For years I have discussed the positive impact of speaking the language of entertainment. We can use books, movies, TV, video games, sports, and other forms of entertainment as a way to present the Gospel, explain truth, and illustrate life experiences. But I have never argued that we should embrace all of culture.

In fact, Christians are to live in the world without becoming of the world. What this means is that Christians are not to be accepting of and participating in sinful practices.

It is easy to say that Christians should not look at pornography, cheat on their spouses, lie in order to get a promotion at work, or to go out and get loaded on Friday night. It becomes more difficult when dealing with the way we read novels, watch TV or Movies, and listen to music.

In the Bible, people have affairs, commit murder, lie, steal, cheat, take advantage of others, etc. But we still consider it a great work of literature, history, and our faith. Why…because the Bible never glorifies these kinds of actions.

Recently Jim Denison wrote an article on whether or not Christians should see the film Devil’s Due. In it Denison presents an argument for seeing the film and for not seeing the film. He concludes (and I agree) that Christians should not see this film.

The argument for seeing the film goes something like this: We are to be salt and light, in order to be light we must be in the culture…if we see the film we can talk about it with others who have seen it.

The argument against seeing the film goes something like this: We are not to fill our minds with trash but with things that are good and virtuous. The things we see stay in our minds for years and can have a profound impact on who we are. Denison cites Philippians 4:8 and 2 Corinthians 10:5.

Denison notes that seeing a film just so we can talk about it with others presents logic that could be transferred to watching pornography. He concludes his article by noting that seeing the film would grieve the Holy Spirit who lives inside us.

I completely agree with Denision about this film and with his principles. Below I will expound upon them to create a checklist for deciding what to do with our entertainment.

Statement 1: Jesus ate with sinners, but he never lowered his standard of righteousness for them and he never approved of their sins. He ate with tax collectors, but Jesus never stole money. He talked with prostitutes and he showed them genuine care, but he never supported their career.

Principle 1: From this we can learn that we are not to support sinful practices even though we are to love sinners. We can still show care and build relationships with those who live with different ethical standards, but we must be careful not to support those standards.

Statement 2: What we put into our minds flows out from our hearts. When we fill our heads with trash, we do the same for our hearts. As Petra said in there 1984 song “Computer Brains” –“garbage in, garbage out.”

Principle 2: We must recognize when the messages (claims about truth) of a book, song, show, or film are contrary to the claims about truth in Scripture. We need to be aware when an artist is telling us to believe something that is contrary to Scripture.

Statement 3: We must be in the world in order to be light, but we must shine as a light and this requires us to be different from the world we are in.

Principle 3: We must be ready to embrace what is good in culture, encourage what is true, and critique what is false. To do this, we must kick the habit of seeing entertainment as an escape from reality, but rather as an opportunity to engage our minds.

In addition to these principles Dr. David Naugle has stated that three questions are worth asking before participating in something such as seeing a film:

1. How will my participation in this affect me as a person? (Am I putting garbage in? Is this art promoting messages in line with my faith, contrary to it, or both?)
2. How will my participation in this affect others? (Will this cause others to think I support something contrary to my faith? Will it cause other believers to stumble?)
3. How will my participation in this affect the cause for Christ? (Will my doing this bring about a negative association with my church? Will my participation cause people to doubt the genuineness of my faith? Will it make them question whether or not my God is real?)

From these principles and questions, here is a checklist for knowing whether or not to participate in the reading of a book, watching of a show (including sports games and programs), watching of a film, or listening to a song.

If you can answer these questions in good conscience, then the work is probably worth participating in. If you cannot, then perhaps you should stay away.

Art affects people in different ways. Some people cannot handle certain kinds of art and even if the art is acceptable, they should not watch/listen/read it. Just as it is important to know your limits with regards to exercise, diet, alcohol, etc. It is important to know your limits with regard to art. Know how it affects you and don’t be afraid to abstain from a show, game, or song if it impacts you negatively. If you can handle something that many people cannot handle, do not boast about it or allow your maturity to cause others to sin.

On a final note, do not think that it is acceptable to justify sin as being “for the sake of art.” Not all art is acceptable for Christians. Justifying the participation in art that clearly does not glorify God is an unacceptable practice. I know there are a lot of questions about limits, but each piece of art must be judged for itself. Some may find a show acceptable while others do not. This is a somewhat subjective process, but in the midst of the gray, there remains some clear black and white. Christians should not participate in art that glorifies evil or that blatantly attacks God.

Click on the following link to read the article by Jim Denison: http://us1.campaign-archive1.com/?u=5369bb601ac44bfdda928110b&id=19bea78c79&e=b25b3bf62f