Friday, January 14, 2011

Are You Not Entertained?

I've been doing a bit of thinking lately (only a bit). It has been a point of contention for me personally - do the ways in which we entertain ourselves have an effect on us or is entertainment simply for spectating without interaction? I'm trying to put this into adequate words without oversimplifying it, so hear me out here before you try to dissect what I just said, because frankly I'm not sure I know yet myself. As a Christian, does my choice of entertainment speak to who I am in Christ, or does it really matter? Does watching a movie that is clearly not in agreement with what Jesus promoted cause any problems for me? Does it even work that way? I believe that a lot of things in life in and of themselves are not inherently good or bad, but does such a belief apply to this discussion? I say discussion as though there are others involved here, but clearly this is only MY musing to this point.

Does the music I listen to that depicts about love as sex, or filled with anger influence me at all?

Do the movies and TV shows that I view that normalize sexual relationships and vulgar vocabulary at all change the way I think or believe?

Do the video games that I play where I shoot to kill representations of people inflate the amount of hate and anger that sometimes rears its head within me? Believe me, I have played plenty of first-person-shooter games, and I truly enjoy them. Does my enjoying them make them acceptable for me?

I'm not sure that these things are beneficial, nor am I convinced that Christian-themed music or movies with poor theology and fear-instilling messages are any more beneficial to me, either. I like movies that make me think, that take twists and turns, and that keep me guessing until the very end. Sometimes I wonder, though, if they are "filling my mind with junk," as my dad used to put it. I plan to ponder this more and more, as I haven't really arrived anywhere with my thoughts yet. I do know this much, though: if I am watching a movie with, say, my RAs and I get uncomfortable about what it is depicting, that is probably not a good thing. Am I setting a poor example should this occur?

"Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things." -Phil. 4:8