Removing the Garbage

A few weeks ago, I was scrolling through Twitter when I saw an abundance of tweets about a new single released by a current pop singer/rapper.  The song was getting all of the hype and the artist was being praised for her supposedly iconic and amazing song that promoted “female empowerment.”  In reality, the song is the exact opposite of that.  To give you an idea of how disgusting and degrading the song is, I felt like I needed to cleanse myself in holy water after simply reading the lyrics.  Since the song’s release, several popular conservative and Christian voices have taken to social media to criticize the song and call it out for the complete garbage that it is.  What shocks me the most are the attacks, hatred, and intense backlash that they have faced for their criticisms and for taking a stand for what is right.  When it comes to entertainment and media, there is a lot of garbage that we can consume.  As Christians, we are called to reject the things that do not align with our faith.

How many of us can explain how our lives would be different if we did not believe in Christ?  How many of us can say our lives look different than those who are not Christians?  How many of us have given up watching certain TV shows or listening to certain music because it is not compatible with our faith?  So much of the entertainment produced these days is filled with everything that is contrary to our faith.  It’s hard to find a show these days that does not include the mockery of religion, constant hook-ups and sexual sins, or destruction of marriage and the family.  Much of the music we can hear on the radio is vulgar and inappropriate.  People have become so desensitized to things like hearing God’s name taken in vain, not only from other people, but also from the media they watch and listen to.

Why do Christians find it so easy to consume these things?  “It’s what everyone else is watching.  It’s entertaining and funny.  What’s the big deal, it’s just a TV show.  There’s nothing else to watch.”  How many of us are willing to give up something for Christ?  Christ gave His whole life and suffered on the cross for us and we can’t even sacrifice a Netflix series?

Of course, we probably cannot avoid every single TV show or movie with some poor language in it or some questionable scenes.  That is not what it is about anyway.  We can however, actively choose what to watch and listen to and what to avoid.  We can take a stand for goodness, truth, and beauty.  Our faith needs to affect every part of our lives, including what we consume.  It’s not like we have to walk around listening to church hymns all day.  However, we can choose to give up the garbage and be different from those who do not profess Christ.

Let’s choose to fill our minds and hearts with all that is good and avoid things that are preventing us from growing in holiness!