Don’t forget: five15 BIG MEETING on Saturday. Come for Push Back, Part 5 on Appearance.

You know the deal: Pizza and Ping-Pong at 5:15, meeting starts at 6:30.

See you Saturday night!

Last night was part 3 of Push Back: on Dating. The bottom line:

Push Back by opening your Bible and seeking to walk out relationships based on God’s Word. Push Back by honoring your parents and their desires for your relationships.

There are too many lies that are too easy to believe. Our culture is constantly pressing on us, trying to persuade us to follow its path. Trying to find satisfaction in joy in anything without God will ultimately fail:

“…you have made us for yourself, and our heart is restless until it rests in you. Augustine, Confessions, translated by Henry Chadwick, 3.

We need to get our perspectives on relationships from God’s Word…

“In the same way that hunger alone tells us nothing about eating nutritionally, our passions and urges do not teach us about loving well.” John Ensor, Doing Things Right in Matters of the Heart, 44.

Another great quote:

“Loving God first as a matter of the heart puts all our other loves in their rightful place and in their right proportion… If we do not seek our happiness in God and make him our perfect and everlasting happiness, then every good thing becomes a substitute for God; it becomes an idol.” John Ensor, Doing Things Right in Matters of the Heart, 46.

We learn a lot about how God wants us to act in Paul’s instructions to Timothy in 1 Timothy 4:12:

“Let no one despise you for your youth, but set the believers an example
in speech,
in conduct,
in love,
in faith,
in purity.”

So here are five ways to glorify God and serve others in relationships.  More on each of these this week.

In the meantime, don’t forget the gospel!  If this is an area in which you have sinned, that sin is serious, but it is forgivable:

“Whoever conceals his transgressions will not prosper,
but he who confesses and forsakes them will obtain mercy.” (Pr. 28:13)

A sneak peek:

“In the same way that hunger alone tells us nothing about eating nutritionally, our passions and urges do not teach us about loving well.” John Ensor, Doing Things Right in Matters of the Heart, 44.

“You stir man to take pleasure in praising you, because you have made us for yourself, and our heart is restless until it rests in you. Augustine, Confessions, trans. Henry Chadwick, 3.

Bob Kauflin goes on to explain:

Music exists to deepen our love for and enjoyment of God.

1. Music is a gift from God, meant for our enjoyment and benefit.
2. Music is a gift from God, not a means to an end.
3. Discernment and skill increase the benefit of music.

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:

1. Actively listening to non-Christian radio [or XM, internet radio, etc.] regularly, without being affected by the content or culture.
2. Letting music determine my priorities.
3. Allowing music to crowd out prayer, Bible study, fellowship, serving, or other means of glorifying God.
4. Adjusting my schedule to my music desires.
5. Spiritual dullness, a lack of spiritual passion and drive outside corporate church contexts.
6. Looking to non-Christians or worldly friends to dictate my music listening habits.
7. Listening to music in contexts which tempt me to compromise my faith.

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?

“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

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

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?