I was speaking to a man one afternoon. Hearing him, I could figure that he was getting the filter for all his experiences from media – particularly movies and current TV series. He patterned his values from certain characters from specific movies and tv shows.
It’s interesting how we can get ‘discipled’ by our culture.
Bill Hull defines culture as “the belief systems of a society and its outworking of those beliefs through music, painting, writing, films and television.”
He says that the typical person today spends 8 hours on the job, 7 hours sleeping and nearly 5 hours absorbing media messages.
Media is discipling many today, both old and young. The media today is able to erode the moral base of our land, desensitizing you and me to what is sinful and blurring the line between right and wrong.
Hull further continues his thoughts,
”The people sitting in the pew are products of television more than the Word of God. Their worldviews are not scripturally based; rather they are disciples of their culture. When the media mentions responsibility, they are not talking about moral responsibility, but about using contraceptives. Termination of pregnancy (murder) is the woman’s right; being sexually active (fornication) is all right as long as you practice safe sex; having an affair (adultery) is expected sooner or later in normal, uninhibited people…
The Christian community is slipping away from moral absolutes. What the pastor declares rubs against the cultural grain. The Word of God is abrasive when clearly presented in the present atmosphere…”
Please don’t get me wrong. Media is not necessarily wrong. I’m actually using one right now. But the role of the church is to influence culture and not the other way around. If we let that happen, then we’re in trouble.
Jesus declares in Revelation 2, “You have forsaken your first love. Remember the height from which you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first.”
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