Entertainment-itis Part 2

All or Nothing?

I ended part one of this article with, “In light of the potential pitfalls, is it necessary to swear off the entertainment industry altogether, or is there a recourse? I believe there is.”

I know what kinds of visual entertainment are going to give me trouble, and I avoid them (most of the time). Fortunately, there's a whole host of wholesome alternatives that I can even buy in box sets, so when the urge to chill comes along, I'm ready.

But what about music? 

Here's where I must respectfully disagree with some fellow believers I dearly love and deeply respect. I'm speaking of those who hold the position that: a) only psalms should be sung in worship services (sometimes even sans instrumental accompaniment); or b) only traditional hymns will do. There also seems to be much discord over whether "praise bands" should serve in churches to enhance the musical component of worship.

I even remember one dear saint who wreaked havoc in a church body over whether or not drums should be permitted in the assembly.

The old hymns are wonderful and many, even magnificent. It Is Well With My Soul, and the story behind it, can't be called anything but a monument to God's enduring love in the midst of cruelest hardship. Likewise, A Mighty Fortress is Our God stands among Martin Luther's finest accomplishments, and has served to comfort our country in its deepest distress. And who would deny that blind Fanny Crosby's hymns demonstrate more vision than the keenest spectacles could afford?

I wouldn't think of taking anything away from such lyrical masterpieces.

But let's face it, the world - and music - have evolved. Not every tune in the dog-eared hymnal is a work of crowning achievement. While music with a Christian message has developed over the years, many of the classic hymns and gospel songs carry with them quite a dated birth certificate. Some are less than singable, and many fail to resonate with modern listeners, especially the youth.

This is a problem. In a world where full albums can be had with a click on a phone, young listeners simply must be offered inspiring musical choices that can stand against the plethora of filth often churned out by unbelieving but oh-so-talented entertainers. In the light speed world of today’s music industry, million-dollar record moguls pump out earworm hits like it’s their job (and good for them, because it is their job). While not everyone’s cup of tea, these infectious tunes will have even the least interested of parties tapping their feet to the same line repeated over and over. It only stands to reason that removing said styles and voices of music altogether for fear of a fruitless message would certainly inspire curiosity and almost a “forbidden fruit” kind of allure. What makes this so bad? Why can’t I have it? There has to be a middle ground for an adventurous palate. A sip of wine as opposed to the whole bottle.

Contemporary music is constantly being adapted to the modern listener for one purpose - money. Just as record conglomerates design their music for a specific purpose (money), should we not support doing the same for another purpose (spreading the gospel)?

Enter, Contemporary Christian Music

Recognizing that tastes have changed, many modern Christian musicians have stepped up to showcase work they've composed with hearts, I believe, every bit as full and sincere as those of the great composers we've just mentioned. These songsters possess a true gift for melody and poetry which, unlike the foolish servant whom Christ condemned, they are attempting to wisely steward. 

Why shouldn't they be encouraged to use their gifts for the betterment of humanity in general and their Christian brethren in particular?

Think of it this way. Nobody enjoys taking a big, fat pill every day, especially children. I remember when I was a child, encountering my first antibiotic pill. I dreaded taking this pill each day. It was scary and I couldn’t understand how this unappealing, almost certainly life-threatening chore was going to benefit me in any way whatsoever. After several days of me probably driving my poor parents up a wall by refusing to take my medicine, they decided to start hiding them in spoonfuls of ice cream. I must say that this timeless tactic is absolutely brilliant. It’s an easy plot to see through as an adult, however, as a nine-year-old, I had no clue that this treat I was receiving was also doing me some good!

I believe the same concept can be applied to Christian music. The gospel can be a hard pill to swallow for some, especially in the modern world where so many are unwilling to listen. I get it, it’s hard to hear that none of us is worthy, that only by the wonderful grace of another Entity alone, we are saved. To many, the concept is unappealing, and with so many other fast paced distractions, there is certainly a fair share of competition. Here is where the ice cream comes in. As we discussed, many of these hymns and the messages behind them can be hard to swallow. However, disguised under the right flavor of "ice cream," listeners may have no idea that the treat they are receiving is also doing them some good.

Can we really argue that there isn't room alongside Spafford and Luther for the likes of Casting Crowns, whose reworking of time-worn hymns only freshens and beautifies them in a new way for a newer, younger audience? Should we tell front man Mark Hall (who also happens to be a youth pastor) to leave it at that, and shut off his own creative juices, lest he surpass the old-time greats? We could, but then he'd have had to hold back on Just Be Held, which speaks to millions of cancer survivors like himself, as well as folks like me, whose cross isn't cancer, but may seem just as heavy.

