REFORMED WITNESS
Volume III, November 1995, Number 11
The Christian and Worldly Entertainment
Article by Pastor Arie den Hartog of Hope Protestant Reformed Church
What we do for relaxation and entertainment is a vitally important question of Christian living. The law of God for His covenant people must govern this important area of our life even as it must the whole of our life. God's people also in this area of their life must be a holy and a peculiar people separate from this ungodly world and consecrated to God in the fear of His name. In fact there is hardly an area of life where radical separation from the world is more necessary than the area of entertainment. This is becoming increasingly urgent as the world becomes more an more wicked and ungodly. The appalling evil of this world is one of the great signs of the times in which we live that indicate very clearly that the end of this world and the return of our Lord for judgment is very near.
It is especially in the area of entertainment that the world casts off all restraint and lives in open wickedness, immorality and rebellion against God's holy law. In society in general there is still some external regard for the law of God, for that which is virtuous and decent, though this too is fast disappearing. However there is an opinion prevalent in the world that after "a hard day's work" a man is entitled to entertain himself as he pleases. He may give himself over to lust and passion in total abandonment. In entertaining himself man has a perfect right to do as he pleases. This argument is especially insisted upon with respect to what man does in the privacy of his own home. No one may say anything about this.
Almost daily we come across shocking examples of the evil philosophy of the world in the area of entertainment. Let me give you just a few examples. The September 11, 1995 issue of U. S. News & World Report featured a cover article "Sex and Violence on TV." This article begins by describing the attitude of the media regarding sex and violence on television in this way:
To hell with kids -- that must be the motto of the new fall TV season. You want proof? Look at the network lineups. Many of the wholesome sitcoms that once ruled the 8 p.m. to 9 p.m. hour have gone to the TV graveyard, replaced by racier fare like "Cybill" and "Roseanne." As a Wall Street Journal news story put it in a recent headline, "It's 8 p.m. Your Kids Are Watching Sex on T.V."
Vulgarity also rules in the first hour of prime time. In "Bless This House," an 8 p.m. CBS show staring shock comic Andrew Clay as a blue-collar dad, the mom accuses her 12 year-old daughter of "spending all morning staring at your little hooters." Chatting with a promiscuous chum who's said to be so eager for sex that she'd "do it on the coffee table," the mother wonders, "XXX, don't you ever get your period?"
Say goodby to the "family hour," the 8 p.m. to 9 p.m. period ABC, CBS and NBC once reserved for your kids, say hello to Fox in the henhouse. The success of sexually frank programs, like the Fox network's "Beverly Hills 90210 at 8 p.m. has uncorked a wave of me-tooism in the quest for a young (but not too young), hip and urban audience. As Alan Sternfeld, an ABC senior vice president , says of shifting "Roseanne" and "Ellen" to 8 p.m. "We get reimbursed by advertisers when we deliver adults 18 to 49."
The article in U. S News goes on to cite statistics like "a typical child, watching 27 hours of TV a week, will view 8000 murders and 100,000 acts of violence from age 3 to age 12".Staying with the promotion of evil by TV, it is impossible to imagine anything more raunchy and abominable than the TV "talk shows" that have become so prevalent and are being aired all day long. Leaving aside the immoral evil promoted by these, which is of course the most serious of all, how low has the mind set of our society sunk that this kind of stuff is not absolutely nauseating and revolting to the average person. Apparently this is not the case anymore. The main reason why such programs are flourishing and multiplying every day is the fact that the American public is paying big bucks for them.
Movie stars of Hollywood and Broadway are the heroes of our society. Our government recently published an issue of a postage stamp featuring Marilyn Monroe, whose only claim to fame is her sexual prowess and life of fornications and adultery. Another immoral slut, Elizabeth Taylor has dumped her seventh husband. Yet she is the idol of many Americans who follower her life with greatest interest and admiration. Even our President holds in highest regard the immoral of Hollywood and includes them whenever he can in his glamourous get-togethers and TV appearances.
There has been much talk of late about the graphic portrayal of violent themes and the most raunchy explicit sex on computers, the Internet or "cyberspace", and other electronic media. Much of this is readily available to the children of our society. (Although the argument that this is only bad for children and not for adults is another example of the foolish and evil philosophy of the world we live in.)
The Los Angeles Times published an article in its October 13 issue about the popularity of the "Gentlemen's Clubs'". These clubs in some of our large cities are becoming so popular and lucrative that they can be listed on the Stock Exchange. It is strongly argued that the kind of entertainment provided by these clubs should be recognized as "respectable entertainment" and part of the great culture of America. It is said to be "clean sex" and innocent sexual arousal without gratification. When the Republicans had their convention in Houston these clubs where filled to capacity. Many of the patrons were leading politicians and other public figures that at least ought to be respectable people in our society who promote good morals and decent life styles.
Another article that was featured this week in a number of publications was one that told the story of how many of the young people in our nation are at a very early age already getting involved in what are called dangerous life styles, such as promiscuous sex, drugs, and gangs. In many cases this is having devastating consequences for the entire lives of these young people and escalating the already shockingly troublesome crime and the violent culture of modern day youth. Why is this happening? In a way this phenomena, as awful as it is, ought not to surprise us at all. There are many contributing factors in our modern society which have brought about this evil consequence. We are not focusing on these in this article. There is however no doubt about the fact that one of the leading contributing factors is the wickedness promoted by the entertainment industry in our nation. Few dare to say this or to even make a study that will prove this. It is not popular to criticize the entertainment industry in our land. One who does so will incur public wrath.
Many other examples of the evil of worldly entertainment could be cited. We can mention the tremendous increase in recent years in the evil of gambling. Thousands of Los Angeleans travel every week to the casinos of Las Vegas. Many states have legalized gambling with state sponsored lotteries. Who can tell how much evil this has brought in our land? It is a proven fact that all forms of gambling brings with it many other vices. At the very least it feeds the covetous nature of natural man. Family incomes even of the poor are often squandered on lottery tickets while children go hungry. This is all done in the hope that one day they will win the "million dollar lottery."
What should be the reaction of the Christian to all of this? The position of the Christian is not of course that all entertainment is wrong as some would accuse us of saying. There is much wholesome entertainment. The Christian recognizes some value in entertainment. We must however even then, begin with the proper perspective. The chief concern of the Christian is to work in the occupation that the Lord has called us to. Our chief purpose in life is not to play but to work. If we do our daily work heartily we experience the joy of the Lord's approval and blessing. Entertainment has the limited purpose of serving for relaxation and re-invigorating us for our daily work. Furthermore the Christian ought to spend time regularly in what may be called direct kingdom work, such as involvement in the life of the church and in works of Christian charity. There is Christian entertainment that is beneficial at the same time to equip us for a life of Christian service.
There is an old concept almost forgotten in the church world that must be revived chiefly because it is a thoroughly biblical concept. This is the concept of the "antithesis." This strange term hardly known anymore among Christians means that there must be an absolute separation between the Christian and the world. This concept is based on many passages of scripture. Let me quote just a few of them. "Be ye not unequally yoked with the unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness? and what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel? And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God: as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them: and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing, and I will receive you, and will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, said the Lord Almighty." II Corinthians 6:14-18. "But fornication, and all uncleanness, or covetousness, let it not be once named among you, as becometh saints; neither foolish talking, nor jesting, which are not convenient: but rather giving of thanks. For this ye know, that no whoremonger, nor unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, hath any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God. Let no man deceive you with vain words: for because of these things cometh the wrath of God upon the children of disobedience. Be ye not therefore partakers with them." Ephesians 5:3-7. "From whence come wars and fightings among you? come they not hence, of your lusts that war in your members? Ye lust, and have not: ye kill, and desire to have, and cannot obtain: ye fight and war, yet ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts. Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God." James 4:1-4. "Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is or the world." I John 2:14 and 15.
All of the above cited passages are worthy of our careful consideration. They all use very strong language. They are very pertinent to the subject we are considering. They call the Christian to condemn the evil of the world and to separate himself from it. We cannot be holy and consecrated to God unless we do this. Few churches today preach about the need of maintaining the antithesis in Christian living anymore. Those who do such preaching are often ridiculed as being hopelessly out of tune with modern day society. But it belongs to the heritage of the Reformation to stress this truth of the Word of God. Because this truth has been largely forgotten worldliness especially also in the area of entertainment has engulfed the church. Many members of the church engage in much of the same entertainment that the world does. They have little consciousness of how evil it is. How can the Christian entertain himself by the constant portrayal of sin and immorality that is presented by the modern media and not feel a revulsion for it?
Those who insist on the antithesis have often been accused of "world flight" mentality. This is the idea that we ought to isolate ourselves completely from the world. We ought to live in a monastery or on an island somewhere off by ourselves. This has been attempted by wrong-headed zealots but has repeatedly been proven to be impossible. It is also wrong. We are called to be "in the world but not of the world." We have a calling to be an example of the holiness of God in a world of gross immorality and wickedness. We are called to labor for the salvation of God's elect who are still in this world and to call them out of this world to a life of spiritual separation and consecration to God. We are called to shine as lights in a world of darkness. Furthermore even if it were possible to separate ourselves physically from the world we would lose the great spiritual battle of the Christian life unless we realize how much we carry the world with us in our sinful nature. The greatest battle the Christian must fight is one against the evil that is in our own sinful nature. The ungodly world and the devil appeals to this sinful nature and by that appeal tries to lead us to sin at least in our heart and mind if not in our deeds. The entertainment media with its graphic portrayal of sensual stimuli and its glorification of violence and murder is a powerful means to excite the sinful passions that are still part of our old man of sin. Our Christian calling must begin with the condemnation of sin in our own self. Only when we realize first of all the tremendous power of sin in our own heart and pray earnestly to God for strength to fight against and overcome our sinful nature, can we condemn the evil of the world in which we live and truly separate ourselves from it.
