"I have given them your word, and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. I do not ask that you take them out of the world, just as I am not of the world. Sanctify them in truth; your word is truth. As you sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world. And for their sake I consecrate myself, that they also may be sanctified in truth" (John 17:14-19).

We are citizens of heaven (Philippians 3:20), living in the world. We are sent into the world by Jesus, as his ambassadors, to show the citizens of earth that there is nothing here of value compared to knowing Him. And yet, even though the world is fallen and sin-cursed, it is still God's world. He desires that we use it, improve it, and enjoy it. As citizens of heaven, Christians must seek to find ways to redeem what is evil, and partake and rejoice in what is good. One major area of concern for the 21^st century Christian is media: television, music, movies, and the internet, to name a few. I would like to offer four guiding principles that ought to be considered as we test everything; holding fast to what is good and abstaining from every form of evil (1 Thessalonians 5:21-22).

1. Glorifying God, In All Things (1 Corinthians 10:31)

I think this looks different for each form of media. For example, music is something that God commands from us, and can be a beautiful means of artistic expression and worship (Psalm 30:4). The internet can, and has been used by many as an effective tool for ministry, as well as for research and biblical studies. Movies are sometimes helpful and informative, depending on their format and content. Television, in the overwhelming majority of situations, has minimal, if any benefit worth pursuing that cannot be obtained via another means. Thus, our guiding question as we partake of any of these forms should be: "What's the point?" Is your purpose to seek greater knowledge of or satisfaction in God through these sources, or are you getting into them to find mind-numbing satisfaction elsewhere?

One of the great cultural analysts of our day, and one of my favorite seminary professors, Dr. David F. Wells wrote in his book God in the Wasteland about the weightlessness of God in the lives of the average professed believer:

It is one of the defining marks of Our Time that God is now weightless. I do not mean by this that he is ethereal but rather that he has become unimportant. He rests upon the world so inconsequentially as not to be noticeable. He has lost his saliency for human life. Those who assure the pollsters of their belief in God's existence may nonetheless consider him less interesting than television, his commands less authoritative than their appetites for affluence and influence, his judgment no more awe-inspiring than the evening news, and his truth less compelling than the advertisers' sweet fog of flattery and lies. That is weightlessness.[1]

I often find myself talking to Christian people who are questioning why they are experiencing very little depth and joy in the spiritual lives - they worship out of a sense of duty, and think upon God with a complete lack of intensity, if they think upon God at all. In these times, I question a person's commitment to the Scriptures and to prayer as compared to their commitment to television series' and blockbuster movies, only to find that a simple evaluation of time is astronomically disproportionate. It is no wonder that God is weightless and worship is shallow when a Christian commits more time to the trivial immodesty of prime-time than they do to the disciplines of faith.

In the seemingly prophetic observations of cultural analyst Neil Postman over 20 years ago, he predicted that television and entertainment would continue to dilute our minds and, eventually, that the very things which we love would ruin us. "Our politics, religion, news, athletics, education and commerce have been transformed into congenial adjuncts of show business, largely without protest or even much popular notice. The result is that we are a people on the verge of amusing ourselves to death."[2] We have abandoned deep thinking, written communication, and intentional pursuits of knowledge for the mind-numbing effects of modern, on-demand media.

Glorifying God in all things means that we will be taking a constant inventory of the things we do, evaluating whether or not we are wasting the fleeting moments of life on this earth (James 4:14). We must ask: "Is what I am doing in this moment glorifying God? Is this causing me to value God all the more?" Some may respond, "Surely, we cannot expect to fill every moment of our lives with the practices of spirituality." And yet, this is the very thing implied by the apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 10:31: "So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God." Even the seemingly common and mundane things of life like eating and drinking are to be done with the consideration, "how, in this moment and in fulfilling this task, am I to glorify God?" Therefore, we must ask that same question of our time before the television, movie, and computer screen.

2. Be Discerning (Philippians 1:9-11; 1 Thessalonians 5:21-22)

Tim Challies defines discernment as "the skill of understanding and applying God's word with the purpose of separating truth from error and right from wrong."[3]

1 Thessalonians 5:21-22 instructs us to test everything for the purpose of holding fast to what is good, and turning from what is evil. One of the greatest mistakes we can make is to uncritically accept whatever is put before us, even when it is called "Christian". Allow me to offer several suggestions of how we might question content:

·         Does this dishonor God (is it immodest, distasteful, blasphemous, etc.)?

·         Does this help me to know, trust, and love God more?

