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My church is filled with people who are avid fans of the works of Walt Disney and the Andy Griffith Show.
Why is this disturbing to me? Please understand, it's not because I have an issue with these venues of entertainment. What disturbs me is how my brother's and sisters in Christ are using these shows as a standard for their faith. Whenever anything comes along that rattles their cage or shakes things up, they always fall back on their favorite cliche'. When something bad happens, they say, "Go back to Disney. You can't go wrong with Disney values." And when something new or untraditional happens, they say, "Take it back to Maybury. Maybury values are the best values."
What's my problem with that? Well, my problem is that "Disney and Maybury values" are not the ultimate standard. The Bible's values are. I have yet to even once hear my church members say "Take it back to the Bible. You can trust the Bible, because it's God's word." They hang tight on a grand total of one or two verses per "Bible study" then turn on a Disney or Maybury show when they want to teach the class because "you can't go wrong with Disney/Maybury" as they say.
Look, I don't really have an issue with these shows, but frankly they are not the ultimate standard. God's word is the ultimate standard, and they are not really hanging tight enough onto it. There seems to be this impression that somehow the sugar coated world of Disney and the innocent values of Maybury reflect the Utopian Bible Standard of Living.
Let me just say this: They Don't!... Not Even Close. Disney pre-assumes a sugar coated world where the good guys always win and there is no grunge and grime to deal with. We do not live in a world like that, and Jesus said we would have trials. The Bible prepares us for these. Disney disarms us to them by glazing over the ugly. As for Maybury, it's good to have a strong set of traditional values, no problem. But Maybury does not convey the actual Bible standard either. It's a good standard, perhaps. But not good enough, not high enough, to hold fast to.
Let me say it again: Disney/Maybury values are NOT Christian values, though they may be similar and even beneficial. But we can't afford to live in a sugar coated fantasy world where we put fantasy and tradition over real, applicable faith that faces the tough spots.
The real danger of a Disney/Maybury faith is that it breaks the minute it comes into contact with the stronger forces of evil in our world. A faith that is based on the values of Disney/Maybury will not stand because it is not Bible-based, but man based. It will break and lose under worldly pressures because it has no real strength, no real backbone that accepts the fact that there will be trials to deal with and sludge to trudge through.
I am worried that other Christians may fall into this trap, so I just want to say on this family forum... don't do it. Stick with the Bible first. By all means, use Disney and Maybury as supplements if it helps you get the moral lesson across, but do not make these shows or any other rendition of Utopian media a standard reference point for Christian values.
If you do, you will give the viewers a flimsy Christian spine because they will not have the Bible to depend on when the times which would crush Disney/Maybury Christianity under the Devil's foot come along. And believe me when I say, there is no Christianity that is easier for the Devil to crush underfoot than the Disney/Maybury kind!
Why is this disturbing to me? Please understand, it's not because I have an issue with these venues of entertainment. What disturbs me is how my brother's and sisters in Christ are using these shows as a standard for their faith. Whenever anything comes along that rattles their cage or shakes things up, they always fall back on their favorite cliche'. When something bad happens, they say, "Go back to Disney. You can't go wrong with Disney values." And when something new or untraditional happens, they say, "Take it back to Maybury. Maybury values are the best values."
What's my problem with that? Well, my problem is that "Disney and Maybury values" are not the ultimate standard. The Bible's values are. I have yet to even once hear my church members say "Take it back to the Bible. You can trust the Bible, because it's God's word." They hang tight on a grand total of one or two verses per "Bible study" then turn on a Disney or Maybury show when they want to teach the class because "you can't go wrong with Disney/Maybury" as they say.
Look, I don't really have an issue with these shows, but frankly they are not the ultimate standard. God's word is the ultimate standard, and they are not really hanging tight enough onto it. There seems to be this impression that somehow the sugar coated world of Disney and the innocent values of Maybury reflect the Utopian Bible Standard of Living.
Let me just say this: They Don't!... Not Even Close. Disney pre-assumes a sugar coated world where the good guys always win and there is no grunge and grime to deal with. We do not live in a world like that, and Jesus said we would have trials. The Bible prepares us for these. Disney disarms us to them by glazing over the ugly. As for Maybury, it's good to have a strong set of traditional values, no problem. But Maybury does not convey the actual Bible standard either. It's a good standard, perhaps. But not good enough, not high enough, to hold fast to.
Let me say it again: Disney/Maybury values are NOT Christian values, though they may be similar and even beneficial. But we can't afford to live in a sugar coated fantasy world where we put fantasy and tradition over real, applicable faith that faces the tough spots.
The real danger of a Disney/Maybury faith is that it breaks the minute it comes into contact with the stronger forces of evil in our world. A faith that is based on the values of Disney/Maybury will not stand because it is not Bible-based, but man based. It will break and lose under worldly pressures because it has no real strength, no real backbone that accepts the fact that there will be trials to deal with and sludge to trudge through.
I am worried that other Christians may fall into this trap, so I just want to say on this family forum... don't do it. Stick with the Bible first. By all means, use Disney and Maybury as supplements if it helps you get the moral lesson across, but do not make these shows or any other rendition of Utopian media a standard reference point for Christian values.
If you do, you will give the viewers a flimsy Christian spine because they will not have the Bible to depend on when the times which would crush Disney/Maybury Christianity under the Devil's foot come along. And believe me when I say, there is no Christianity that is easier for the Devil to crush underfoot than the Disney/Maybury kind!
