Complacency--A Wake Up Call to the Christian Believer

Pretty Little Liars. The Hollywood Reporter states that "season four averaged 2.7 million viewers." (click here to read the article) For those of you who may not be familiar with this show, it is basically about four teenage girls whose best friend was recently murdered. The girls take it upon themselves to unravel the mystery surrounding their friend's death, while trying desperately to keep their own deepest and darkest secrets from coming to light.

Glee. This show has come cute moments. And I mean, hey, it's completely about music and so it's right down my alley as a singer and song-writer. The show is about a high-school Glee club that participates in different competitions each year. They study and practice hard, learn dances and songs. What's not to like, right?

Game of Thrones. For the few of you who may not have any idea what this show is, let me fill you in. This show follows the lives of several different royal/noble families. They are fighting for control of some land. As any good story royal story has, there is political intrigue within and without the castle walls, and also among the family members.

These are but three of the shows that have my friends talking non-stop on social media, in the cafeteria, and in their dorm rooms at night. I get it. These shows are what's in and what is cool and what everyone around us is talking about. Each of these shows has some good moments, I know that. However, each of these also has a couple serious issues that we, as Christians, should be concerned about.

I watched a couple episodes of Pretty Little Liars with a friend of mine the other day, and decided it's not a show for me. I get it, the show is popular; it is full of mystery and who doesn't like solving a mystery story full of intrigue and romance? However, this show also pushes a very secular worldview and agenda: support of the gay and lesbian community. Now don't get me wrong--I don't hate homosexuals. I have a couple gay friends. But does that mean that I accept and support their lifestyle? No, it definitely doesn't. Yet, I hear both my non-believer and Christian friends going on about this show and whether or not this female character will end up the guy--or girl. Glee is very similar in this aspect. I have caught a couple episodes of this particular show on a few different occasions. I thought it was cute, but was bothered by two different things: 1) the constant theme of sex between the students being okay because "that's just what teenagers do", and 2) the support of the gay and lesbian community. My Christian friends who watch this show frown upon the kids wanting to have sex, but other than that, they simply turn a blind eye to it. In regards to the LGBT community support, there was recently an article put out with some sneak peeks into the next season of Glee. One such sneak peek is that two of the main characters (who happen to be gay and in a relationship) are going to break up, and one of them will enter into a relationship with another guy on the show (which you can see for yourself here). I first heard about this when one of my Christian friends shared the link on Facebook, saying very sorrowfully, "WHAT HAPPENED TO KURT."

Game of Thrones. {Note: I am beginning to tread on very thin ice, so to all of my friends out there who are basically in love with this show, please do not murder me in my sleep or ex-communicate me to a barren icy land.} I tried. I really did. I got about fifteen minutes into the first episode before I finally turned it off. I cannot tell you how many of my friends on Facebook are completely in love and obsessed with this TV show. I can understand my non-believer friends enjoying it, but my Christian friends? Maybe it's the historical and mythical aspects of the show, which I will admit I found interesting. Maybe it is the battle scenes and/or the music that has my friends so wrapped up in the show. Maybe it's the political intrigue. But, let me fill you in--this is not the only kind of intrigue found in Game of Thrones. Sex is a major theme, which is my number one problem with the show. It's not simply implied or even showing it nearly happening. It goes all out, with explicit sex scenes, both incest and otherwise, with nudity being an all too common sight.

Friends, what are we allowing to enter our minds? What are we showing support for, perhaps even unknowingly, on the internet and when we interact with people? Yes, I'm talking to you, Christians. Have we become so complacent that these things no longer bother us? So accepting of secular society, that we just go along with whatever is in style and is cool?

It is becoming increasingly more discouraging to go on Facebook, seeing more and more friends (most of whom have my great respect) show their love and devotion for these shows that promote a sinful lifestyle. What is that saying to non-believers?

You'll go to church on Sundays and raise your hands in praise and worship, or sing with such passion to the old hymns. You stand before God in His house in prayer, committing yourself to Him and promising to follow Him and let others see Him through you. And I am sure that you mean it! I am sure that you are truly believing what you are singing and meaning what you are praying. But let me ask you this: on the other days of the week, when you are rooting for two guys to get together romantically, do you really think that you're showing your friends Christ?

Matthew 5:16 (ESV) says, "In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven."

