BATTLING LUST IN OUR MEDIA CHOICES

Sermonette 1-10-04 Eric V. Snow Ann Arbor, Michigan UCG

A FEW YEARS AGO, SHORTLY BEFORE I GOT MY CAR WASHED IN DETROIT, I HAPPENED TO BE SWITCHING FROM ONE OF THE RADIO STATIONS I NORMALLY LISTENED TO (WNIC, 100.3, SOFT ROCK) TO ANOTHER (WOMC, 104.3, OLDIES). IN THE PROCESS, I CAUGHT WHAT MUST HAVE BEEN THE VERY BEGINNING NOTES OF DEF LEPPARD’S SONG “PHOTOGRAPH” ON WRIF, 101.1, A HARD ROCK STATION I ALMOST NEVER LISTEN TO. I THEN STAYED TO LISTEN TO THIS SONG, AND THOROUGHLY ENJOYED IT. BUT WAS THIS THE RIGHT DECISION SPIRITUALLY, ONE EVER SO CASUALLY MADE? WHAT EXACTLY IS THIS SONG ABOUT?

VIDEO FEATURES MARILYN MONROE LOOK-ALIKE, VOTED #1 VIDEO FOR A TIME ON MTV YEARS AGO, NOT AN OBSCURE SONG IF YOU’VE NEVER HEARD OF IT.

“I’M OUTTA LUCK, OUTTA LOVE/

GOT A PHOTOGRAPH, PICTURE OF/

UH, PASSION KILLER, YOU’RE TOO MUCH/ YOU’RE THE ONLY ONE I WANN TOUCH/I SEE YOUR FACE EVERY TIME I DREAM ON EVERY PAGE, EVERY MAGAZINE/ SO WILD AND FREE, SO FAR FROM ME/ YOU’RE ALL I WANT, MY FANTASY.” BACKGROUND SINGERS SAYING “PHOTOGRAPH” REPEATEDLY AT END.

THE LEAD SINGER HERE IS DESCRIBING HIS LUST FOR THE WOMAN IN THE PHOTOGRAPH HE HAD. IS THIS A GODLY THING TO HAVE LISTENED TO? WOULD HAVE (SAY) JESUS, IF HE WERE IN MY PLACE THEN, HAVE GONE OUT OF HIS WAY TO LISTEN TO THIS SONG? MORE GENERALLY SPEAKING, WHAT KINDS OF SPIRITUAL DECISIONS SHOULD WE MAKE WHEN LISTENING TO MUSIC AND WATCHING TV AND MOVIES? ARE WE MAKING DECISIONS THAT REDUCE OUR DESIRES AND LUSTS? OR ARE OUR MEDIA CHOICES INCREASING THEM INSTEAD?

BECAUSE WE LIVE IN A CULTURE SO SATURATED WITH THE ENTERTAINMENT MEDIA’S INFLUENCE, WE AS CHRISTIANS CONSTANTLY HAVE TO BE ON GUARD AGAINST ITS NEGATIVE INFLUENCES. IN PARTICULAR, WE HAVE TO BE ALERT TO HOW MUSIC, TV, MOVIES, VIDEOS, ETC., ENCOURAGE WRONG PHYSICAL DESIRES AND LUST.

S.P.S. WE AS CHRISTIANS HAVE A DUTY TO BATTLE LUST BY MAKING THE RIGHT MEDIA CHOICES. WE CAN’T JUST GO WITH WHAT FEELS GOOD AND SOUNDS GOOD, AS I DID IN THIS CASE.

MATT. 5:27-30

CONSIDER HOW RADICAL THIS ADVICE IS, ALTHOUGH NOT INTENDED TO BE LITERAL. WE NEED NOT BEING ACTUALLY LOOKING AT A MEMBER OF THE OPPOSITE SEX TO DO THIS. ANY IMAGE WILL DO JUST AS WELL. THROWING OUT CD’S EXAMPLE.

