Social Media, movies, books, the Internet, music. You name it. It surrounds us almost every single second of our lives. In a technologically filled generation, we have more opportunities than ever to entertain ourselves AND to run into temptation.
What do I mean by temptation? Well when I think of myself, I think of three main ways I am tempted:
The Temptation of LAZINESS
“You lazy fool, look at an ant.
Watch it closely; let it teach you a thing or two.
Nobody has to tell it what to do.
All summer it stores up food;
at harvest it stockpiles provisions.
So how long are you going to laze around doing nothing?
How long before you get out of bed?
A nap here, a nap there, a day off here, a day off there,
sit back, take it easy—do you know what comes next?”
Proverbs 6:6-11
I remember a time before I had my phone, before social media, before Netflix. While those years might not have been my better years as a person, I actually accomplished a lot. I played basketball, played piano and practiced a lot, read a lot, explored new hobbies, and my relationship with Christ was better than it ever has been at one point.
So why did that change? Well, it's simple: the screen began to fill my life. Starting with my first phone, then Pinterest, then Instagram, then Netflix...I'm sure you can relate. It's SO easy to be sucked in and before you know it, you've watched 4 seasons of Once Upon A Time in a few days.
So how can we stop this? Well, I'd go to the Bible and see what it says about laziness. It's pretty obvious that God looks down on laziness even though we all joke about it like its nothing. He didn't give us this life to binge watch shows, but to have fellowship, creativity, use our gifts to glorify Him. I’m not here to condemn Netflix or anything like that, I just think we all need to take a step back and evaluate how much of our time is going into mindless, unproductive things. It’s true too much of a good thing is not good for you. Limiting yourself is a great thing to do whether it be allotting a certain time period for social media or TV or taking a break from it for a week or so to rediscover the gifts and the incredible life God gave you!
The Temptation of DISHONESTY
“Whoever walks in integrity will be delivered, but he who is crooked in his ways will suddenly fall.”
Proverbs 28:18
When I was not much younger than I am now, I absolutely hated my parent's rules about what shows/movies I could watch and what music I could listen to. They would look everything up online before I could watch it, they’d read the lyrics to every song that wasn’t a Christian song I would listen to. I felt like I was trapped in a world of “can’ts” so I vowed never to become like them when I was an adult and had kids of my own (laughing at this now because I'll probably be more cautious than they were).
Because of my hard-headed ways, I watched movies I shouldn’t have, I listened to music I wish I never had, and I read books that I still remember to this day, and not for good reasons. I thought I was freeing myself with lies and going behind my parent’s back, when really all I was doing was hurting my witness, my relationship with my parents, and my relationship with Christ.
Flash forward to now, I have much more freedom to chose what I will put into my eyes and ears. However, with that freedom comes the responsibility of integrity. I have tried to go by the rule of if Jesus were standing right next to me, or even my pastor, would they approve of what I watch, read, or listen to. It’s a good way to keep yourself in check and keep you of lying to yourself about what you may be doing and justifying it, which leads us to the next temptation…
The Temptation of COMPROMISE
"But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires."
Romans 13:14
I think we might all agree this is the biggest struggle for many Christians today when it comes to media.
Here is what compromise looks like:
“I don’t have a way to hook up my phone to the radio so I’ll just listen to whatever is on”
“It’s catchy”
“I’ve heard so many people curse before I’m not affected by it when I listen to it”
“I’m just going to ignore those scenes”
“I’ll just watch something like this once”
“I am never going to think about what I’ve read again”
Sound familiar? If you’re anything like me, all of these statements have gone through your mind at some point or another. We tend to compromise without even thinking about it. We give into our flesh with so many excuses and lie to ourselves to justify what we’ve done.
The truth is, we are not immune to the effects of the secular media. Satan has disguised media to look pretty on the outside, when it can have deadly effects on our spiritual lives. The truth is, the more you watch those scenes, lust will build up in your heart. The more you hear those words by choice, they will become a part of your mind’s vocabulary.
We need to know when to stop. Set boundaries for yourself. If you know you struggle with something, don’t open yourself up to the trap. Yeah, maybe your other Christian friends are fine with seeing and listening to certain things, but they are in charge of their own boundaries, they know how it affects them and it's their choice whether or not to open themselves up to temptation.
My good friend McKenna Hickman says, “We want to so badly be both saved AND secular”
We can’t be both. We aren’t a part of this world, so why should we conform? Let’s set boundaries and live life for God and glorify Him through our actions and choices. Freedom isn’t found in the world and the things it presents to us, it’s found in our King, Jesus Christ.