If you are looking to show the LGBT community that you are non-judgmental and accepting and loving of them by watching Glee and shows like it, you're doing it wrong. I am probably one of the least judgmental people you will ever meet, but that does not mean I am accepting of the sin. I'll accept the person. I will hang out with gay people and get to know them and love them like Jesus loves them, but that does not mean I have to accept the sin. I am willing to bet that most of the Christian people that want Kurt and Blaine to end up together in Glee do not see themselves as promoting homosexuality. I am sure they still see the act as wrong in real life. Perhaps they really disliked the whole theme at the beginning, but the more they watched it, the more normal it became until they actually started cheering when they had their first kiss and went on their first date. It is a slippery slope.

Game of Thrones is nothing more than pornography with a storyline thrown in. Sure, the actual storyline might be interesting (I believe it probably is), but is it worth putting all that garbage in front of your eyes and inside your mind in the meantime? I have talked about this show with several people, mostly guys, who say that this sort of thing doesn't really bother them or affect them. Well I am here to tell you that they couldn't be more wrong. You may not even see the effect it as, but I can promise you it has one, if not several. Those types of images and sounds that are burned into your brain are not pleasing to the Lord. There is no redeemable value, the scenes are not needed to make the story more interesting. It is simply making the beautiful thing God created to be shared between husband and wife something to mock and laugh at and from which to receive physical and lustful pleasure. Do you think that pleases Him?

When a non-believer looks at you, do they see Christ in your cheering for a gay person to get the love of his life (who just so happens to be of the same gender)? Or when they see you gushing about a pornographic TV show? Because if not, all those friends are seeing is a hypocritical Christian, who only cares about being God's light on Sunday mornings when they're on the welcome committee and/or passing out tracks. I am by no means saying that my Christian friends who watch these shows are this way, but just imagine what the world is thinking when they see people who claim to be Christ followers...acting like and/or enjoying things only unbelievers should enjoy.

Now I know that some of you will probably reply with comments about how this is all good and well, but it doesn't work to simply pick and choose. "But you watch NCIS and the Mentalist, both of have parts that come dangerously close to being a sex scene. People cuss in The Blacklist, Agents of Shield, and Once Upon a Time." Yes, I do watch them. But, those are also some of the reasons I have stopped watching certain shows as often. I feel uncomfortable when a scene comes up in a movie or TV show. I cringe whenever I hear bad language in something I enjoy watching or listening to--though much to my shame those cringes are becoming less and less common. See? It's a slippery slope for me, too. And yeah, I may skip the scenes/look away during the scenes and cringe at the Lord's name taken in vain, but I still pay the money to go see the movies. I still own the movies and shows, gushing about them all over Facebook. And while these things "aren't as bad" culturally as those mentioned above, they are still sinful deeds and words I am letting my mind focus on.

So what do we do in this entertainment-oriented society? What is safe to watch, read, listen to? Do we keep watching these shows that are bluntly promoting a sinful lifestyle, such as Glee, Pretty Little Liars, and Game of Thrones? I would say no--we simply start watching Andy Griffith and The Little House on the Prairie series. But no, in all seriousness, contrary to what many people may think, this is not just me picking and choosing (though I know it probably looks that way). I don't know what I am going to do about the shows I watch that have even minimal language and only implied scenes. I'll be honest with you: I don't know. I pray about it, but I already know what God doesn't want me having in my mind.

I will say this though. That which we allow to enter our minds will eventually influence our actions. Is the show you are watching consistently promoting a sinful lifestyle and a secular perspective on life? If so, I would advise you to toss it out. You don't need that eating away at you until you've become so accepting of the actions in a TV show, that you begin to accept those same things in your own life. Just toss it. Another question to ask yourself: Does this show have a redeemable quality? Some would say Les Miserables would be a bad choice in movie due to the prostitution. And while I would not recommend watching the scene where Fantine becomes a prostitute, there is an overlying theme of justice, forgiveness, and redemption. She is redeemed from that lifestyle. So the questions to ask: Is the show promoting a sinful lifestyle? And, is there a redeemable quality?

I will leave you with one more phrase, a phrase that meant a lot to me growing up due to living in a spiritually closed country. Mind how you live and what you display to others--because sometimes you are the only Bible they will ever read.