Wednesday, June 16, 2010

Sickness and Joy in Entertainment

Being a product of this technologically dependent world, I enjoy television, music, and movies. I am not a fanatic, but I do love entertainment. Yet, I find myself lacking the fulfillment that it used to give me. I used to love watching action, comedy, and horror movies late at night. I would listen to any music if I liked it regardless of the “message” that it contained. Now most of these disturb my conscience instead of entertain. This has been on my mind for a while but has recently become a topic of discussion for me.

I watched a specific horror movie one night in which a group of strangers was quarantined in an apartment building. All were eventually infected with super rabies and brutally murdered by each other. While it seemed to bother me at first, it eventually passed, and I proceeded to watch more movies of the sort. This last weekend, I watched a Sci-Fi movie with alien weapons that splattered enemies like watermelons at a Gallagher show. I was deeply disturbed by this movie. It left me feeling worse than I expected any movie should.

I was then left wondering why I was so upset with the movie. One can quickly reply with the idea that I was “too caught up” in it. This is possible, but there is a bigger picture behind that. I sat back and thought about what I actually just watched and what it means for humanity. Hollywood clearly makes movies to make money. If the movies don’t sell, they lose money. We see that there has always been bloody action, crude, vulgar comedy, sci-fi, and horror movies as well as television shows in these genres on for decades. Logically, we can assume that there is a demand for these things. Think about that: there is a demand for these movies. Sin in humanity has made it popular to watch people get tortured, shot, writhe in pain, stabbed, get cheated on, lie, steal, and even have sex in front of us. Clearly, Hollywood makes movies that they can make money on due to demand. The entertainment we crave is truly sickening.

I see now why such movies disturb me. The more I focus on the Lord, sin becomes detestable. These horrible visual productions of sin only hurt our walk with Christ. Would Christ find entertainment in watching people torture each other? Would he cheer when a man avenged his wife’s death by brutally murdering her murderer? Would he enjoy watching zombies eat people alive? Then, why would we want to indulge watching these acts?

We all have watched these types of movies and saw horrible things happen to people and animals. As followers of Christ, we cannot and must not look to these deplorable things for joy. Turn to God first, and he will fill our hearts with righteousness to the point of joy and gladness in holy things. I don’t mean that watching these movies is a sin. Finding joy and entertainment in sinful, unrighteous acts is what dangerously affects our walk on the path of faith.

The challenge that the path of the zealot now gives all of us is to examine ourselves. Do these types of entertainment disturb us? Ask yourself if Jesus would watch and enjoy these movies, shows, or music. Should we be doing so then? If we claim to be Christians, we claim to live Christ-like lives. Would enjoying the acts of sin be acceptable actions and external examples of Christ for nonbelievers? The answer is no. As I said before, watching these movies is not a sin. The “comfort” and joy that we attempt to find in movies and sitcoms that promote sin leads us to enjoy sin. We should hate sin, not enjoy it.

What do we do then? Stop watching movies? Not necessarily. The best thing to do with our lives is to rid ourselves of anything that is contrary to the word of God; this means anything from television to bad habits. Don’t go to the extreme though. I had a friend tell me one time that any music that didn’t glorify God was bad. I guess this would include “Happy Birthday.” The point is that not everything will glorify God directly as church hymn, but not everything works contrary to his glory. Be smart, and evaluate your surroundings.

“Because I love your commands more than gold, more than pure gold, and because I consider all your precepts right, I hate every wrong path” Psalm 119:127-128.

Saturday, June 5, 2010

If there is such a good god, why does he let bad things happen to good people?

A very common argument that skeptics robotically spit at believers is the question that if an all-loving, omnipotent god exists, why does he let bad things to happen to everyone, more specifically, bad things to good people. Initially, we may not be prepared to answer such a question. It tends to take the conversation down an avenue where many feel uncomfortable discussing. Maybe this is due to not thinking much on the topic or just not reading God’s Word much leading to an inability to defend the faith. Despite the panic we may feel by being approached by this question, the argument is easily discredited with elementary logic.

The first track to answer this question deals with the issue of free will. When concentrating on this, be sure to clarify the idea that without free will, we’re all robots. For instance, if a man jumps from a building twenty stories high and God catches him ten feet from the ground, would this be a good thing? The man’s life was saved; a good person was saved from a bad thing. On this earth, this can be a bad thing.

Think of what just happened: the man made a choice to jump. His choice was overridden by God, and a controlled outcome resulted. Now the question is what can come from this type of existence. It illustrates that God would control our lives and if we are controlled, we have no choice; we’re puppets. This is not what God wants for his children. Imagine that another man loves a specific woman. She clearly doesn’t want the man. Having utter control over her, he forces her to love him. Is this a bad or good thing? Most will agree that it is wrong to force someone to do something they don’t want, yet this is the same type of situation with jumping from a roof with God catching the jumper. God didn’t create robots; he desired a creation that by choice can turn to him. Without choice, we’re robots living a robotic existence.

But what about situations where bad things happen without choice like cancer? This still deals with free will. If we’re to be given the choice to make decisions and have true freedom, we must accept the fact that the bad comes with the good. If I‘m cooking in the kitchen, I make a choice to start the burner. The burner is good because it cooks my dinner, yet it will burn me if I put my hand on it or eat the hot food without letting it cool. The point is that we must accept the fact bad comes with good. Consider the alternative: we would have no control over thoughts, emotions, and movements. He doesn’t want this, nor do we.

The second point to make is that we do live in a sinful world. Because of what we did by sinning against God’s will, the world is now cursed with sin and is in an imperfect state. In this state, we encounter pain, death, aging, murder, disease, sexual perversion and immorality just to name a few. God does let this happen because we brought it on ourselves. God is so holy and just, he keeps all promises and allows good and bad things to happen. Image a judge who just convicted a mass murderer that changes his mind to let the murderer go after a short stay in prison. What should happen to the judge? Would we have trust in the justice that is passed? God will not waiver from his promises or judgments.

The pitfall to watch for in these types of conversations is to evaluate the setting in which the conversation comes. If it is a quick discussion with a friend on the street, a person may want to tailor the points to fit the scenario. A deep philosophic discussion may not be fruitful at this point. When a time comes later for a sit-down conversation, this is when a deep illustration will come into play. Keep this in mind and pray for God’s guidance. He will provide for us all.

God’s commission for us all is to spread his Good News. Even though situations like these don’t always directly address Christ’s resurrection, guiding others through these issues will lead them to where they are more willing to accept the Gospel. Remember, God says to love him with all of our mind, heart, and soul. He gives us the capability to handle these philosophical questions for times like these. Let the Spirit speak through you and do his will.