Ethics: Thinking Christianly About Entertainment

For some Christians, the way they think about entertainment is a vital element of their faith and even a source of judgment of the faith of others. For other Christians, they think deeply about what they consume but do not come to the same sort of conclusions as the first group about what is healthy and what is not. For still other Christians, very little thought is given at all to the entertainment they consume. So is there a Biblical or Christian way to think about entertainment? And if so, what does this mean for those who disagree?

Bible references: Deut 15:7-11, Psalm 1, Psalm 101, Matt 15:1-20, Mark 4, Mark 7:1-23, John 3:14-21, John 12:24-26, 2 Cor 7:1, Col 2:8-23, Titus 1:13-16 , James 1:19-27, James 4:4-9, 1 Peter 1:10-19, 2 Peter 2, 1 John 3:16-18

Post-show thoughts: I have a million or so, and to not post them all would mean to give a limited and skewed picture of what we discussed on the show. For now (until I can pull it all together into a much longer form), here are three things I can share:

1. The two sides of the issue (and four parts of the process).
Production side issues
A. The talent: Who is making it? Is the person a Christian? Why are they making it? Is the intent to glorify God? How do you evaluate this stuff for non-individual sources?
B. The item itself: What’s the superficial content? What’s the substantial content?
Consumption side issues
C. The culture: How widely embraced and known is this thing? Would you be marginalized by not knowing it?
D. The Christian: Is it sinful content? Will it defile me? How strong is my faith? Is there content here which I’m vulnerable to? Am I vulnerable right now? How much of a duty do I have to the people who embrace this culture?

2. Paradigms
Conservative/Restrictive: Only what the kids would watch. Holiness restrictions. Rejecting the world and the things of the world.
Moderate: If it's made by Christians, or if other Christians think that it's okay. Participating in the culture. Redeeming the lost
Liberal/Permissive: Appreciating God’s granted gifts even when not used for His Glory. Personal relativism. Watch yourself to be sure you are still bearing fruit.

3. Key principle as recommended by Dave: The Great Commandments. We are to love God with all our heart, mind, soul, and strength and our neigbhors as ourselves. Anything that contributes to this must be good, and anything which inhibits this must be bad.