Rectifying Holiness and Entertainment

It's a question I've lived with for as long as I've been a Christian: "How do you rectify holiness and entertainment?"

I was raised at a time when few parents stopped to think that five or six hours of TV a day might not be healthy for children. My brothers and I read the fall issue of TVGuide with huge anticipation, giddy for new seasons of "The Six Million Dollar Man" and "Planet of the Apes."

My spendthrift parents only took us to see movies at the theater once or twice a year. I looked forward to such times as if they were Christmas or Easter.

Then VHS tapes came out and suddenly we could watch movies at home!

Then cable TV proliferated and suddenly there were 500 channels to watch!

Then I became a Christian.

Then what?

My desire for entertainment did not go away. But suddenly the PG movies that were borderline in the past were now crossing the line. They made me feel something I hadn't felt before: They offended my spirit.

But, to be honest, I still wanted to watch them.

Entertainment can be looked upon as something shallow, glitzy, immature, frivolous, unnecessary. Like candy. Or we can take a different view. Is it possible that people around the world, year after year, pay good money, to sit in a darkened room for nearly two hours....because there's something deep within them that really wants a good story? I believe it is. I believe there's a deep-seated desire within our souls to see a good story, well-told, and to let ourselves get caught up in that.

If an artist paints a picture, I can look at it and see God-given beauty expressed through God-given talent. Even if that artist is not a Believer, I can find God in his work. I can find it uplifting, even inspiring, because I can see a wonderful Maker behind it all.

Is it possible to do the same with something that comes from Hollywood? If our view of God is big enough, maybe it is.

Now comes the hard part, though: What to do about the parts that offend us? Each one of us, according to our background and to the degree that God is living within us, finds something within Hollywood's movies that offend us, even if those same movies also inspire us. Leaving us with the decision: Do we choose holiness or entertainment?

Here's an answer you may not have expected: You can have both.

Very often, movies that would be uplifting and inspiring are marred by obscene language...or the use of God's name in vain...or Jesus' name used as a cussword. To me, nothing is more offensive than those last two. So do I not watch TV and movies? No, I watch them, but with a tool that removes the language that offends me: TVGuardian. Connected to my TV, TVGuardian allows me to watch TV that encourages me...without having to hear words that offend me.

In my own life, this tool rectified holiness and entertainment for me. It allowed me to watch movies and programs that had good, even-God inspired ideas in them, without having to hear the name of Jesus thrown around like a piece of garbage. It allowed me to find the good within a program, without having to deal with the bad.

In a perfect world we wouldn't have to separate the meat from the bones when we eat—we wouldn't have bones to pick out. And the same goes with TV—we wouldn't have anything bad to remove. But this world is far from perfect and we're stuck in it. That's what made me see the value in TVGuardian. I saw the value, bought one for myself, later started sharing units with others, later joined the company, and eventually became the president. Because this was something that mattered to me. If this is something that matters to you as well, I invite you to take a closer look at TVGuardian. You can find it online at www.TVGuardian.com, and if you use the word "Elijah" in the coupon box you'll be helping support the Elijah List and you'll also save $20 on every unit you order.

And there's one more tool I'd like to share with you: Place your order this month and you'll receive a free family movie guide. Written by a Christian movie critic Phil Boatwright, it's called "300 Family Friendly Movies." Order a TVGuardian using the Elijah List discount and we'll send you an electronic copy of this book for free.

Please note: This special is about to end—the deadline is midnight, September 5, 2011.

Thank you for listening to my story and perspective! I'd love to hear your thoughts on this challenging subject of holiness and entertainment. And I can answer any questions about TVGuardian you might have.

Britt Bennett
President, TVGuardian, LLC
www.TVGuardian.com
britt@tvguardian.com