Are guitars and drum kits less holy than harps and violins? In what way do synthesizers diminish traditional keyboards? Why can't these different musical modalities simply coexist in the church, as they do in other venues?

Bottom line: palatability does not necessarily have to equal compromise.

Modern or Menacing?

Consider this. In today’s world, one would look a little ridiculous searching for a horse to ride to the grocery store. The ‘99 Corolla parked outside might have been viewed as a manifestation of witchcraft to our ancestors, but this is simply the way the world has evolved. It’s what we do now. It’s how we experience and navigate the home God has given us. Technology has changed and will continue to change, and I submit that it’s almost the Christian’s responsibility to acquaint himself with that technology and use it responsibly.

The computer on which I’m typing is a modern convenience. So is the Internet, which I’m using to link readers to stories and songs that will hopefully inspire and enhance their walks with the Savior.

Would my article somehow be more worthy or honorable if I had needed to make countless trips to the library to do my research? Or if I had had to start with a fresh sheet of paper whenever I made a mistake, instead of cutting and pasting? True, I’m risking temptation each time I log onto the Internet, what with all that’s available on that dangerous highway, but what a blessed instrument of time-saving and information gleaning.

My point is, just because something is modern doesn’t automatically make it a menace. Typing is still typing, whether it’s done on an old Smith Corona or a brand-new HP. The tools and means of delivery may have changed, but the product can be every bit as valuable when created by people with principles.

I, for one, derive great inspiration from songs like We Believe and Even If, and it wouldn't surprise me one bit if God in His wisdom situates Matthew West's heavenly mansion right next to Fanny Crosby's, so together they can sing His praises throughout eternity. After all, God wants us to relish and enjoy his creation, using all the gifts with which He has blessed us during “our watch.” Let’s just make sure we are doing so responsibly.

Let’s Not Stop There

Part three of this series will offer further suggestions to combat “entertainment-itis,” so don’t leave town! Oh, wait, this blog content can be accessed with the click of a phone (that’s called progress and advancement, which is a major theme of this article).

So, go ahead and leave town! Just don’t forget to check your email for part 3 of “Entertainment-itis" - coming soon to a cell phone near you. 

Entertainment-itis Part 1

Folks, this topic is so important that I sought out the services of a young writer named Brian Quirk to help me frame the arguments herein. Brian has three attributes I badly needed to strike the right tone for the article, specifically, youth, intelligence and a stellar writing style. 

Just for fun, see if you can figure out where my discourse ends, and Brian’s begins!

 I'm Thinking of Creating a New 12-Step Group.

One for entertainment junkies.

I've written about this before, but this time I'd like suggest an alternative.

I'm attempting to "recover," to use proper support group jargon, from a "disease," as pundits like to call everything that, when you get right down to it, really just amounts to compulsive sin.

The "disease," AKA, sin problem, in question is called "entertainment-itis," and I suspect I'm not the only one who suffers from it. In of her books, Jane Austen manifests this “condition,” as it were, in a young girl named Catherine, who almost misses out on finding true love due to the unwavering stranglehold placed over her by romance novels of the day. Because she can never resist their intoxicating bouquet, she ironically impedes herself from finding the very thing she truly seeks.

In my case, the music and film/television industries have a way of thrusting me into worlds I don't belong in with questionable characters I have no business entertaining, even in daydreams. In today’s world especially, such temptations are mighty difficult to avoid.

To date, I haven't met anyone in Christian circles who will outwardly own up to ever having suffered from this affliction. Most believers seem to fall into one of two categories: first, those who avoid Hollywood and "secular music" altogether (I put the latter in quotes because I wonder if Christ would hold Himself to such rigid standards in today’s fast paced, ever-evolving society); and then there are those who allow themselves to taste and even devour treats from a broad, somewhat questionable entertainment menu, under the risky but convenient canopy of religious liberty (the same umbrella term that allows them to label folks like teetotalers and Sabbatarians as legalists, while failing to offer solutions to those who can't resist overindulging).

What I’m hoping to do here is dissolve the “us or them” dynamic that seems to exist on either side of this spectrum. I believe each end of this stick has its own roses and thorns.

