In our culture of constant change, it can be difficult to figure out what “normal” is! The dictionary definition is “that which conforms to an accepted standard.” Given that standards shift like the wind, “normal” is subject to change—so there will always be a “new normal.”
Last week at the Democratic Convention, a young man spoke about 'new' family values—he was raised by two mothers, lesbians. He was there to thank the Democratic Party for ‘normalizing’ gay families. Then the next day, coincidentally, I read about a new Fall TV sitcom, called “The New Normal,” that will feature two gay men raising a child they have by a surrogate.
In my lifetime I have seen a lot of “new normal’s.” I remember when black and white TVs and bow ties were normal. I remember when it was normal for grocery stores to be closed on Sundays. And more soberly, I remember when out-of-wedlock pregnancy was not normal and abortion was illegal.
Obviously, what used to be “normal” changed. But if “normal” is so subjective, why are so many believers trying to be “normal”? Rather than being defined by the world's shifting standards, shouldn't we be conforming to God's? Who knows? Our lives just might appear refreshingly and delightfully abnormal to all the normal people around us. Our standards could even become the "new normal!"
T.D. Jakes, popular author/pastor has produced a new movie "Sparkle," rife with sexual promiscuity, nudity, domestic abuse, and drugs. How does Jakes justify such sensuality as entertainment? His feeble attempt to emphasize love, faith and perseverance is over-shadowed by the film's underlying values: deceit, jealousy, strife, greed.
“It has been asked whether certain kinds of entertainment are appropriate for Christians. When entertainment is crude or off-color, the answer seems too obvious. When actions we would never allow in our daily life are part of entertainment, something is wrong. Much of the content of popular entertainment contains elements the Bible expressly forbids. Somehow, when it comes in the form of entertainment, we find it less offensive. In reality it is all the more dangerous. We often let our guard down when engaging in entertainment. I fear we have ben conditioned to accept such things in much the same way that a frog learns to accept ever-warming water, until eventually it is boiled to death. Such is the influence of the entertainment industry in our time.”
The above quote is an excerpt from “Real Christianity” written by William Wilberforce in 1797. I am sure he never imagined anything like what we call entertainment today!
I don’t know how many of you pay any attention to the celebrity gossip magazines at the grocery check-out stand (or worse, you happen to catch the latest news on TV’s “Entertainment Tonight”). But the latest bit of celeb absurdity is that “Two and a Half Men” star Charlie Sheen (notorious drug and sex addict and alcoholic) is advising Actress Lindsay Lohan (a fellow abuser) to work on her impulse control. (The pinnacle of the absurd: one addict chastising another.) You can tell Charlie has been in therapy by his use of the term impulse control.
Impulse control is the 21st century term for the more time-honored, universal word “self-control.” Mankind has been dealing with ‘impulse control/self-control’ issues from the time he stepped out of Eden. Confucianism taught that self-control would help produce the "superior" man. Hinduism taught that self-control would produce the "realized" man; Buddhism, the "detached" man; New Age, the "happy" man.
Therefore, it is most significant that one of the treasures of our salvation is the gift of self-control. The last of the nine fruits of the Spirit listed in Galatians 5; love being the first: as though Paul were saying self-control is the end-result of love. When you begin with love, you end up with self-control. Someone has said "Love Christ and do what you like; for when you do, then you will like what He likes.” Paul says we should "try to learn what is pleasing to the Lord" (Eph. 5:10). Being in love with Him makes that a lot easier! One final thought: we do not gain Christ through self-control; we gain self-control through Christ.
Twenty minutes into watching a 1979, PG-rated movie from Netflix, we pushed the eject button, placed the DVD in the return envelope, and sent it back. Rather naively, as it turns out, we assumed such an “old” PG-rated picture would be inoffensive. But it had enough profanity and sex to make a nun blush.
Curious about the movie industry’s rating system, I ‘googled’ around and discovered something called the Hays Code, an old regulation that banned blasphemy and profanity in movie scripts. Obviously the ban is no longer in effect.
In my view, most 21st century believers are rather indifferent about movies that contain blasphemy (using Jesus or God’s name as a profanity—in addition to other previously banned vulgarities). What changed? When did these profanities become acceptable? I think there has been a slow boil, e.g. the proverbial frog in the kettle of warm water, where the Saints have been euthanized to what-should-be-considered indecency and vulgarity. Have we forgotten that “obscene stories, foolish talk, and coarse jokes” are banned by God’s word? (Eph. 5:4, NLT).
More importantly, we are living in the middle of ideological warfare in which Satan seeks to dominate our thinking. These are not just ‘bad’ words; they are wrong ways of thinking—inconsistent with God’s character & holiness. How many Christians have been duped by Satan, unaware they are being absorbed into a secular pagan worldview—by, of all things, something called entertainment?
