs, sex, or violence, 09:20 then it's morally okay. 09:22 From the Christian perspective, it goes a lot deeper. 09:24 Not only is it those things, it's also, 09:26 are we loving like Christ loves? 09:28 Are we selfish? 09:29 Or are we backbiting? 09:31 Are we criticizing? 09:33 There's a host of other principles 09:35 straight from the character of Christ 09:37 that God wants us to be like. 09:38 And if we're listening to a lot of things 09:41 that are pushing out principles 09:43 that are totally not Christ-like, 09:45 that's what we're going to become. 09:47 The world view of the artist is what comes along the medium 09:52 that they're using, right? 09:53 And so like if... 09:54 It's a very good point that Mark is making 09:56 that if their world view is that women are objects, 09:59 and even if we don't use bad words, 10:01 but we're implying that women are objects. 10:02 This is not a world view that heaven would approve of 10:04 because women aren't objects, 10:07 they are precious valuable beings 10:10 made in the image of God and should be treated as much. 10:12 If it's teaching about... 10:14 It's about hustling and getting what you need 10:16 to get forward at the expense of anyone else around you, 10:19 but they don't use bad words, it's still not a principle 10:21 that the King of the heaven could approve of. 10:23 And we could go on and on and on... 10:24 Yeah. 10:26 There are emotions tied to what's delivered, 10:28 and they know this as far as how these things are packaged, 10:30 whether it be movies or whether it be music. 10:32 Even in novels and stories and stuff like that. 10:35 But two, with that comes there... 10:38 You may have an emotional connection 10:40 and what comes with that emotional connection 10:41 to what you're hearing 10:43 is a world view that you don't agree with, 10:45 and those two come as a one size fits all package, 10:48 you get it all in one. 10:50 You can't choose one or the other. 10:51 "I just connect emotionally here, 10:52 but I don't like that." 10:54 You're willfully accepting both. 10:56 Yes. 10:57 And that's where we need to choose wisely 10:58 when it comes to the shopping. 11:00 The scripture tells us 11:01 that out of the abundance of the heart, 11:03 the mouth speaks. 11:04 And the big thing I found with music especially 11:07 is that it speaks to the heart. 11:09 Yes. 11:10 It has a way to move us that just words alone don't. 11:14 And because of that, music can be 11:16 humongously powerful, 11:18 but it can also have a big effect 11:20 we don't realize at less than even cerebral level, 11:23 those messages come in. 11:25 And this kind of relates to the next question 11:28 which, in the light of all this, 11:30 someone is asking, 11:31 "So how do we know 11:33 what is best for a Christian to watch 11:35 or listen to without being legalistic?" 11:38 It's a 22 year old male saying, "What do I do now?" 11:41 So here's one thing that I just want to say, 11:43 let's define legalism. 11:44 Legalism is not obedience. 11:46 Legalism is trying to obey to earn God's favor. 11:50 There's nothing legalistic about saying, 11:52 "God, what do you want me to do? 11:54 How can I best live in accordance with Your will?" 11:56 That's obedience. Christ did that. 11:58 So the first thing is to recognize 12:00 as long as I'm not trying to do 12:03 as many principals as I can just 12:04 so I can be saved, 12:05 if I'm coming out of from the perspective of God, 12:07 I want to be yours. 12:09 I want to really have a mind that is fit for heaven, 12:13 that's not legalism. 12:15 That Paul was saying like there are things 12:17 that are lawful for me, but not all are beneficial. 12:19 Yes, exactly. 12:20 And I've heard it said this way that if we choose... 12:25 If in our decision, we vow not to dishonor heaven, 12:28 a plain path will be set before our feet. 12:31 And I think that's a principle that we can abide by 12:33 in this particular context that... 12:36 Who's the messenger? 12:38 What is their world view? 12:39 And where are they wanting to drive me? 12:41 And it's just like a... 12:43 Like you're not going to get in some stranger's car. 12:44 You don't know how good a driver they are, 12:46 you don't know where they're going, 12:47 you don't know if they're trustworthy, 12:49 it's no different. 12:50 You're getting in their emotional vehicle, 12:51 and they're going to take you somewhere 12:53 whether you want to go there or not. 12:54 That's what these mediums are meant to do. 12:57 They're vehicles to get from one place to another. 13:00 And so the process of storytelling 13:02 and the process of music 13:04 are the two vehicles of storytelling 13:05 and music are immensely powerful, 13:08 and God uses both. 13:10 Satan himself as a musical being, for instance. 13:12 We're told in Ezekiel 28, 13:14 "Your timbrels and your pipes..." 13:15 He was someone who understands the principles of worship 13:18 and how powerful it is to guide the soul. 13:22 Yes, he can use them for evil, 13:23 but it's not that we just abandon music, 13:25 we abandon story, 13:27 it's who's driving the vehicle of these powerful mediums. 13:31 And that's the question, I think, 13:33 that's helpful for me when asking, 13:35 even if it's a Christian, 13:36 are they driving some other vehicle? 13:39 Does that make sense? 13:40 Like if they're using a foreign vehicle 13:42 to transport a message, it still has an impact. 13:44 I need to look into those things. 13:46 Right. 13:48 So as we pull this together, 13:51 what I hear you saying is that that we are God's. 13:55 Whatever we are eating, drinking, or doing 13:57 is for the glory of God. 13:59 And so no, we're not going to be able to give 14:02 all the answers right now on exactly what to do and not do, 14:05 but hopefully these principles help to give 14:07 at least a direction. 14:08 Thank you for watching. 14:10 Visit us online RQRA3ABN on Facebook. |
Revised 2018-09-10