A great deal of debate has arisen over the years about certain movies, music and television shows, and whether Christians should absorb or stay away from them.
Evangelist Shawn Bolz doesn’t advocate one position or the other. However, he does have some advice for those who have questions as to whether or not they are damaging their relationship with Christ by watching or listening to these “secular” forms of arts and entertainment.
He and Bob Schuller discussed the topic on a recent episode of Schuller’s “Praise” on TBN:
“God doesn’t want to give you a list of rules, he wants to see what’s in your heart,” Bolz told Schuller. “He wants to give you a relational approach rather than a rule-based approach. The way I experience arts and entertainment is different than anyone else.
“I have a friend that came out of witchcraft, and when she saw Lord of the Rings, it felt evil to her because of the trauma of her past life. When I saw Lord of the Rings and saw J.R. Tolkien’s story come to life, I was so excited and I had a great experience with it. She had become a preacher, and she preached that the movie was evil and people shouldn’t bring it into their household. She saw demons in the movie that she saw in real life. I’ve had friends with a military background that when they see war movies, they would sometimes demonize them. For some people like me, Saving Private Ryan made me want to be a champion, to sacrifice my life for Jesus and others.
“We all have a personal relationship to how the arts affect us. A lot of people look at the world and they see things that are worldly. Some of them can be bad, but [some of the things] of this world can also be good. When John says, ‘For God so loved the world,’ he didn’t mean God loved just humans but He also loved everything He created. He sent Jesus to restore it all back into His original plans. As Christians, as we are creating, it then becomes worship, even if we are not creating a worshipful thing.” {eoa}
For more Shawn Bolz’s interview with Bobby Schuller, watch this video.
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