Toxic Influences

I wonder if we realize that movies, games, TV, books, etc... are influencing us? We might not think so, but I know that when I first starting watching MMA (Mixed Martial Arts) I was grossed out by many of the things I seen. These days, after years of watching it, I'm like yelling at the guys on the TV. "Punch him in his face, you can take this guy." I have become desensitized to the violence involved in it.

How about the Twilight series? I have watched those and have become a fan of them, I consider myself team Jacob. If you haven't seen them, you don't have any idea what I'm talking about. With the Twilight series we have chosen the lesser of two evils! You will find yourself on one side or the other. You will either be on the side of the Vampires, or the Werewolves. I remember when I was a kid and both of these were considered bad. Now we have come to a place in culture that we will pick sides with the evil that we think is nicer.


Proverbs 25:26 reads "Like a muddied spring or a polluted well is a righteous man who gives way to the wicked."


I know, I know... it's just a movie or a TV show or a book, etc... But don't let yourself become desensitized. I have three things for you to keep in mind so as not to be influenced. Remember!

1)      A LITTLE BIT OF POISON GOES A LONG WAY.

Don't you know that a little yeast works through the whole batch of dough? 7 Get rid of the old yeast that you may be a new batch without yeast — as you really are. 1 Corinthians 5:6-7

Paul was talking about sin. I'm not going to tell you that all movies and TV is filled with sin. But just remember the more you watch it, you may begin to be influenced! Just Sayin'! Doesn't take a lot to get people going, my son watched one superhero movie and now he wants to be one. We were watching a show with my daughter and all the sudden she swore, we asked her where she heard such language and she said from the show we were watching. We rewound the video and sure enough there it was, we had missed it! 

1)      JUST BECAUSE EVERYONE DOES IT, DOESN’T MAKE IT RIGHT.

Do not become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You’ll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops a well-formed maturity in you. Romans 12:2 Message

I know at this point you think I'm starting to sound like your mom! But hey, maybe mom was right! Would you jump off a bridge just because everyone else was doing it? Make sure you keep in mind the things that are of God while watching TV or reading a novel!

2)      JUST BECAUSE I COULD, DOESN’T MEAN I SHOULD.

"Everything is permissible for me"-but not everything is beneficial. "Everything is permissible for me"-but I will not be mastered by anything. 1 Corinthians 6:12

We have really been given a lot of freedom in Christ! I mean it! You could speed down the freeway at 90 miles an hour and God is still going to love you. I could eat everything on the buffet and God still loves me. You could go into debt up to you ears and still go to heaven. Does that mean we SHOULD do all these things just because we can? No, of course not!

So what we need to do is test ourselves to ensure that we are not be desensitized and moving further from God! 

Test everything. Hold on to the good. 22 Avoid every kind of evil.

1 Thessalonians 5:21-22

Now you can't just go by what the culture says either. If you say I just won't watch Rated R movies anymore, you will miss some great movies, like "The Passion" yep! You wouldn't have wanted to miss that one, right? And I have seen some PG movies that were questionable, so you can't just watch everything PG. Some movies you will just know, if the title of the movie is "Debbie does your home town" it's not a good one. But sometimes you must be a good judge for yourself and just make wise decisions. You can use this to help!

• AM I BEING ENTERTAINED BY SIN?
• IS THIS PLEASING TO GOD?
• DOES THIS LURE ME AWAY FROM CHRIST?

May God bless you richly as you serve Him and may He help you to make choices that are pleasing to Him.