Paige and I love movies. Based on the amount of money made by movies each year, you probably do too. But movie-watching can be problematic, because what we put into our eyes and minds impacts our thoughts and feelings. Here are a couple of reminders of this truth:
Ravi Zacharias, points out that “A massive global assault has been launched upon us, and it is the arts more than any other single force that predominate as an influential agent, molding our character, our values, and our beliefs. This invasion bypasses our reason and captures our imagination.”
Andrew Fletcher’s original quote from the 1600’s has been reimagined slightly and is now stated as: “Let me make the songs of a nation, and I care not who makes its laws.” Which is pointing out that the arts (such as music and movies) can change people more rapidly than laws.
His original quote was actually: “I said I knew a very wise man…that he believed if a man were permitted to make all the ballads he need not care who should make the laws of a nation, and we find that most of the ancient legislators thought that they could not well reform the manners of any city without the help of a lyric, and sometimes of a dramatic poet.”
But if it is true that the arts have such vast power in shaping our understanding of life, then we need to be careful what we take in (and what we allow our children to take in).
Kevin DeYoung wrote two articles on this a while back. The first was I Don’t Understand Christians Watching Game Of Thrones
Two weeks after posting it, the article had 71,000 views & 354 Comments on the original blog (and that doesn’t include the number of views and comments from Facebook or other social media sites). The fact that many of the comments were highly critical of his take on the issue prompted Kevin to write a second article: One More Time On ‘Game Of Thrones’
Both of these articles brought out the point that there are some things we just need to avoid allowing our eyes to see and our minds to receive.
In connection with those two articles, John Piper provides a helpful article about our entertainment choices. (It was also related to Game of Thrones, but we need to ask the same questions about all of our Entertainment and Movie-watching choices.)
God tells us:
Brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable — if there is any moral excellence and if there is anything praiseworthy — dwell on these things. (Philippians 4:8, CSB)
What we put in our minds makes a difference. Make sure you are dwelling on the right things.
Of course, this does not mean we have to eliminate all movie-watching or the intake of other entertainment, but I do think it means we have to be critical thinkers when making our viewing choices.
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