Driving the other night over to Southwestern Seminary for their Armageddon Now? round-table discussion on eschatology, I had an interesting talk with a friend regarding the idea of where we place our Christian boundaries. He works in the music industry and of course, has a vested interest in music and the thought that surrounds it. He asked a stimulating question: have we misplaced our “boundaries” when it comes to the entertainment “filters” that we use?

Let me elaborate: it is very common to meet well-intentioned believers who only listen to “Christian” music. The common argument is that they don’t want to fill their heads with “secular” thoughts, which is all fine and good. However, these same people often watch “secular” television, attend movies, read “non-Christian” media, read non-Christian fiction, and the list goes on. The common line of reasoning thus goes something like: well, I’m very careful about the movies that I see, I check the ratings and make sure there’s nothing offensive there before I go, I read what Dobson has to say before I do anything. Again, fine and good, but terribly inconsistent.

On one hand we have a total ban of anything “secular” while on the other we use our “filters” to avoid anything objectionable. If we were truly consistent, wouldn’t we avoid the mainstream media, which is anything but objective? Why is music typically the only art form/entertainment where we set the bar so high? Again, the typical argument is: there’s just something special about music that connects with you on a different level. I won’t argue, but I will say again; terribly inconsistent.

For some, the answer might be a “total abstinence,” but I’m not sure that this is either realistic or helpful (it is certainly not realistic or helpful to place your conscience upon me if you’ve become convinced that “total abstinence” is the answer). Would it not be better to actually put into process a life of taking “every thought captive” (2 Corinthians 10:15), not being conformed to this world, but rather, being transformed by the renewal of our minds, that by testing we may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect” (Romans 12:2).

The sad truth is that we are a generation that no longer thinks critically. We “clear the deck” in one area of our lives and think that we’re on our way to holiness when we’ve yet to remove the log of inconsistency from our eye. We must do the hard work of discerning and thinking critically. There is certainly a level at which we must be informed, but not only that, the monastic view of withdrawing from culture completely is neither biblical nor edifying. We must strive to live up to the high calling of being salt and light (Matthew 5:13-16) in a world of darkness (John 3:19).

Read Redeeming Pop Culture by T.M. Moore.
Read The Calvinistic Concept of Culture by Henry Van Til.
Read Creation Regained: Biblical Basics For A Reformational Worldview by Albert Wolters.
Read Eyes Wide Open: Looking For God in Popular Culture by William Romanowski.