Books, Movies, Music; where to draw the line

"Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God." 1 Cor. 10:31

With this verse in mind, where should we draw the line when it comes to what we read, watch, and listen to?

For years my family was very conservative, and from the age of about 9 until I was about 22, I rarely watched movies, and was very selective in what I read and the music I listened to. Now that I'm branching out more, I still want to careful to glorify God in those areas.

For example, I LOVE Jane Austen and some of the other classics. Even though they aren't "Christian", per se, I feel there are some very good examples to glean from, plus I think the historical aspect is beneficial educationally.

Movies are trickier than books, because of the visual aspect. So I'm very selective in that area.

And with music, the vast majority of what I listen to is Christian, or at least has a biblical message. But sometimes I do listen to non-Christian songs.

Where I draw the line at this point: Anything that glorifies or normalizes blatant sin, (such as country songs that talk about fornication in a way that makes it seem less sinful) I avoid. Also anything that promotes witchcraft or sorcery (even if it's a supposed allegory).

Thoughts?

My parents grew up with some christian heritage which gave us children a fairly conservative upbringing.
But grandpa told me the Gospel at a very young age and I believed without understanding full repentance.
Parents were not saved but believers, so we were sent to Sunday school. Thank God for that.
I experienced Gods protection over me a number of times, as a young schoolgirl.

But as teenagers and having older siblings, the world began to creep in.
My sister bought herself a “transistor radio,” that’s what they called it.
And we would listen to the “5KA” station that played the latest hit songs, including Johnny Farnham, cat stevens, bay city rollers, Olivia NJ to name a few.

Music was in the family, as my relatives performed regularly on TV, country style.

Mum had begun to attend church which was good. And she began to play Christian music cassettes, which God used, to speak to me. I heard these words, “now is the time, to serve the Lord”

I could see my mother’s frustration with us listening to worldly music, but we went with her to church every week.

I didn’t know or understand how to be “saved” but God did it for me when I was brought to this church here
at the age of 25.
I struggled through life until that day, not knowing why I was born.

I'm not big on reading but the Bible yes. And Bible based ministry books.

Yes true the classics can be very educational, I read some of those in younger days.

I listen to Christian music.
Basically if the Holy Spirit in me is not grieved, then it’s all good.
when God is in you by his Holy Spirit, there are some places and situations where you are just not happy to be in.

Psalm 19:14 KJV
Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O Lord, my strength, and my redeemer.

I agree many times we will feel uncomfortable when the Lord isn't pleased with something we're doing because of His Spirit in us. Also there are other times we need to have our "senses exercised to discern both good and evil". Hebrews 5:14. Thank you for sharing.

The art of a culture reflects the experiences of people.

We live in a lost and dying world, and the intense pain from the consequences of sin is being shown in songs like “The Hardest Part” by Alexander 23.

In this heart-wrenching story, a deeply insightful lyric gets repeated which conveys a clear cry for help: “I guess the hardest part of getting old is that some people that you love don’t.”

It’s not enough for us to simply know the solution to the problem, we have to be the solution to the problem.

You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven (Mt. 5:14-16).


When Jesus saw the crowds, he had compassion on them because they were bewildered and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Therefore ask the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into His harvest-ready fields” (Mt. 9:36-38).

There's nothing wrong with you being very careful with what you do. As Christians, it is only imperative that we always put God in the equation. May it be from the simplest to the greatest stuff that we decide on. There's always a thin line tho between being legalistic and a balanced zealousness for the Lord. Bottom line is, it takes His wisdom to be able to do what is right.

The only time that you should consider not doing something is if you know that it does/will not edify God and contradicts what the Bible says and everything that you believe in. And from experience, God will never lack in giving us warnings or rhema words when He knows we're threading the wrong side of the road. It boils down to how deep our relationship with Him is. The deeper it is, the more sensitive we become to what He likes and what He doesn't like. Just like in relationships (in whatever form). We do what makes the people we love happy and satisfied. And we do them out of love, it is never a burden. Jeez, am yappin a lot here, am I? hahaha. anyways, that's just from me.

A young pastor friend of mine loaned me a book on Atheism, and asked me for my opinion. He was in Bible College at the time, and was required to write a paper on the subject.

I got through the first chapter before I told him that he needed to toss that book into a fire. He titled his paper "Toss that Book into the Fire".

I had the book on my desk for him to pick up. My ten year old Grandson saw it and said "Grandpa I thought that you were a Baptist". Sometimes it's not what you read, but what others perceive that you are reading.

Good piont to keep in mind. "Abstain from all appearance of evil."

And anything that might cause a stumbling block to others.

Wow!

My condolences.

Death is something we all must face, believer and non-believer alike.

I’m so glad we have the hope of the resurrection.

May God comfort you and her sister during this time of mourning.

I chose the first option as that's closer to where I am than the fourth option which is "very selective". I have certain standards/limitations but otherwise I am pretty open. For example, I got rid of some channels that showed late night soft porn as soon as I found out. I stay away from horror based on personal preference. There is a lot of great cinema otherwise so I do not limit myself in most cases as I love the movies. I went through a phase were I was torturing myself on what I should/shouldn't watch....this was during the time I was watching the British soap Coronation Street as there is a lot of anti-conservative Christian stuff there (the show does have a minister but he is gay and progressive). I lost interest in that show but now I watch some other similar shows and sitcoms. The most common non-Christian theme I see on TV/movies is normalizing premarital sex. Also, some characters are openly non-Christian such as Sheldon from Young Sheldon/Big Bang Theory. I think what I watch falls under the category of everything is permissible, but not everything is beneficial. The way I see it, I am already confronted with people who engage in premarital or other lifestyles in real life, and people who are non-Christians. So, avoiding what I see in real life on TV is not really protecting me from such observations.