PRESUMABLY WE ALL KNOW WE SHOULD AVOID BUYING OR VIEWING PORNOGRAPHY AND X-RATED FILMS IN SEEDY “ADULT” BOOK STORES. BUT THE POPULAR CULTURE AS A WHOLE HAS BECOME SO CORRUPT WE HAVE TO BE CONSTANTLY ON OUR GUARD AS CHRISTIANS AGAINST IT. “LEARN TO DISCERN” VIDEO WHICH MR. HAAB MENTIONED SOME TIME AGO: COMPARED RECENT AD WITH A 1950’S “PLAYBOY” PIN-UP, FOUND THE AD WAS MORE REVEALING!

JOSHUA HARRIS, NOT EVEN A HINT: GUARDING YOUR HEART AGAINST LUST. READING IT INSPIRATION FOR SERMONETTE.

WE NEED TO BE ACTIVE VIEWERS AND LISTENERS, READY TO SWITCH CHANNELS AND FAST-FORWARD THROUGH BAD SCENES BY USING THE TV’S REMOTE, AT A DROP OF A HAT. SELF-CENSORSHIP IS VITAL FOR OUR SPIRITUAL LIVES.

MADONNA’S “IMMACULATE COLLECTION” NOT SO “IMMACULATE” ONCE I GOT DONE WITH IT. SELF-EDITING SONGS OF BAD PARTS, SINCE SOME CAN BE “FIXED.” MADONNA, WHITNEY HOUSTON, PAULA ABDUL, MARIAH CAREY, GLORIA ESTEVAN, CELINE DION, TONI BRAXTON VS. BROTHER’S DEF LEPPARD, MOLLY HATCHET, AC/DC, VAN HALEN, IRON MAIDEN, JUDAS PRIEST, METALLICA, OZZIE OSBOURNE, BLACK SABBATH, PINK FLOYD, ETC., MANAGED TO PROPAGANDIZE ME AT SOME LEVEL EVEN AS HE MOVED ON TO (GASP!) COUNTRY, THEN OPERA(!).

PATTI SMITH/SCANDAL’S “THE WARRIOR,” TAME COMPARED TO MUCH RAP THESE DAYS. (QUOTE IF HAVE TIME).

TV SITCOMS, 1996 VS. ABOUT TEN YEARS EARLIER, “THIRD ROCK FROM THE SUN,” NBC THURSDAY NIGHT LAUGHTRACK, LISTENED TO WHILE DOING DULL M.A. THESIS WORK. LET ROOMMATE CONTROL THE TV. CAN WE LIVE WITHOUT WATCHING SO MUCH THAT MAKES LIGHT OF FORNICATION THROUGH SEXUAL INNEUNDO TO GET CHEAP LAUGHS? REVEALING OUTFITS PROBLEM. “MAD ABOUT YOU,” “HOME IMPROVEMENT” AS INTERESTING EXCEPTIONS SINCE LEAD CHARACTERS MARRIED.

MOVIES: R-RATING RULE OF THUMB. LESSON LEARNED FROM “WAITING TO EXHALE” WITH WHITNEY HOUSTON, ANGELA BASSETTE, ETC. EXCEPTIONS CAN EXIST, SUCH AS “SCHINDLER’S LIST” OR “SAVING PRIVATE RYAN,” BUT SHOULD BE FEW AND FAR BETWEEN. EVEN PG-13 OR PG CAN BE PROBLEMS. RECENT JAMES BOND MOVIE, “THE WORLD IS NOT ENOUGH,” TWO BEAUTIFUL ACTRESSES DRESSED IN WAYS TO GET ATTENTION EXAMPLE, BOND’S NOTORIOUS PROMISCUITY. (VIOLENCE SEPARATE ISSUE!)

GALATIANS 5:16-24

MUST MAKE RIGHT DECISIONS IN THIS SPIRITUAL WAR. POOR MEDIA CHOICES CAN HELP INFLAME THE FLESH.

THE CUMULATIVE AFFECT OF SMALL ERRORS, INFLUENCES SUBCONSIOUSLY. EVEN IF MUSIC ACCEPTABLE, WE KNOW MOST OF IT IS ABOUT ROMANTIC LOVE, OR EROS. IF WE LISTEN TO ONE HOUR OR MORE A DAY, SUCH AS IN OUR CARS TO OR FROM WORK, CAN WORK TO INCREASE PROBLEMS IN OUR SPIRITUAL LIVES.

THE MEDIA DON’T REASON WITH US IN THIS AREA, BUT SIMPLY GO FOR HEARTS BYPASSING THE MIND. HARRIS: “ENTERTAINMENT GOES STRAIGHT FOR OUR HEARTS. HAVE YOU EVER THOUGHT ABOUT THIS? MEDIA NEVER REASONS WITH US IN ITS ATTEMPTS TO CONVINCE US TO LOVE LUST AND SIN. YOU’LL NEVER SEE THE CEO OF A TELEVISION NETWORK STANDING IN FRONT OF A FLIP CHART EXPLAING WHY ADULTERY IS GOOD. BUT THAT SAME CEO MIGHT HAVE HIS COMPANY CREATE A TELEVISION DRAMA THAT ENGAGES YOUR EMOTIONS AND, THROUGH THE POWER OF THE STORY, MAKES THE SINFUL ACT OF ADULTERY SEEM APPEALING. TELEVISION AND FILM SITR UP FEELINGS AND EMOTIONS THAT BYPASS OUR MINDS AND GO STRAIGHT FOR OUR AFFECTIONS. THE INCREDIBLE POWER OF MEDIA IS THAT IT CAN MAKE SOMETHING EVIL LOOK GOOD OR EXCITING WITHOUT APPEARING TO MAKE ANY ARGUMENT AT ALL.” PP. 117-118.

MISTAKES TO AVOID: THE PORTRAYAL OF SIN IN ITSELF NOT THE ISSUE NECESSARILY, SINCE BIBLE DOES THIS. BUT IS IT GLORIFIED OR PROMOTED? THE BASIC PROBLEM WITH “TITANIC” AS EXAMPLE WITH FORNICATION. THE PROBLEM WITH THE “HOW FAR IS TOO FAR” MENTALITY, OR “LET’S SEE WHAT WE CAN GET AWAY WITH IN GOD’S SIGHT.”

AVOID “ENTERTAINMENT IS A REQUIREMENT” MENTALITY. HARRIS DESCRIBES HOW HE RENTED SO MANY VIDEOS OVER THE YEARS FELT NEED TO CONSTANTLY GET NEW ONES, CAUSING HIM TO GET QUESTIONABLE ONES.

JUNK MAIL PROBLEM: CATALOGS WITH SCANTILY CLAD WOMEN ON THEM AND IN THEM COME TO DOOR UNINVITED. OWN CATALOG OF CATALOGS PROBLEM, DEMCO’S COVER SHOT. HARRIS’ BATTLE WITH THROWING OUT LINGERIE CATALOG. NORMALLY LETS WIFE SORT THROUGH MAIL AS A RESULT OFTEN.

CONCLUSION: WE AS CHRISTIANS HAVE TO BATTLE THE POWER OF LUST WHEN MAKING DECISIONS ABOUT WHAT MUSIC WE LISTEN TO AND WHAT MOVIES AND TV WE WATCH. WE HAVE TO BE WILLING TO GIVE UP LISTENING TO MUSIC WE LIKE TO LISTEN TO OR WATCHING TV SHOWS WE LIKE TO WATCH IF NECESSARY IN ORDER TO AVOID INFLAMING THE FLESH DIRECTLY OR SUBCONSCIOUSLY. WE HAVE TO MAKE SURE OUR CUMULATIVE MEDIA CHOICES HELP US IN OUR WALK WITH GOD, NOT HURT IT. FOR AS PAUL SAID IN COL. 3:5-6: “THEREFORE PUT TO DEATH YOUR MEMBERS WHICH ARE ON THE EARTH: FORNICATION, UNCLEANNESS, PASSION, EVIL DESIRE, AND COVETOUSNESS, WHICH IS IDOLATRY. BECAUSE OF THESE THINGS THE WRATH OF GOD IS COMING UPON THE SONS OF DISOBEDIENCE.”