What does this mean practically? There are Christian organizations that strongly condemn the evil of the entertainment industry in our land and militate against it politically and through public protest. Some of these have done this with commendable success and for the glory of God. There is some value in political action and in militancy against the media that promotes much of the evil of the entertainment world in our land. It will continue to grow more and more wicked as the end approaches. God's Word prophesies that this will be so. God in his mercy will save His people out of it. This world with all of its evil will be destroyed by the holy wrath and just judgment of God.
We must begin with our homes and our churches. The greatest power for change is the power of the gospel of Christ Jesus. The gospel is the power of God unto repentance and separation from sin. The church must faithfully preach this gospel without compromise. It is an essential part of the preaching of the gospel that we condemn the evil of this world. Only when this is done does the need of the Savior become real and urgent. This condemnation must be preached with the same strong language which the scriptures themselves use in the passages we quoted above. By God's grace we as a church try to do that.
There is great need for radical separation from the evil entertainment of the world in our homes. This must begin with a profound estimation of how dreadfully evil the world is before God. I have in this article used many adjectives to try to describe this. Are we really sensitive to how great the evil of the entertainment of the world is, and what an abomination it all is before God? Do we realize how urgent radical separation from all of this is? Do we separate ourselves from this evil and are we greatly concerned about our families, our children and young people? Do we labor to give them a strong moral upbringing and then turn them over indiscriminately to the evil entertainment of the world? What a terrible and corrupting influence the media can have on their young impressionable lives! We have seven children, four of them that are presently teenagers. We know firsthand therefore the reality of these concerns.
Some have advocated throwing the television entirely out of the home. That might be a very good idea especially if the family is in the habit of indiscriminate watching of its evil programs. You really will miss very little of cultural and educational value by doing this. What you would miss can easily be obtained from carefully selected books and with much greater benefit. There is really very little on TV that can be characterized as wholesome entertainment for our families. Even the nightly news broadcasts are constantly being interrupted by advertisements of evil and immoral TV programs to follow. If there is any TV watching in the Christian home at all it surely ought to be very carefully monitored. This is a severe indictment I realize, but one that is necessary in our day.
The movie theater ought to be declared off limits to our children and young people. Many great Christian leaders of the past have said this. They said this at a time when the entertainment industry was a lot tamer and less raunchy than it is today. They said this with solid Biblical basis. You won't miss any valuable lessons about "good art" when you follow this policy. The vast majority of movies today are thoroughly saturated with themes that are completely inappropriate for the Christian to be entertaining himself with. There are far better means of entertainment, ones from which there is a lot more to be gained. We ought to say this emphatically to ourselves and our children. There are many good Christian books to read. Refraining from movie watching will free us and our children up for engaging in wholesome activities, in family fellowship and visitation with other Christian families. It is a proven fact that educational achievement improves on a scale parallel with severe limitation of television viewing. Even physically there are far better activities than laying around watching TV.
Our children need to be warned over and over again about the evil programing of the media. We ought not to allow the media to desensitize us to the evil of the brazen immorality and the glorification of violence and murder and lawlessness it constantly portrays before our eyes. Young people who are so desensitized are exactly the ones who engage in the dangerous and evil practices mentioned in the newspaper article referred to above.
In the world of our day we need to always have our consciences sharpened by the faithful preaching of the Word in church. We must learn from the Word of God the hatred that Holy God has for the evil of the world that we live in. The power of the Word of God and of His grace alone can keep us focused on the need of being a separate and holy people unto the Lord. We need to stand together to promote amongst ourselves wholesome entertainment and good Christian fellowship. Especially our growing families need this. We are living in evil times. There is a fearful danger of being spiritually destroyed by the wicked world. Our help is in the Lord alone who can preserve us from this world of evil. Let us pray earnestly to Him for spiritual strength.
| Back to top | Back to main Reformed Witness page |
The Reformed Witness newsletter is published monthly under the auspices of the Evangelism Committee of the Hope Protestant Reformed Church of Redlands. This newsletter is available to anyone who is interested in the Reformed Faith. If you would like your name added to our mailing list, please write to:The Reformed Witness
Hope Protestant Reformed Church
1307 E. Brockton Ave.
Redlands, CA 92374-3802
or email us: