Over the last two weeks the Internet has been abuzz with news of the final season of Game of Thrones. Some have hailed GoT as a cinematic masterpiece, while others have labeled it as pornography. Some have warned of the graphic nature of the show, whiles others have ardently defended their Christian freedom to watch it. Many have fallen somewhere in the middle.
As I've seen so many Christians express their enjoyment of GoT, and even recommend it to other people, I have been a little disheartened. The issue has sort of stuck in the back of my mind as I try to think of how to engage with my fellow believers on this topic in an edifying way. The other night, as I prayed the Lord's Prayer with my daughters before bed, I thought, "How can a Christian pray 'Lead me not into temptation,' and choose to watch GoT (maybe we need to get back to praying the Lord's Prayer!)? How can we genuinely pray this petition and then turn around and place temptation before our eyes?
What would you think of a Christian who prayed the Lord's Prayer as he/she walked into a strip club? You'd probably think that that person is either badly deluded or, more likely, disingenuous, right? Jesus teaching us to ask our Heavenly Father for help avoiding morally precarious situations would seem to imply that we are to do everything in our power to avoid those situations.
Praying "Lead me not into temptation" and then choosing to watch sexually explicit material is like going to a buffet restaurant while on a diet.
Many people will protest that viewing sexuality/nudity in movies and TV shows doesn't effect them. Maybe they're right. Maybe that isn't their struggle. Certainly some people do struggle with sexual sin more than others, and those people do perhaps need to be more cautious than others. Or...maybe our culture is so pervaded with sexuality and our standards for sexual conduct have declined so much that we don't realize how much of an effect it has upon us. Since the days of the Sexual Revolution progressives have argued for freedom of sexual expression--free love--and then we wonder why we're so messed up. We think regularly imbibing sexually explicit material has no effect on us as we live in a culture riddled with sexual abuse, teenage pregnancy, and sexual identity crises.
I don't really care how I come across, but I do hope you don't dismiss my thoughts as simply the ravings of a prude or a bible thumper. I certainly hope I do not sound "holier-than-thou"! On the contrary, I bring this issue up because I know that I have not always guarded my eyes and that I must be assiduous in doing so. For those of us who identify as Christians, we have been called to pursue purity and holiness. Some struggle with sexual purity more than others, but we have all received this command.
So today I just offer this question to you for your consideration. Is it consistent to pray, "And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil," and then to choose entertainment that contains sexually explicit material? If we place ourselves in temptation's pathway, can we expect our Father to answer our prayer?
As I've seen so many Christians express their enjoyment of GoT, and even recommend it to other people, I have been a little disheartened. The issue has sort of stuck in the back of my mind as I try to think of how to engage with my fellow believers on this topic in an edifying way. The other night, as I prayed the Lord's Prayer with my daughters before bed, I thought, "How can a Christian pray 'Lead me not into temptation,' and choose to watch GoT (maybe we need to get back to praying the Lord's Prayer!)? How can we genuinely pray this petition and then turn around and place temptation before our eyes?
What would you think of a Christian who prayed the Lord's Prayer as he/she walked into a strip club? You'd probably think that that person is either badly deluded or, more likely, disingenuous, right? Jesus teaching us to ask our Heavenly Father for help avoiding morally precarious situations would seem to imply that we are to do everything in our power to avoid those situations.
Praying "Lead me not into temptation" and then choosing to watch sexually explicit material is like going to a buffet restaurant while on a diet.
Many people will protest that viewing sexuality/nudity in movies and TV shows doesn't effect them. Maybe they're right. Maybe that isn't their struggle. Certainly some people do struggle with sexual sin more than others, and those people do perhaps need to be more cautious than others. Or...maybe our culture is so pervaded with sexuality and our standards for sexual conduct have declined so much that we don't realize how much of an effect it has upon us. Since the days of the Sexual Revolution progressives have argued for freedom of sexual expression--free love--and then we wonder why we're so messed up. We think regularly imbibing sexually explicit material has no effect on us as we live in a culture riddled with sexual abuse, teenage pregnancy, and sexual identity crises.
I don't really care how I come across, but I do hope you don't dismiss my thoughts as simply the ravings of a prude or a bible thumper. I certainly hope I do not sound "holier-than-thou"! On the contrary, I bring this issue up because I know that I have not always guarded my eyes and that I must be assiduous in doing so. For those of us who identify as Christians, we have been called to pursue purity and holiness. Some struggle with sexual purity more than others, but we have all received this command.
So today I just offer this question to you for your consideration. Is it consistent to pray, "And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil," and then to choose entertainment that contains sexually explicit material? If we place ourselves in temptation's pathway, can we expect our Father to answer our prayer?
Comments
Post a Comment