As we do almost every year, my wife and I spent vacation time in July visiting our out-of-state daughter. And although you’ll probably find this a bit strange (for that matter, I find it a bit strange), over the last couple of years at least we’ve found ourselves spending some of that R&R garage saling. Last year, for instance, I bought an old clunker bicycle that I just leave at my daughter’s for those times when the urge to pedal a few miles hits me.
So, just a few weeks ago on an early Saturday morning, my wife and I once again drove around my daughter’s neighborhood in search of another illustrious bargain. This year we didn’t find any. But our garage saling was still not a waste of time. In fact, it got me thinking … and writing this blog—which I hope serves as a spiritual challenge of sorts.
At one house we stopped at, as my wife and I began peering into a plethora of boxes loaded with books and DVDs for sale, I made this observation: This family is certainly a Christian family. What tipped me off? The boxes contained a significant amount of evangelical books and movies. I’m not talking about an old King James Bible that may have been given to a family member as a birthday gift. I’m talking about the kind of DVDs and books you’d find at your local Family Christian store.
Sadly, also in these boxes were a boatload of movies—the likes of which our Plugged In reviewers spend hours creatively wordsmithing why the film deserved only two plugs (or thereabouts) out of five for family friendliness.
Now, I really don’t want to come off as judgmental (even though I’m sure I sound like it), but I was, to say the least, disappointed. But I also quickly caught myself, realizing that this scenario plays itself out in thousands if not millions of Christian homes across our nation. Not just at garage sales. I’m talking about shelves and shelves of DVDs and Blu-rays that warrant some seriously low scores on the family-friendly meter. I know this because I hear people of faith regularly discussing the movies they’ve just watched. Quite frankly, there are way too many times I find myself wanting to frustratingly exclaim, “What were you thinking?!”
But let me back up a bit and take the 32,000-foot view for a moment in hopes that I can shed some of the judgmentalism that may be coming across right now. The reason this matters is that I’ve given my life to help encourage followers of Jesus Christ honor Him when making entertainment decisions. In fact, the reason Plugged In exists in the first place is that we want to assist parents as they work to see their children grow in their ability to navigate today’s entertainment, and think critically and biblically about messaging. I strongly believe that media consumption is not just some innocent pastime, but that the empty philosophies therein can trick us into becoming spiritual prisoners in certain areas of our thinking (according to Colossians 2:8). The Bible calls it being “taken captive.”
Still, in fairness, I know that loving Jesus doesn’t automatically translate into making wise entertainment choices. I know that because it took me about 10 years of being a Christian to realize it. In my “lack of discernment days” I even served as a youth pastor. I most definitely loved the Lord. I just didn’t think He cared all that much about my entertainment (especially my musical) choices. When I discovered otherwise, it revolutionized my life and caused me to make major changes in my media diet.
Perhaps, like this family with the garage sale, if I came to your house, I’d find problematic movies. But the same works in reverse. If you visited my house, you’d likely find a few DVDs that would have you scratching your head about me (Sea Biscuit and Anna Karenina are two that come to mind). So, let’s all do this: Let’s examine our media consumption anew and afresh. Let’s ask ourselves if we’re actively making it a priority to please the God of the Universe with our entertainment? Let’s ask the Lord to reveal His truth in this area of our life and give us the strength to make the right decisions, even when they’re difficult. This is not about earning brownie points with God. It’s about responding in obedience to a Creator whose grace is freely given, but who asks us to reach toward a high bar of holiness in response. Because the Lord really does care about what we watch and listen to.
A postscript: You may be thinking that the family with the garage sale was actually showing discernment by getting rid of their troublesome DVDs. Possibly. But personally I’m not crazy about selling DVDs with serious content issues. As I did with about $1,000-worth of music years ago, I think it’s better to just trash ‘em.
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