As I watched the premiere of the new ABC TV show, Mixology, last week, I had an oh-my-word-I’m-turning-into-my-mom! moment. Why? Because I’m pretty sure this is what I looked like the entire 30 minutes:
[Luckily, my mom’s never had that haircut, so I’d have that going for me.]
If you’ve ever watched The Big Bang Theory on CBS and thought it was full of inappropriate humor…HA! It’s got nothing on Mixology. But it’s my own fault. After all, the entire premise of the show is a bunch of people at a night club trying to find someone to hook up with. What did I expect?!
As you can imagine, the jokes are crude and the circumstances far too contrived. Sure, there were some funny lines, but the longer the show went on, the bigger my grimace became. I’ll attribute that to a little thing called the Holy Spirit.
Yes, in this instance the Spirit of Truth was nudging me, reminding me that the ideas in the show grieve God [which is why I felt like my mom—she's always been extremely obedient to the Holy Spirit. As much as my 16-year-old self would be shocked, I'd be glad if I were even remotely like my mom!]. And as His follower, I should seek to love what He loves and hate what He hates, not love—or be entertained by—what He hates.
But sometimes it’s hard to do that. We live in a culture that is all about being entertained and amused, with no thought of how what’s entertaining us could be affecting us or others...or grieving our Father. One reviewer of the show—one of the few who were not outraged by the misogyny, sexism, and crude humor—said, “Not every show on TV these days needs to be more than just pure entertainment.” And actually, I agree. God created humor. Humor and laughter are gifts from Him to us. So it’s not wrong to enjoy something that makes us laugh.
But she continued on by asking, “Why can’t we all just enjoy a comedy at face value? Do we, as an audience, need to re-learn how to laugh at a simple joke?” Based on the recent proliferation of memes, sitcoms, and funny YouTube videos, I’d say that our culture knows better than most how to appreciate humor and a good laugh. So that’s not the problem.
The problem is that, at face value, all this comedy offers us is the opportunity to be amused by things that go against the very nature of our loving God. After all God’s done for us, I should think that that would be the last thing we want to do. And, inconveniently, the things that go against God's nature are also the things that bring dysfunction, discord, and ultimately death.
Sin should never be entertainment. Ever. Sin breaks God’s heart, not because He's no fun, but because He knows what brings flourishing, harmony, and life. So if we’re becoming more like Him, sin should break our hearts, too.
Melanie is the Associate Director of Research for Axis.
No comments:
Post a Comment