Addicted to "E"

  

With the release of Noah this past week, there has been all kinds of hoopla about it. Christians urging other Christians to see it, Christians who went to see it and are giving honest, but negative reviews of it.

     A lot of Christians seem completely willing to overlook how un-Biblical and pro-evolution the movie is, and go to see it just because it is loosely based on a Bible story. I am not saying anyone is a bad Christian if they watch it, but I am amazed at the thinking of Christians who think we should see it. I have read several honest reviews of people who saw it, and not only does it sound dumb, but it is so far from the Biblical story, that it doesn't sound worth watching. Yet people are ignoring the bad and are all excited because godless, Christian hating, conservative hating Hollywood based a movie on Noah. As someone said, all it has in common with the Bible story is Noah, a flood, and an ark.

  By the way, one of the best reviews I have read is by Matt Walsh, one of the best bloggers out there.

  One of the best comments I saw about the rush of Christians to see it came from a Facebook friend of mine, Daniel Reed. He said "In my opinion these are sad days when so many who really want to serve Christ have allowed themselves to be trapped and neutralized by addiction to entertainment."

  And could that be the problem? We are so addicted to entertainment, that we will run out and see a movie that makes a mockery of the Bible version of a story?

  The blogger I linked to above had this to say about negative feedback he received for his review:

A final note: society often makes fun of and mocks Christians (and Jews and Muslims) who get mad at Hollywood for perverting Biblical texts. Meanwhile, if a superhero movie is unfaithful to the comic book, or a sequel strays from the first installment, or a remake twists the original film, all of America erupts in outrage and hysteria. Imagine if the next Star Wars film inaccurately portrays Yoda, or if the next Avengers movie takes too many liberties with Iron Man. Imagine the anger from fanboys and casual viewers alike.

What does it say about us that we demand more accuracy in a child's comic book movie than we do in a Biblical movie?

Think about that for a while. And then weep bitterly.

   This bothers me. A lot. A friend of mine who often has different viewpoints than I do on things, said she wanted to go see it for herself and not go by what other people have said. I disagree. I have read enough about the movie, read enough of what people said who saw it, to know I have no desire to see it, and am better off not seeing it. There are times when you can know enough about something that you don't need to see it yourself to make that judgment. My best friend said about that idea to me "Guess I should just go watch a porn movie then and not take people's word about what is in it, and make my own judgement about it." Exaggerated point, but it is true: I know enough about Noah to know I don't want to see it.

  I was raised for most of my life without a TV. Yeah, imagine that. From the time I was almost 12 on, no TV, no movies. Sounds radical, but I think I was better off without it. I don't think I would have turned into the reader that I am, had I been glued to a TV set all of those years.

  I don't think people realize how much TV/Hollywood has influenced and desensitized us to sin. I firmly believe TV, and soap operas in general, has caused marriage problems, and caused us to yawn at divorce, affairs, sex outside of marriage, and more recently: homosexuality. I read the statistics on how many TV shows have gay characters, and it is high. They even most recently had a lesbian couple on a Disney kid's TV show....... what other reason than to indoctrinate kids that it is normal.

 It should give us pause to wonder how desensitized and used to sin we would be if it were not for Hollywood, if it were not for our addiction to entertainment. 

  Ecstasy is a drug many people are addicted to, and has gotten the nickname "E" (hey, I read a lot!).... but it would seem that even Christians are addicted to their own "E": entertainment.

  Now I am not condemning people for watching movies and TV. I do believe Christians should be more careful in what they watch, and how much they watch, and what and how much their kids watch. I am far from perfect, and my list of sins and wrongs would stretch a long way, before God forgave me, and I have been praying for guidance in my life in all areas, and entertainment is one of many of those areas, but an important one.

  I like a good movie just as much as the next person, though most of what I watch is either Christian, or close to it. I do like a good superhero or action movie, but try to avoid ones with a lot of language in. I don't want to just watch something because it is the "in" thing to watch, and I don't want to be desensitized to bad language, sex, etc. because of something I have viewed.

  Now back to Noah: among many bad things about it, it promotes evolution. There is a flashback to Creation, and it shows sea animals coming out of the sea and turning into land animals. Why would I want to see a movie promoting evolution and perverting the Bible in that way, not to mention the rest of the movie?

 Don't get me wrong, I am not saying people are bad Christians who go to see it. I am just asking why would they? We do not have a responsibility to go see a movie that is supposedly based on a Bible story, just because Hollywood made it. They hate Christians, conservatives, and are godless...... as I stated before, our rushing out to see this mockery of a Bible story is not going to make them love us. It won't cause them to suddenly turn to God and start toning down the sex, godlessness, and violence in their movies and TV shows.

  So why go see it? I trust the reviews I have seen of people who saw it. I know it is nothing I want to see, and I have a responsibility to be more careful in what I view as a Christian. It is a radical and bold idea to say this in these times, but could we possibly be better off not going to see a movie like this? Could it please God more to avoid it, then to go see it?

  I know. It isn't popular in this day of "By God, I am going to do what I want to do, we are not under the law, but under grace!" People tend to think you extreme or radical to say things like we shouldn't go to see the movie Noah.

  Back to the point my friend Daniel made: are we so addicted to entertainment that we will basically sit down and view something that is mostly garbage, for the small good part that we may get out of it?

  Compare Noah and a lot of other things we watch, to going to the dump. There is good food there, buried under all kinds of trash. Unless you were homeless, had no money, and were starving to death, there is no way you'd dig through trash and eat whatever food you find.

  Yet we do it with entertainment. Are our souls less important than our stomachs? No. They are much more important. And one digging through the trash may not hurt, but a constant diet will get you desensitized and slowly poison your soul, until sex outside of marriage doesn't bother you. You don't think abortion and gay marriage are that big of a deal. Marijuana is OK and should be legalized. Cursing doesn't bother you at all.

  Now I am not saying watching the debacle of Noah is going to send you to hell. What I am saying, is in view of all the bad that is in it, if you still want to see it, and think we are nuts for finding it offensive, maybe it is time to do some soul searching as to why you don't have a problem with it.

  In closing, I'd like to quote another Facebook friend, also named Daniel, Daniel Mingo. I can't find his exact quote, but the idea was even as bad as Noah sounds, he has the hope that it might arouse enough interest in people who don't know the Bible, that it would cause some people to read the story for themselves from the Bible, and maybe read more of the Bible than just Noah.

  I think someone besides Daniel said something similar: good could come from all of the bad publicity, to stir up interest in the read story.

  And again, I am not putting myself on a pedestal by questioning people who want to see Noah. I am so far from being on a pedestal, but I will say I am 100% comfortable with the idea that I am better off not seeing Noah, and it is likely more pleasing to Him if I don't see the mockery Hollywood has made out of His Word.

  Also, I am not condemning anyone who watches TV and movies. I do believe it is just another area the devil can use to trip us up, and another thing to take up time we could be doing something more valuable, and something that can drown out God's voice in our lives. Something to think about. I know I am going to.