LOG LANE COMMUNITY CHURCH WEEKLY BULLETIN
Sunday, October 15, 2006
What the Church Believes - Entertainment
 

What is the moral harm or danger of attending movies in film theaters? What about others forms of secular entertainment such as television, theatrical plays, etc.? Are there cautions to be taken when seemingly neutral forms of entertainment become an increasingly large part of one’s life?

In all Christian Churches and all believers there is a wide diversity of belief and practice in entertainment choices. Much of this diversity can be attributed to age-level differences as younger age groups desire to be accepted by peers and join with those peers in common entertainment experiences. The parental and older age groups have experienced similar feelings and have come to realize the dangers of indiscriminate participation in the culture of today’s society, to “the world” as they view it. They seek to preserve youth from an erosion or loss of spiritual relationship with God. The following treatment of the various entertainment media first gives the biblical basis for common concerns, and then, in keeping with the biblical conclusions summarizes traditional and current attitudes toward specific media. As commitment to the Lord matures, it seems evident that concern deepens about the impact of current entertainment forms of spiritual vitality.

General Biblical Principles. What forms and types of entertainment are appropriate for Christians desiring to follow biblical principles? To answer this question, we must begin with the meaning of a command found in both the Old and New Testament, “Be holy, because I am holy” [Lev. 11:44, 45; 20:7; 1 Peter 1: 15, 16]. Holiness means “spiritually pure” and “set apart for divine purposes.” Only God is sinless, but when we seek to know Him and allow Him to work in our lives, He grants us His holiness. We cannot be holy in our own strength and effort, but we can be declared holy if we seek to please Him in every aspect of His instruction in righteousness and let His Holy Spirit help us abstain from those things that are not pleasing to God.

God calls Christians to live lives separated from sin [Romans 6: 12-19; 1 Thess. 4: 3, 4]. Consequently, when choosing appropriate forms of secular entertainment, we must conclude that all positive portrayals of sinful activities condemned by Scripture are contrary to holy standards. This includes adultery, sexual activity before marriage, glorifying homosexuality, and anything that stirs wrongful desires. However, it is in the portrayal of activities which are neither condemned nor approved by the Bible that Christians need special wisdom and guidance. Even here, however, Scripture has instructive guidelines and principles.

The apostle Paul taught that there are issues of conduct that are morally neutral and become sin to the individual only when one violates his/her conscience toward God, or causes a brother to do so [cf. 1 Cor. 8: 1-13; Romans 14]. While the Christian may sometimes have personal freedom in such cases, his liberty is to be tempered and limited by love for his brothers and sisters in Christ. Tempering our Christian liberty is often necessary to maintain a strong testimony so others don’t fall in their walk with God [Romans 14:15; 1 Cor. 8:13].

Another aspect of sanctification or holiness is separation. In both the Old and New Testament, the words for “holy” and “holiness” carry the basic idea of separation from that which defiles or is unclean. We are admonished by Scripture to remember that as a group and as individuals we are the body of Christ and the temple of God [1 Cor. 3:16, 6:15]. Our entertainment activities must not impair our ability to serve and worship God as His living temples [1 Peter 2: 4, 5].

In its teaching regarding worldliness, the Scripture warns against participation in activity which defiles the body, or corrupts the mind and spirit; the inordinate love of or preoccupation with pleasures, position, or possessions, which lead to their misuse; manifestation of extreme behavior, unbecoming speech, or inappropriate appearance; and any fascination or association which lessens one’s affection for spiritual things [Luke 21:34, 35; Rom. 8:5-8, 12:1, 2; 2 Cor. 6:14-18; Eph. 5:11; 1 Tim. 2:8-10, 4:12; James 4:4; 1 John 2:15-17; Titus 2:12].

[continued next week]

ATTENTION KIDS!!!
Saturday October 28th 4:00 – 8:00 P. M.
Movie and Game Night at the Church.
You want to help or more information call Randy & Betty
768-2450 or 768-4720

Coming Soon

Watch for Celebrate Recovery information in bulletins. If you are interested is being a part of recovery groups we are praying about starting this program.

Special Prayer Time - 6:00 P. M.

Many of us go through times when we need special prayer. Starting Wednesday October 11th Pastor Dave and others will be at the Church to pray for special needs. We will pray for healings, restoration, finances and any other need you have.

If you have needs for prayer please give Pastor a note or call – 542-1779, 542-3457, 768-7005

God Bless you – You are loved!!!

Remember, He is always there and can be reached with just a prayer.

Pastor Dave