And yet several times each month, Eric and I were at the video store or the movie theater, ready to participate without even a second thought, ready to give our money to an industry that is the opposite of all that we hold to.  Sure, we were careful about the kind of movies we watched.  But even the “milder” ones, for the most part, glorified sin and selfishness.  In fact, we struggled to name more than one or two movies we’d ever seen that truly brought honor to the name of Jesus Christ. 

I thought about the words of Psalm 1:

By clamoring after the world’s entertainment and imbibing the images of Hollywood, wasn’t I walking in the counsel of the ungodly?  By plopping down in a movie theater every week, wasn’t I sitting in the seat of the scornful (quite literally, if you think about it) and watching the very same garbage as the rest of the world? 

By filling my mind and heart with movies and T.V., I was certainly not delighting in the law of the Lord and meditating upon it day and night.  Rather, I was meditating on the sights, sounds, and messages of pop-culture day and night. I was looking to entertainment to bring the rest, refreshment, and pleasure that was supposed to be found in my relationship with Christ.  In fact, I started noticing that often when I tried to pray or meditate upon God’s word, my mind would be distracted by scenes from a movie or T.V. show I’d recently seen, and I would have to labor to get my mind back upon Heavenly things.

But the idea of giving up my regular “veg out” sessions in front of movies was almost impossible for

me to consider.   How could I survive without at least a few nights each week to relax, unwind and escape reality for a couple of hours?  And then the gentle voice of Christ’s Spirit reminded me, “A daughter of the King should never have the need to escape reality.  In My presence is fullness of joy; at My right hand are pleasures forevermore.”  (See Psalm 16:11)

Leonard Ravenhill once said that modern Christianity has accepted a counterfeit version of joy and peace by looking to Hollywood and professional sports to bring us delight.  We look to movies and television and football games to bring us the pleasure that our King desires to give. And by leaning on worldly entertainment for rest and refreshment, we find only a temporary fix; not lasting happiness or true fulfillment.  This was exactly the bait I had fallen for.  I had accepted a counterfeit version of peace and joy, and I struggled to believe that I could find something even better in Christ.

When I thought about it, I couldn’t picture Elizabeth Fry, Viba Perpetua, or Gladys Alwyard spending every weekend at the movies and rushing out to see Spiderman Three on opening night.  I couldn’t imagine Amy Carmichael or Sabina Wurmbrandt getting hooked on Survivor or American Idol.  They were far too busy living out a real-life drama with the King of the universe; spilling out their lives to bring Him glory, reveling in His abundant mercy and faithfulness; marveling at His unspeakable power, and delighting in the joy of His surrounding presence.

Some insight from Amy Carmichael helped bring even more perspective.  Though she lived in a time before Hollywood existed, the enticement of pop-culture was still there, seeking to lure weak Christians away from complete devotion to Christ.  Here is what she had to say about it:

becomes our reality.   Most of us constantly battle with the fact that God is distant, intimacy with Christ is difficult to obtain, and our prayers don’t seem to be heard.  But God says, “You will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart. (Jer 29:13 NKJV)

Today’s young women aren’t finding Him because we aren’t searching for Him with all our hearts.  We are too preoccupied with watching reality shows, too busy texting and Facebooking with our friends, and too enamored with Hollywood’s newest production to let our whole being be poured forth in constant and unreserved devotion in the service of the Lord who died to save us.

Most of us feel we don’t have enough time for prayer and seeking God.  But we don’t even consider giving up our nightly T.V. time, our weekend movie fests, or our ITunes fetish in exchange for spending time in His presence.

1 Timothy 5:6 says,

Exchanging counterfeit worldly pleasure for the eternal delights of God’s kingdom is like trading in death for abundant life.  I can say this from firsthand experience. 

Eric and I made a decision to break our addiction to worldly entertainment and instead use our “down time” for prayer, Bible study, and seeking Christ with all of our hearts.  I know that sounds like exchanging a first-class Caribbean cruise for a year in prison labor camp.  But ironically, it’s been the other way around.  This step of “pouring out our priceless perfume upon Christ” has led to the most exhilarating season we have ever known.  Jesus is more real and intimate than He has ever been.  His Word is more powerful and living than it has ever been.  Prayer is being heard and miraculously answered like never before.  Spending an hour in the presence of God is more refreshing and renewing to me than any Hollywood “mind escape” could ever be.

Of course, this was not an easy step to take.  Our sinful, selfish natures screamed and kicked in disapproval in the beginning.  Prayer seemed laborious, and we longed for something to coddle our flesh. Every human rational presented itself, trying to convince us that such a decision was completely unnecessary, and that our relationship with Christ would be just as vibrant if we spent our night in front of Pirates of the Caribbean as if we spent our night in front of His throne. 

But now we know better.  When we become “dead to the world” we become alive in Christ, and He becomes alive in us.  We have tasted and seen that the Lord is good. The question, “would you rather watch a movie tonight, or spend some time in prayer?” used to make me laugh.  It wasn’t even a contest –the movie option always won out.  I mean, why would I deliberately choose to give up pleasure and fun in exchange for dullness and drudgery?  But that was before I really experienced that “in His presence is fullness of joy and in His right hand are pleasures forevermore.”  The pleasure and delight I have discovered in the presence of God have far surpassed any fleeting enjoyment I used to gain from the worldly counterfeit version. It is something that can only be understood when experienced.  I have far greater joy, peace, and heavenly perspective in my daily life.  I am far less encumbered by mental distractions and worldly preoccupations.  The “self” part of me is not being stroked and coddled, and therefore I have greater victory over sin on a daily basis.  The rest and refreshment He brings is so fulfilling that my controlling need for “down time” in front of movies has completely vanished.  A powerful prayer session gives me all the peace, strength, and renewal I could ever want or need.  It’s truly supernatural.  I have no desire to return to where I was before, escaping reality and vicariously living out fake adventures on the big screen.  I am far too caught up in the real-life adventure of the set-apart, Christ-infused life.  And the real thing is so much better than the counterfeit.

I realize that this kind of decision sounds radical and ridiculous to most modern Christians. In fact, as I have been writing this, I can just picture people saying: “Leslie’s message is outlandish and extreme!” or  “Leslie says that all movies are of the devil!”  So just to clarify – I do not believe that all movies are evil (though some certainly could not be described any other way – if you have ever seen a horror flick, you know what I mean.)  And I do not believe that watching a movie is sinful (unless it is a movie that arouses sinful thoughts and attitudes within you).  There are some movies that can even bring glory to God and lead us closer to Him. 

In the past year, Eric and I watched Amazing Grace and were greatly inspired and encouraged by William Wilberforce’s incredible devotion to the call of God upon his life.  We watched The Passion on Easter and were reminded in such a powerful way of Christ’s unbelievable act of selfless love for us.  We saw the Christian film Fireproof and were reminded afresh of God’s heart for vibrant marriages and His amazing ability to restore and renew broken lives.

Yes, there are a few movies that can actually edify our spirits and lead us closer to Christ.  But very few fall into that category.  And the bottom line is that the area of worldly entertainment, for most young Christians, has an unhealthy strangle-hold upon us.

As I said in Authentic Beauty, one of the ways that you can tell something is an “idol” or “other lover” in your life is that you are unwilling to let it go; you can’t picture living without it.  Most of us, if we were honest, would have to admit that we are unbelievably attached to the world’s entertainment.  Life would seem empty and bleak if we didn’t own a T.V.  Weekends would be boring and depressing if we didn’t frequent the local theater to catch the latest Hollywood flick.  Even though we supposedly have everything we could ever want or need in Christ alone, we still look to these other means

for the peace, joy,  excitement and refreshment that He Himself desires to give us.  All we have is the counterfeit version of peace and joy, because we aren’t willing to let Him give us the real thing.

And despite the fact that it is currently hip for pastors to show clips from the latest blockbusters as part of their Sunday sermons, the reality is that movies (or T.V. shows) that actually bring glory to God and lead us closer to Christ are the rare exception, not the rule.  When we sit in front of sights, images and messages that are the opposite of God’s Kingdom, we allow our minds to be subtly manipulated by the voices of darkness, whether we realize it or not.

I can’t even count the number of young women I’ve met who’s favorite movie was the 2004 “chick flick” The Notebook.  The movie portrays a beautiful romance; showcasing a sweet older couple at the end of their lives who are still passionately in love.  It paints a vivid picture of the lifelong love story that we all desire, and shows us a man who is so devoted to the love of his life that he stays by her side, tenderly cherishing her, even when she is struck with Alzheimer’s and can’t remember who he is.  What girl wouldn’t get teary-eyed at such a display?  And yet, as the movie flashes back to this couple’s younger-days, it implies that this kind of beautiful, life-long love story can be discovered through shallow, sensual attraction,

animalistic pre-marital sex,  rebellion against parents, breaking of promises and betrayal of trust. 

Not only are the sex scenes in this movie lengthy and graphic, they portray a patently false and dangerous message.  There is no way to discover Christ-like, lasting love without following Christ’s pattern.  Build a relationship the way that couple did, and I guarantee you are going to end up with heartache, bitterness, and misery, not the “happily ever after” ending you see in the movie.  But The Notebook makes sin seem so right, so good, and so noble.  When sin is so beautifully and artistically portrayed, it’s easy to allow Hollywood movie-makers to subtly shape our thinking, even on a sub-conscious level.  Look at how well their love story turned out, we start reasoning, and they had sex before marriage.  It was so sweet and beautiful; I can’t imagine that it was wrong.  They were just following their hearts!  Maybe I shouldn’t be so uptight about this whole purity thing after all.

One young woman I talked to, after seeing a handful of movies that portrayed affairs as beautiful and right (rather than selfish and sinful) became convinced that it was okay for people to leave their marriage partner for someone else if they found their “soul mate”.

I can’t help but wonder why we as Christ-professing young women are so willing to submit our minds and emotions to an industry that openly mocks the purity and righteousness of our Heavenly Prince.  Most of us are far more influenced by pop-culture than we are by the Word of God.  We can quote our favorite lines from 100 different chick flicks, but the only Scripture we know is John 3:16. 

And we wonder why Christ feels distant.

But it’s not just movies and T.V. that has us in its controlling vice.  It’s an overall pre-occupation with pop-culture.  Music artists, professional athletes, and movie stars claim far more of our applause and attention than Jesus Christ does.

Little children, keep yourselves from idols are the closing words that sum up the entire book of first John. (1 John 5:21 KJV)   Idols are not just golden statues that people bow down to in ornate temples.  An idol is anything that claims our attention and affection above Christ.  Most of us verbally declare that Jesus Christ is more important to us than our fetish for music or movies.  But what does our life say?  Where do we spend the best hours of our day?  What do we turn to for enjoyment and comfort?

          Tauler wrote,    

Pop-culture floods our minds and senses with things that are not of God.  But for most of us, the glamorized sin that surrounds us is not strange and jarring.  It’s normal and accepted.  In fact, we go out of our way to enjoy and participate in it.  We even spend a huge amount of our time and money on it.  And we allow it to capture our mind, emotion, and attention.

Christ makes it clear that we cannot love both Him and the things that charm and ravish this world.  We cannot be dazzled by the images of pop-culture and captivated by the King of all kings:

  The set-apart women of history past were not only willing to give up all the pleasures and enticements of the world for His sake, but everything they held precious was poured out upon Him without reserve, like Mary of Bethany. 

A truly set-apart woman is marked by this sacred decorum.  She hates the things that God hates and loves the things that God loves, and she reflects this attitude in every dimension of her daily life.  Does God stand up and cheer over American Idol?  Does He smile with delight over the new Twilight movie?  Does He get excited about the latest Cold Play album?

Or does He grieve over our distracted, wandering, divided hearts?

If our Lord does not take delight in the things that charm and ravish the world, neither should we.  (And if you believe that God actually applauds the distorted messages of pop-culture, you need to become better acquainted with the God of the Bible.)

Other “Christian” girls may watch the same movies, listen to the same music, wear the same clothes, and have all the same pop-culture addictions as the rest of the world with just slightly higher morals tacked on.  But God has called us to a higher standard – the very standard of Christ.  And I believe it’s time we become worthy of the calling we have received. *