I'm not trying to cause division in the ranks. Truly, I'm not. It's just that, for years, I've been straddling a wobbly line between these two camps (as I suspect many of us have been guilty of at one point or another), and I'm getting to the point where things just need to be clarified.

Diagnosis: Binger

The problem for me is twofold. For one thing, I'm a binger (pronounced binjer) in general, so I'm always asking God to help me keep down my consumption of anything and everything. Then, too, I've found over the years, I have to be very careful what entertainment I consume because I also tend to be an obsessor, meaning my mind gets stuck on things. So, an otherwise uneventful Friday night can find me glued to my easy chair for hour upon meaningless hour, followed by a Saturday morning "hangover" consisting of mental involvement in the fictitious lives of the characters I binged on the night before (and, if the actors interest me enough, checking out their personal lives on the Internet).

I can hear my reader groaning, then uttering, "So, what's the big deal? Lots of people binge watch to unwind, and they don't have any problem stepping back into reality."

To that, I reply, "Good for them."

Seriously. I mean, I can have an occasional drink without turning into a falling down drunk, and I once walked away from a casino with my scant but intact winnings tucked safely into my pocket, feeling no urge to continue gambling. I was satisfied with my take (however ill-gotten), and had no desire to try for more or even return to the site of my "big win" another day.

Those temptations don't pose a problem for me, but clearly, they do for many people, or we wouldn't have AA and treatment centers for gambling addiction.

As has been said, everything in moderation, but some may find that moderation a lot easier to come by than do their fellow agents in the field. Everyone has vices, and unfortunately each allurement makes itself at home in a unique way. It’s easy for us to speculate and comment about the downfalls of others, but as the Good Book says, how dare we point out the speck in our brother's eye before first removing the log from our own? We all wrestle with something.

Years ago, as a young Christian who hadn't yet figured out the folly of feeding myself Biblical truth with one hand and soap opera trash with the other, I organized my life around daytime dramas. It really meant a lot to me to keep up with the comings and goings, triumphs and tragedies, of the overburdened characters in those stories. I can remember holding a huge grudge against a college professor whose class interfered with my viewing of a certain story line that had me riveted.

VCR's and DVR's were nothing but clumps of letters in those days, and I'm pretty sure society was better off before they stood for something.

Then one day it dawned on me that I was countering the word of God I'd been pouring into my mind with trash (much like following a healthy vegan meal with a BK suicide burger). Not only that, but from a purely logical standpoint, the folks on General Hospital weren't sitting around watching other people on TV ruin their lives - no, they were getting up and out, making messes of their own!

I think part of the enormous appeal of film and television in today’s world is that the scripted, prefab doings of our favorite characters’ lives help us feel less alone in ours. When we view a drama focused around family strife, struggles of adulthood, relationship issues, or what have you, it comforts us to know that others undergo the same angst and everyday problems we face, and on such a universal level that some media mogul was able to profit from providing us that reassurance. Sometimes it can feel good to think, “At least I’m not Ian from Eastenders!” It’s nice to know someone understands, and is going through the same things we are.

Facing the Music

Having spent a great deal of time explaining my addictive tendencies towards visually consumed media, let me add that I can become equally obsessed with music. Under the influence of an older sister and best friend who were Beatle freaks, I cut my teeth listening to the Fab Four croon out love songs. Rock bands of the 70's and 80's, philosophic troubadours like Don McLean and Jackson Browne, and even a healthy helping of John Denver, have never failed to touch my soul and scoop me up into the artist's world. Much like the appeal of mainstream television, it never hurts to hear that we’re not the only ones going through growing pains.

Except it doesn't always end there for this listener. As I've grown older, I've become especially wary of concert-going (something I loved to do in my salad days). The combination of musical enchantment and the glamour of stage presence - well, I just can't fight it. It gets in my head, and along with it, preoccupation with the presenter of the magic. It’s difficult not to see someone as larger than life when he’s, well, larger than life.

Not to mention that it can be hard to hold to the constraints of law when indulging in the winsome warbling of a favorite star bathed in ultraviolet light and smoke machines. It’s so easy to get swept up, swept away and swept off our feet by melodic messages. Before we know it, we sweep our best intentions under the rug, our inhibitions out the door, and, well, all bets are off. 

All or Nothing?

In light of the potential pitfalls, is it necessary to swear off the entertainment industry altogether, or is there a recourse?

I believe there is. The next installment of this article will address some possible “treatments” for “entertainment-itis,” so stay tuned!