THE TRENTON BULLETIN

THE TRENTON BULLETIN

Trenton Church of Christ, Trenton, Florida

Few things frighten me any more than the passing comments I hear brothers and sisters in the Lord make about movies and TV programs they have permitted themselves and their children to see. Just when I believe there may be a deepening spirituality among the Lord's people in our day, someone who is thought to be a part of the real strength of his or her congregation tells me what they rented at the video store last weekend or what they watched on TV last night -- and I find it difficult to be optimistic at all about where we are headed as a people. When it comes to telltale signs of spiritual shakiness, there are none more disturbing than the problem we have with obscene movies and TV programs.

How bad is it? It is an obvious fact that pop entertainment has gone from bad to worse in the matter of obscenity (as well as violence and secular philosophy, which are, of course, no less a problem). In regular broadcast television (not to mention cable TV or the movies), the language has grown increasingly profane and vulgar. Producers are daily pushing the limits on nudity and sexual content. Homosexuality has come out of the closet and onto the tube, and the "moral" values that are promoted are further and further away from anything the serious Christian can identify with. What is being pumped into our living rooms has changed for the worse so noticeably that even one secular writer previewed a recent TV season with an article entitled, "The Family Hour Fades To Black."

But the worsening of movie and TV content itself is not the whole problem. The acceptance of this fare by supposedly strong, faithful Christians is what is truly alarming. We may have an admirable devotion to the Lord in many things, but when it comes to entertainment we are bowing before the altar of television. We are going to the theater to see virtually any movie we believe we will enjoy. We are letting our kids watch nearly anything they want at the movies or on TV. We are paying to get the cable movie channels, which rarely carry anything the Christian can afford to be interested in; and we are renting movies at the video store that not too many years ago would have been classified pornographic. We have sold our souls for a mess of footage, and it is impossible to contemplate what has happened without being concerned about the future.

The worrisome aspect of the problem is clear. Obviously, none of us can say we have been entirely consistent in our entertainment, least of all this writer. To my discredit, I have been places and seen things no Christian ought to. But the thing about the present situation that seems different to me is that I'm encountering mature saints who not only watch movies and TV programs, but who defend their practice as perfectly acceptable conduct for the Christian! It's one thing to give in to temptation and, when confronted, offer excuses about not being as strong as one should be. But, if, as is apparent, we have come around to the view that those who question our viewing habits are the ones with the problem, then we have entered a new and worrisome phase of the battle against obscenity.

Increasingly these days I'm hearing responses like the following whenever I express amazement at a movie or TV program a fellow Christian says he has seen: “Well, it didn't have much profanity in it. I hear it so much at work, it doesn't bother me. I just tune it out.” If it bothers or offends you, then it's not a movie you should see – “but it didn't bother me.” If you can't handle it, you shouldn't see it – “but I've been out in the real world enough, I can handle it.” If it embarrasses you, your shouldn't see it – “but I'm mature enough that things like that don't embarrass me. We rented it and watched it at home. There's nothing really wrong when it's just us.”

Surely we can't fail to notice the common thread that runs through these remarks: that obscenity is acceptable entertainment for us if we personally have been so "desensitized" that obscenity no longer bothers, offends, or embarrasses us. That we think this way is cause enough for concern. That we are pleased with ourselves for thinking that way is truly frightening.

If we have, in fact, lost our sensitivity to obscenity and are patting ourselves on the back because of it, then we are not far from qualifying for Paul's description of those "whose glory is in their shame" (Philippians 3:19).

But on the other hand, whether one is bothered or embarrassed has very little to do with the question of whether one should or should not indulge in certain entertainment. The Lord, if He were on earth today, would be strong enough to "handle" far more than any of us -- but you would not catch Him entertaining Himself with the stuff we watch. What it comes down to is that we've turned decency upside down when we start defining how spiritually mature and strong we are in terms of how little embarrassment we feel in the presence of obscenity.

Whether we realize it or not, we have adopted the basic posture of the Gnostic libertines of the first century. These were brethren who believed themselves to be a select group of Christians who had achieved such a high plane of strength and enlightenment that they could indulge in immorality and not be hurt spiritually. They liked to think the amount of fleshly indulgence they could "handle" was a sign of their advanced knowledge and sophistication. But John, as well as other inspired writers, called this enticing doctrine what it always is: a lie. He wrote, "If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth" (1 John 1:6).

Need it be pointed out that the Scriptures call us to inner sanctity? Have we forgotten that the Lord said, "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God" (Matthew 5:8)? Have we forgotten that Paul wrote, "Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy -- meditate on these things" (Philippians 4:8)?

Whatever any of us individually may or may not be "bothered" by, the passage is still there waiting to be dealt with which says that there are some things not "fitting" for the Christian to dally with, among them "uncleanness" and "filthiness" (Ephesians 5:3,4). Those around us, whose souls we hope to reach with the gospel, deserve to see in us a better example. We owe it to them, as well as to the Lord and ourselves, to demonstrate that the path of purity is better than any other path we may follow.

“Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; who substitute darkness for light and light for darkness; who substitute bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter! Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes and clever in their own sight! Woe to those who are heroes in drinking wine and valiant men in mixing strong drink, who justify the wicked for a bribe, and take away the rights of the ones who are in the right! Therefore, as a tongue of fire consumes stubble and dry grass collapses into the flame, so their root will become like rot and their blossom blow away as dust; for they have rejected the law of the LORD of hosts and despised the word of the Holy One of Israel” (Isaiah 5:20-24).

As the jailor of Philippi came stumbling out of the rubble, he cried out to the two preachers the most important words man can ever say. “Sirs, what must I do to be saved? They said, ‘Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.’ And they spoke the word of the Lord to him together with all who were in his house. And he took them that very hour of the night and washed their wounds, and immediately he was baptized, he and all his household. And he brought them into his house and set food before them, and rejoiced greatly, having believed in God with his whole household” (Acts 16:31-34).

The story of the jailor’s conversion repeats the pattern of stories told throughout the Acts of the Apostles. Repeatedly the writer Luke describes the hearts of those who came to know Jesus Christ and through obedience to the word of God were saved from their sins. The conversion of the jailor is no less powerful as he begs the question. Paul and Silas immediately tell him that he must “believe in the Lord Jesus.” Jesus told the Jews, "Therefore I said to you that you will die in your sins; for unless you believe that I am He, you will die in your sins" (John 8:24).

The jailor did not have the needed information to properly believe in Jesus Christ. Paul wrote, “So faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ” (Romans 10:17). Paul and Silas spoke unto the jailor the word of the Lord and to all that were in his house. Through the agency of the word, the jailor and those of his household could then come to believe in the Son of God. Without the word, he would not know what to believe. Upon his hearing the word of God, those of the jailor’s household including the jailor were baptized for the remission of sins (Acts 16:34; Acts 2:38).

As in the case of Cornelius, words were spoken whereby the knowledge of salvation came (Acts 11:14). The jailor gladly received the words spoken to him (as well as his household) and because of his faith in the word of God obeyed the command of Jesus to be baptized. In the act of baptism his sins were washed away (Acts 22:16). He was “buried with [Christ] through baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so [he] too might walk in newness of life. For if we have become united with Him in the likeness of His death, certainly we shall also be in the likeness of His resurrection, knowing this, that our old self was crucified with Him, in order that our body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin; for he who has died is freed from sin” (Romans 6:4-7).

Today you have the same obligation. It may be that you have asked this question of what you must do to be saved. The Bible gives the answer; not men. Men claim that faith alone will save; it will not. To be a Christian one must believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of the living God (John 3:18); be willing to change one’s life for Christ in repentance (Luke 13:3); confess His name before others (Romans 10:8-10); take up his cross to follow the Lord (Luke 14:26-33); have their sins washed away in baptism (Acts 22:16; 2:38; Galatians 3:27; 1 Peter 3:20,21); live faithfully for the Lord (Revelation 2:10); serve the will of God daily (Matthew 7:21-23).

If you have not obeyed from the heart the form of doctrine given by God (Romans 6:17) as described above – you are not God’s child nor saved (Romans 8:16). To be a Christian one must follow the commandments of the Lord (1 John 5:3). Have you?

Elijah was a man who reached true greatness in the Lord's service. He was always ready to go where God would send him (1Kings 18:1; 19:15); to pray whenever prayer was needed (1Kings 17:20, 21; 18:36, 37), and to confront evil whenever confrontation was necessary (1Kings 18:17-24; 21:17-19). He was translated without seeing death, and he, along with Moses, was chosen to appear with the Lord on the mount of transfiguration.

The remarkable thing about Elijah is that he attained this greatness while living in a wicked and hostile environment. Had he lived in Judah during the righteous reign of Hezekiah or Josiah, we might not be surprised at Elijah's attainments. But he lived instead in Israel during the wicked reign of Ahab. He was subjected to the cruel intents of Jezebel. He was under constant harassment and threat of death. He became so discouraged at one point that he asked to die, but he never denied his God.

In this wicked environment Elijah was able to influence others. The widow of Zarephath was blessed through Elijah (1Kings 17:8-24). The multitudes on Mount Carmel were led to cry, "The Lord, He is God!" through his courageous efforts (1Kings 18:39). Elisha, his successor, must have been greatly influenced by him. And even Ahab was brought to humility on one occasion, clothing himself in sackcloth as a result of Elijah's rebuke (1Kings 21:27-29). The message of Elijah is clear. You can live a godly life and influence others for good in a wicked and hostile environment.

When one hears the excuses people make today, it is obvious that Elijah's message is badly needed in this generation. People excuse their failure to teach others the gospel with, "People are so prejudiced around here they just won't listen"; when the truth is, little effort has been made. If they are approached about their ungodly conduct, they explain "You just don't know how terrible the people are that I have to work around every day." If their children go astray their explanation is, "Our children are faced with pressures that we didn't have growing up." Such statements, repeated often enough, become to many a "license" to do wrong and a salve to soothe their troubled consciences.

We must throw aside our excuses and make up our minds to do right. Elijah could serve God in wicked surroundings. And so can we.