Sunday, August 12, 2012

God Speaks...About Entertainment?

The Bible is God's message to His people; a manual for life.  I've been a Christian since 2003, but I'm still a sinner; Romans 3:23 says, "All have sinned, and fall short of the glory of God."  You may wonder what the Bible has to do with entertainment, but they have more in common than you might think; one translation even says that Jesus "entertained" people when he was preaching.  However, there are also some verses that talk about media discernment.  Instead of interspersing my own commentary between them, I will just let the Scriptures speak for themselves, and I'll simply bold the parts I want to emphasize.  Here we go:
  • "But among you there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity, or of greed, because these are improper for God’s holy people.  Nor should there be obscenity, foolish talk or coarse joking, which are out of place, but rather thanksgiving. For of this you can be sure: No immoral, impure or greedy person—such a man is an idolater—has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God." -- Ephesians 5:3-5
  • "Hate what is evil; cling to what is good." -- Romans 12:9b
  • "In regard to evil be infants, but in your thinking be adults." -- 1 Corinthians 14:20b
  • "Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry.  Because of these, the wrath of God is coming." -- Colossians 3:5-6
  • "Avoid every kind of evil." -- 1 Thessalonians 5:22
  • "The wicked freely strut about when what is vile is honored among men." -- Psalm 12:8
  • "I will set before my eyes no vile thing. The deeds of faithless men I hate; they will not cling to me." -- Psalm 101:3
  • "Therefore as surely as I live, declares the Sovereign LORD, because you have defiled my sanctuary with all your vile images and detestable practices, I myself will withdraw my favor; I will not look on you with pity or spare you." -- Ezekiel 5:11
  • "But as for those whose hearts are devoted to their vile images and detestable idols, I will bring down on their own heads what they have done, declares the Sovereign LORD." -- Ezekiel 11:21
  • "And I said to them, 'Each of you, get rid of the vile images you have set your eyes on, and do not defile yourselves with the idols of Egypt. I am the LORD your God.'  But they rebelled against me and would not listen to me; they did not get rid of the vile images they had set their eyes on, nor did they forsake the idols of Egypt. So I said I would pour out my wrath on them and spend my anger against them in Egypt." -- Ezekiel 20:7
  • "But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart." -- Matthew 5:28 
  • "The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like.  I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God." -- Galatians 5:19-21
  • "But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days.  People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of Godhaving a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with them." -- 2 Timothy 3:1-5
  • "But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do, for it is written: 'Be holy, because I am holy.'" -- 1 Peter 1:15 
 God said it multiple times in various ways; who are we, as mere humans, to argue?

NOTE: All Scriptures are taken from the 1984 edition of the New International Version.

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