With songs, I am pretty open but if I get an uncomfortable feeling I do not listen to it. One such example is "Imagine" by John Lennon. However, I generally do not like to listen to music nowadays. Music makes me a bit unproductive as I tend to daydream and it has too much effect over my mood.

I have a friend who only watches/listens to Christian media so when I am with her I watch/listen to what she does.

Psalm 101:3 is a good verse to keep in mind to in relation to stuff we watch.

"I will set no wicked thing before mine eyes..."

So what’s interesting about Hollywood as wicked vile they’ve become. They don’t realize it but in select movies there are hidden in the stories of the movie , parables that are true to Christianity and what it does to a person in this age. Because even the unsaved creators of this material are image bearers of our God including their creative minds. By default they tend to carry a veiled truth about our humanity One that comes to mind is the original Matrix- a parable of how once a person comes to believe nothing will ever be the same and then we see the enemy we didn’t see before and are now on mission but only if we take (red pill) .

Another one is original Gladiator- you can see a parable of God coming into a man’s life through pain and loss. Orienting him and taking him from defeat to victory. Maximus is representative of a Christian man who knows who he is, his place in the greater story and the good that God is up to in his life.You can also see how the immoral such as the Commodus character come to be so vile from wounds projected by his father Marcus Areleous. Ironically the movie depicts the Roman Empire and it’s brutally not long after the resurrection.

You can see in the movie called The kid, staring Bruce Willis a parable of our Journey to reintegration in our faith through spiritual maturity .

Another on this parable of this journey to maturity would be -
The Company Men

a person should use discernment in this all of course but you can use segments of select Hollywood filming for ministry purposes to those who are believers and have spiritual eyes and biblical worldview.

I'm happy I decided to not discriminate on media based on my religion. There are tons of benefits but definitely negative too.

There's only 1 film I regret watching. Granted...I get freaked out with demon stuff bc I know it's real. I don't like listening to any GD or worse constant language. I won't listen for music.

Listening to both the truth and lies helps you to learn street smarts. It makes you wise overall. There are other things not religious but you can relate to. For example a lot of Christians are against philosophy, but that's how I really got into Christianity. I love the ethics/ morals/ metaphors. They will often go along with Christianity. I use to hate science bc I went to public school and bc my parents hated it. But I realized I hated the lies...I actually love science. That's almost unheard of as a Christian. It's really helpful though in life to understand science. I.e. understanding electricity, clean energy, plants, conserving water, erosion prevention, etc. Because I've been around so many shady people/liars and really nice people I can't tell the difference easier. There are people (even in church) I don't trust and tell my kids to stay away from them. But most Christians I side with, even though I disagree on politics/science with some. I lucid dream and use to astral project (lift spirit out at night). That's definitely not considered Christian.

I'm strict about what my kids watch, though it's difficult. Why do so many kid characters have a shady past? We all know why. My 5 year old already understands what's not normal though. A guy/girl was singing (didn't say anything about it) but my son automatically said "i don't want to watch that one. " 🤣 He also says for some characters " he's bad. Look at his eyes." It's funny how they know so young. I've been working with him on the Bible, morals, and empathy for a long time.

I come from an unsaved familial background and was extensively exposed to media and subjects no young child should have been for most of my life, till came sweet salvation at age 17. As such, I am fairly desensitization to most secular media, this does not mean, however, I allow myself to mindlessly consume any forms of media as a Christian. A legal show with the occasional violent scene or a few words of foul language? I can handle that and in my conviction, I am comfortable with this. However, gratuitous violence, ceaseless swearing, constant sexual themes and innuendos, especially spiritual and dark influences and material designed to mock the faith I avoid and will cut out completely. This goes for music as well, though even when unsaved, I was never into music that had such lyrics or themes and leaned more into classical and instrumental, even as I do now.

This is all to say, the fourth option applies to me most closely. Being that I am the first of my line to be saved in a long time, I intend to break any generational curses. Abuse, substance addiction, cycles of hurt and so on. This being said, I intend to cut out most media I find to be a bad influence upon my future wife and children regarding their innocence and spirit, should I be blessed in that manner. I may be comfortable with the occasional swear word or violent scene, but I grew up in an unsaved, uncontrolled and unrestricted household where I remember watching videos of people committing suicide online at age 12 like it was normal or funny. I've begun the long road to detoxification, I won't be putting my wife or children on the same road at any point.

I hope this all makes sense and I am neither coming across liberalistic or legalistic.

Precious friend, I also avoid most "bad influence" media and "mostly bad" news of
this world. I pray that Many would replace them with "God's Word Of Truth" and be
encouraged to "look, watch, and patiently wait" for our "Blessed Hope In Christ":

Please Be Very RICHLY Encouraged And Edified In
The LORD JESUS CHRIST, And His Word Of Truth, Rightly
Divided (+ I and II). ← PG Rated "Approved" *
↑ ↑ ↑ ↑ ↑ "blessed in this manner"? ↑ ↑ ↑ ↑ ↑

Grace, Peace, And JOY!… + RICH Blessings ♫ 😇 ↑

* PG = Perfect God / Parental Guidance: