Archive for December, 2007
Three Truths Concerning Music
December 12, 2007 9:45 am
Bob Kauflin goes on to explain:
Music exists to deepen our love for and enjoyment of God.
- Music is a gift from God, meant for our enjoyment and benefit.
- Music is a gift from God, not a means to an end.
- Discernment and skill increase the benefit of music.
What About Music?
December 11, 2007 3:02 pm
Most of my Push Back posts since the Media message have been about movies and TV, not so much about music. Maybe you’ve been wondering how to think about music. Over the next few days, I’ll be posting some helpful stuff that I’ve run across, mostly from Bob Kauflin.
First, some diagnostics. A few years ago, Covenant Life Church published a booklet called “Worldliness.” In it, Bob Kauflin identified 7 symptoms of compromise in music listening habits. See if you can relate to any of these:
- Actively listening to non-Christian radio [or XM, internet radio, etc.] regularly, without being affected by the content or culture.
- Letting music determine my priorities.
- Allowing music to crowd out prayer, Bible study, fellowship, serving, or other means of glorifying God.
- Adjusting my schedule to my music desires.
- Spiritual dullness, a lack of spiritual passion and drive outside corporate church contexts.
- Looking to non-Christians or worldly friends to dictate my music listening habits.
- Listening to music in contexts which tempt me to compromise my faith.
Not Very Bad And Not Very Good
December 10, 2007 10:05 am
Theologian D. A. Carson comments on the sorry tale of Solomon’s son Rehoboam in For the Love of God:
“There is a kind of evil that is not very bad and not very good, not too terribly rebellious yet not hungry for righteousness, a stance that drifts toward idolatry and hastily retreats at the threat of judgment. What it lacks is David’s heart, the heart of a man who, despite failures, sets himself to pursue God with passion and delight. The final verdict on Rehoboam’s reign explains the problem: ‘He did evil because he had not set his heart on seeking the LORD’ (1 Chr. 12:14).” D.A. Cason, For the Love of God, Vol. 1, 12/11.
How does this quotation help us think about Push Back and our media choices?
The Folly Of The Hearts Of Men
December 8, 2007 5:38 pm
“In nothing does the folly of the hearts of men show itself more openly… than in this cursed boldness, after so many warnings from God, and so many sad experiences every day under their eyes, of running into and putting themselves upon temptations.” John Owen
A Step Too Far?
December 7, 2007 8:38 am
So when it comes to our movies, TV, and music, how far is too far? Here is good advice:
“A godly man will not go as far as he may, lest he go further than he should.” Thomas Watson, A Godly Man’s Picture
Nibbling At The Table Of The World
December 6, 2007 3:23 pm
Two powerful quotations on this topic I didn’t get to use Saturday night:
“The greatest enemy for God is not poison but apple pie. It is not the banquet of the wicked that dulls our appetite for heaven, but endless nibbling at the table of the world. It is not the X-rated video, but the prime-time dribble of triviality we drink in every night. For all the ill that Satan can do, when God describes what keeps us from the banquet table of his love, it is a piece of land, a yoke of oxen, and a wife (Lk. 14:18-20). The greatest adversary of love to God is not his enemies but his gifts. And the most deadly appetites are not for the poison of evil, but for the simple pleasures of earth. For when these replace an appetite for God himself, the idolatry is scarcely recognizable, and almost incurable.” John Piper, A Hunger for God, 14.
“If you don’t feel strong desires for the manifestation of the glory of God, it is not because you have drunk deeply and are satisfied. It is because you have nibbled so long at the table of the world. Your soul is stuffed with small things, and there is no room for the great. God did not create you for this. There is an appetite for God. And it can be awakened. I invite you to turn from the dulling effects of food and the dangers of idolatry, and to say with some simple fast: ‘This much, I God, I want you.’” John Piper, A Hunger for God, 23.
Dr. Piper applies these truths to television in his usually direct manner:
“Turn it off! It isn’t necessary for relevance. It is a deadly place to rest the mind. You are least capable of critical interaction. Its pervasive banality, sexual innuendo and God-ignoring values have no ennobling effect upon the human soul. It kills the spirit. It drives away God. It quenches prayer. It blanks out the Bible. It cheapens the soul. It destroys spiritual power. It defiles almost everything.” John Piper, from a sermon.
Parents, in light of our Push Back series of messages, and especially in view of Saturday’s message on Media, I thought it would be helpful to provide some discussion questions for you on the topic of culture, movies, music, and TV.
This is a substantial list, so choose wisely and go slow. Let me know if there have been other questions that have been useful to you in this regard.
- What difference should the gospel make for your media choices? What difference does the gospel make for your media choices?
- In what ways are your media choices conformed to the world?
- What does it mean to be transformed?
- Do you have a process for evaluating movies, TV, and music? What is it?
- Think about the last couple movies you watched. Did those movies promote an evil message? Did they use an evil method?
- What changes is God calling you to make with your media choices?
(The following questions are adapted from Karl Graustein, Growing Up Christian, pp. 69, 75.)
- What are your favorite TV shows, movies, and bands?
- What values do they promote?
- How do their values compare to the Word of God?
- Do you critically evaluate TV shows or music CDs? How?
- Is there anything you refuse to watch or listen to? Why?
- Do you think your entertainment habits please God?
- What is wrong with loving the world?
- Why is hiding your love for the world from your parents a dangerous sign?
- What are the key ways you are influenced by the world? How do music, TV, movies, and friendship influence you?
- How effectively do you evaluate television, movies, music, the Internet, and friendships?
- What is one way you can love the world less in the next month?
- What is one way you can love God more in the next month?
- How can your parents, pastor, and friends help you in loving the world less and loving God more?
This Compass Points The Wrong Direction
December 5, 2007 3:41 pm
Always vigilant, ever helpful, Dr. Albert Mohler has served us again with a very insightful review of The Golden Compass. To be released on Friday, this first installment of Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials series is not just another harmless fantasy click:
“The release of a popular film with major actors that presents a message directly subversive of Christianity is something new. It is not likely to be the last.”
Dr. Mohler reviews the film by answering these questions:
- Why is this movie such a challenge?
- So, what’s the problem?
- Will viewers of the movie see all this?
- Is Pullman’s attack on Christianity exaggerated by his critics?
- Is there more to the larger story?
- What is it about Pullman and C. S. Lewis?
- So, what should Christians do?
In this review, Dr. Mohler explains the stakes:
“Philip Pullman has an agenda — an agenda about as subtle as an army tank. His agenda is nothing less than to expose what he believes is the tyranny of the Christian faith and the Christian church. His hatred of the biblical storyline is clear. He is an atheist whose most important literary project is intended to offer a moral narrative that will reverse the biblical account of the fall and provide a liberating mythology for a new secular age.”
Simply put:
“Indeed, Pullman’s His Dark Materials is intended as an answer to Lewis’s Chronicles of Narnia. What Lewis (and J. R. R. Tolkein) did for Christianity, Pullman wants to do for atheism.”
We should think thus:
“The Gospel of Jesus Christ has enemies; this we know. Christian parents must be informed about His Dark Materials and inform others. We must take the responsibility to use interest in this film to teach our own children to think biblically and to be discerning in their engagement with the media in all forms. We should arm our children to be able to talk about this project with their classmates without fear or rancor.
“Philip Pullman has an agenda, but so do we. Our agenda is the Gospel of Christ — a message infinitely more powerful than that of The Golden Compass. Pullman’s worldview of unrestricted human autonomy would be nightmarish if ever achieved. His story promises liberation but would enslave human beings to themselves and destroy all transcendent value.”
If you would like to read more, Gene Veith’s book, The Soul of the Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe has a very helpful review of Pullman’s His Dark Materials books. See chapters 10 and 11. (Chapters 8 and 9 of this book are very helpful introductions to the genre of fantasy and how Christians should think about fantasy like Narnia and Harry Potter.)
Parents, read Dr. Mohler’s entire post.
But Is It Sin?
8:28 am
Any time I talk to young people about movies, TV, and music, the conversation eventually arrives at something like this: “So are you saying it is sinful for me watch _________ or listen to __________?” (Fill in favorite movie, TV show, or band.)
If it something that clearly violates the commands of God in Scripture, this question is easy. But more often, the question is oriented around debatable matters: those gray areas that might or might not be acceptable for a Christian.
In this case, we would be wise to heed the counsel of Susannah Wesley in a letter to her son John Wesley:
“Whatever weakens your reason,
whatever impairs the tenderness of your conscience,
whatever obscures your sense of God,
whatever increases the authority of your body over your mind,
whatever takes away your relish for spiritual things…
that to you is sin, no matter how innocent it is in itself.”