·         Does this remove my attention from the things of God?

·         Is there any value to what I'm doing or seeing? What's the point?

·         If it's called "Christian", what makes it so? Is it theologically sound and biblically faithful? Is it adding greater depth to my satisfaction in God?

·         Am I being lulled into a thoughtless, shallow frame of mind that goes no further than what sits before my eyes?

Of all of the aforementioned questions, the one of greatest concern for me is the things called "Christian." The non-Christian elements of culture are easy to identify and analyze in determining their value, or lack thereof, but those labeled Christian present a unique difficulty. The category of Christian music is particularly difficult to test because it is extremely effective at manipulating emotions - music is powerful. Many believers simply accept what is called Christian without questioning its validity, its message, or its consistency with the Word of God. Yet, the apostle Paul calls any gospel that is contrary to the gospel of Jesus, no gospel at all (Galatians 1:6-7).

Ask yourself: "What do I want to replay in my mind throughout the day?"

I must note at this point, that I echo the comment of Craig Cabaniss: "I'm not saying it's wrong to watch television, rent a DVD, surf the internet, or spend an evening at the cinema. The hazard is thoughtless watching. Glorifying God is an intentional pursuit."[4]

3. Am I Feeding the Flesh? (1 Peter 2:11-12)

What are you allowing to influence the way you view your life, your place in this world, and the things of this world? I am of the opinion that most people are constantly looking for the next best thing - perhaps it's the lure of a fun-filled weekend that lie ahead, or the procurement of the latest electronic device. Whatever that is for each individual, the fact is that we are frequently attempting to replace the real world with other things in an attempt to satisfy the cravings of our hearts - in essence, we are feeding our flesh.

The passions of our flesh are waging war against our souls - when we uncritically give in to whatever's set before us, we simply concede the fight and allow the enemy to win. Fight back! Your soul is vitally important - Jesus died to rescue it from Hell. Is that worth trading for a life of mind-numbing entertainment?

Television, movies, the internet, and music all have the ability to feed the flesh. They contain pornography, suggestive advertisements, violence and anger, and immodest and immoral behavior, to name only a few things. The result is godlessness, decreased sensitivity to sin, and superficiality and triviality because of what our flesh and minds have feasted on. Americans, primarily, have become addicted to materials, money, sex, and drugs and are able to see it all in the press of a button, or the click of a mouse.

Commenting on Ephesians 5:11-12, Cabaniss does a good job to balance a realistic understanding of the evil that exists in the world, and the gratuitous depiction of it for everyone's eyes to feast on:

It's one thing for a film to include sexual sin as part of the story but quite another to dramatize the act for the camera. Sexuality shouldn't be used gratuitously to titillate the audience. We live in a fallen world where fallen people sin sexually, and as an accurate reflection of our world, we'd expect some art to include themes like immorality or infidelity. However, the visual and verbal details of immorality should remain 'in secret.'[5]

If we are to partake of the various forms of media that are available, we must do so proactively: testing everything as soon as we can, even if sometimes it's at the very moment we are looking at it, to abstain from every form of evil (1 Thessalonians 5:22).

4. Idleness/Laziness (2 Thessalonians 3:6-12; Romans 12:9-11)

Media has the ability, in my opinion, to cause our minds to idly shut down quicker than any other cultural commonality when we are not carefully viewing it with discernment. It is the great cause of the cessation of relationship with other individuals, if even for a short time. Have you ever attempted to carry on a phone conversation with a person who is watching television?

The Bible is clear in that we ought to resist any form of laziness, for it requires no skill, no thought, and no effort. In essence, we are the creators of boredom! In most American homes, the main feature of the living room is the television, as is evidenced by the arrangement of the furniture. Is there any wonder as to why one of the major struggles in troubled relationships is a lack of productive and meaningful communication? Our attention spans have been shortened, and our attention is constantly being diverted.

On the most basic level, we desire for everything to exist for the purpose of entertainment. We look like we're having a great time as we go from one form of entertainment to the next, but it's all artificial. From a program, to a website, to a television show, to a shopping mall, we are simply not excited about real life. We desperately wait for the weekend to arrive so that we can have fun and play, because we're inspired by little else.

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All of life is about glorifying and serving God. Don't lag, don't float, don't drift, don't sit motionless in front of the television, don't have little dreams of playing on the weekends - stir up a passion for God - ask Him to give you great passion for His glory. God will give you more significance in your life than 10,000 television shows, websites, or movies.