Legalism?...What You Watch, Part 2

My last post was about movies. But movies aren't the only thing we watch that grieves the heart of Jehovah God. There are so many things on television that would fall into the same category as an offense to the Lord. I realize that I am stepping on many toes but I just pray that whether you like this or not, you will seek God's heart on what I say. Seek His will for your life. Ask Him if He is speaking to you from this post. Take His holiness serious, take His heart serious. Don't let the word "legalism" keep you from living a pure and holy life before your God.

The reason I know that some who read this post love soap operas is because those programs wouldn't be able to stay on the air for a hundred years if they didn't have a vast audience! What are these shows about? Murder, sex in the form of rape, adultery, fornication, homosexuality. They are about abortion, kidnapping, theft, swindle, gossip, hatred, envy, jealousy, false religion, cheating business partners, lies, and all forms of abuse. Have I left anything out? Probably. All things that are sin against a holy God! Think about it. Everything that the soap operas make grandiose is a slap in the face of the Lord of Glory! Every bit of it is an affront to the King of all kings. It glorifies the things in this life that God HATES! All of those things killed His precious Son! Sin, sin, sin. That's all those shows are about; sin against a holy God. Beloved, can God possibly, in your wildest dreams, be pleased with you if you let that junk infiltrate your mind and heart? Can God be pleased with the time that you take out of the life that He gives you to watch that filth? Every breath you breathe is a gift from God. But five days a week you reserve your precious God-given time to fill yourself with the sin of those shows.

Why do you think people are so addicted to soap operas? If the actors were portraying Godly people doing Godly things, how long do you think they would be on the air? The truth is, they would have never even been created, much less sustained on the airwaves. A life that honors the Lord isn't what people want to see. People long to peak into such sins as adultery, fornication, and all different forms of sex. People love to see the wickedness of the heart of a sinful, lost world. You can't wait to tune in tomorrow to see if she really does kill her sister who slept with her husband and bore his child. Every sin grieves the heart of God, even if it's on television in a make-believe world. We have enough sin in our lives that grieves the heart of God, that sent His son to die on the cross. We don't need to get enjoyment out of watching what someone else's wicked mind came up with to put on the air. Don't you know that only a debased, depraved heart and mind could carelessly write that trash and desire to put it out there for the whole world to watch? How do you think that makes God feel when you enjoy watching so much sin? A Christian HATES sin, because it is sin that crucified their Lord! It is sin that breaks the heart of God. It is sin that causes us to say, "Oh wretched flesh of mine that is filled with iniquity!!"

It's not just soap operas. It is prime time television. It's what we watch and call humor on late night also. It is one comedian who has committed adultery cracking jokes about another man who is guilty of that same sin. It is shows on prime time that are filled with sex, the kind of sex that is sin against a holy God. It is glorifying homosexuality. Look at all the shows like Entertainment Tonight and Extra. They are about making Hollywood look like something glorious. Look at how actors are put on a pedestal and their lives made to look so wonderful. We glorify their wicked lifestyles. People watch shows that talk about an actor's wonderful life, and they long to be like them. There are famous people who are obviously on drugs and yet their lives are made to look so great. We all have seen the stories of alcohol abuse from famous people, and yet there are so many out there who want to be like them. There are stories of wife abuse. These actors set a horrible example for our youth, and there seems to be nobody trying to stop it. There are shows like Party Heat and something about party at rehab. These kinds of shows let the viewer peak into the world of sex, booze, and all kinds of sin. These are young people doing things that dishonor not only God, but themselves and their families. Parents I'm sure are going to bed in tears knowing that their children are participating in such wicked pleasures. And don't you realize that these shows wouldn't be able to stay on the air if people weren't watching them in large numbers?

Even some athletes who live wickedly are glorified, regardless of the fact that their lives are full of sin against God, with no repentance or even thought about the One who created them. Listen to them talk and it is obvious that they couldn't care less about Jesus. And yet we raise them up and want to be like them. Men that have been arrested for abusing their wives are back in front of the camera the next week, and all is fine. There is an actor who left phone messages for his young daughter on his ex-wife's answering machine. He said the most horrible, hurtful things to his little girl, yet he is one of the most celebrated actors on tv and in films. And let a famous person be caught in sin. They deny their sin until the evidence comes out. Then, when they admit it, there is never any repentance to Jehovah God for their sin against Him. They are sorry that they got caught, period. When's the last time you heard of someone famous who got caught doing something sinful against the holiness of God, truly repent of all of his sin and ask Jesus to come into his life and save him?

Television is full of sin against God. And we as Americans are apathetic to the whole thing. Even Christians seem to have surrendered to even trying to abstain from filling our eyes, ears, hearts, minds and spirits with the sin of the entertainment world. We grieve His heart by our heroes. We teach our children that it's ok to turn a blind eye to the sin coming from our movie screens and our television sets. And if you decide that enough is enough, that you will no longer fill yourself or allow your family to be consumed by such wickedness on television, then according to some, you are just being legalistic! That's a lie straight from the pit of hell!! When is it ever wrong to so honor your Lord that you refuse to allow filth into your house? When is it ever wrong to refuse to let vile sin pass through your eyes and into your heart? Why should any true child of God ever have to be ashamed for taking a stand for the Lord's holiness? So what if you feel all alone in caring about the things that God calls sin! Do you think Jesus is going to grade your life on a curve when you are at the Judgement Seat of Christ? If God is convicting you about what you watch and what you allow your family to watch, do you think you will get a break from Jesus just because 2 billion other households were enjoying the same filth? No, if the Holy Spirit of God convicts you about what you are allowing to enter through your eye-gate, and you ignore it, then you and you alone will loose rewards in heaven for your disobedience to the voice of God. And if you are a child of God, there is no way that you can watch and enjoy sin without Him convicting you. He doesn't turn a blind eye to sin in your life just because it's something you happen to enjoy, and don't feel like you could live without. Do you feel like you couldn't live without that soap opera? Then tell God all about your struggle. Tell Him about your desire to honor His holy name, and your inability to do so. He already knows anyway. He wants to help you. He WILL help you if you will only turn it over to Him. I know first hand. There have been shows on prime time that I enjoyed in the past. But when the Holy Spirit let me know that those shows grieved the heart of my King, I prayed and asked God to take the desire for those programs from my heart. He did! Every single time with every single show, He did! HE is faithful. He will take the desire from you if you will seek His face. That's so wonderful, isn't it? Give it to God. Don't wait another day. Don't watch another one of those shows that so dishonor Him. Don't even think about the word "legalism". Think about the words "honor" and "glory" for your heavenly Father, very God of very God. Plead at the throne of all grace and mercy for Jehovah God to clean up your mind and heart and purify your soul. He will do it. And in doing so, He will get the glory, as He should.