The Place of Popular Media in the Life of a Christian
(The Da Vinci Code – Part 4)
Various Scriptures
June 11, 2006
Introduction
This is the fourth and last message on my series on The Da Vinci Code. And to be very honest, I’m not going to be talking about the content of the book at all, really.
What I want to talk about today is the subject of popular media in the life of the Christian.
By “popular media” I mean things like books, TV, movies, music, or whatever is put out by sources that we would call “secular,” or non-Christian.
As with most things, there are extremes with this issue:
Either exclude all forms of secular input or just allow absolutely anything, regardless of content or source. I’m of the opinion that we can find balance.
I read secular materials – I read the newspapers, and once in a while I’ll read suspense novels. Not to mention the fact that I have a subscription to Readers Digest. Gasp!
I’m also a big Sherlock Holmes fan. I love those stories and I’ve read them over and over. And the author of the Sherlock Holmes stories was not a Christian.
So you can see that I’m not in favor of hiding myself from all secular and popular media.
But I don’t throw discretion to the wind, either. I’m very careful about what I allow into my life, because I don’t want to compromise my faith in Christ or my life for Him.
I read The Da Vinci Code, and I’ll see the movie, eventually. I’ll discuss why in a little bit.
Christians can and should find balance in this, or we run the danger of living in those extremes I just mentioned, and it can either make us closed-minded on one end or so open-minded that our brains leak out on the other end.
General principles to keep in mind:
1. The Bible contains all we need for life and godliness.
2 Peter 1:3 –
His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness.
In other words, if all we had was the Bible, we could live fulfilling, productive, and godly lives in today’s world.
Would it be easy? Nope. But possible, nonetheless.
The Bible covers everything from relationships to business ethics to how to get to heaven and even money.
We need to be careful, though, about using the Bible for some of our money decisions.
There’s a story of when a preacher’s car broke down on a country road. He walked to a nearby roadhouse to use the phone. After calling for a tow truck, he spotted his old friend, Frank, drunk and shabbily dressed at the bar.
“What happened to you, Frank?” asked the preacher. “You used to be rich.”
Frank told a sad tale of bad investments that had led to his downfall.
“Go home,” the preacher said. “Open your Bible at random, stick your finger on the page and there will be God’s answer.”
Some time later, the preacher bumped into Frank, who was wearing a Gucci suit, sporting a Rolex watch and had just stepped our of a Mercedes.
“Frank.” said the preacher, “I am glad to see things really turned around for you.”
“Yes, preacher, and I owe it all to you,” said Frank. “I opened my Bible, put my finger down on the page and there was the answer—Chapter 11.” (SermonCentral.com, Reader’s Digest, March, 1993, p. 7. Contributed by: Sermon Central Pro)
I read the newspaper every day. There is a lady who is part of our church who pays for my subscription, and I’m very grateful for that.
But ultimately, do I need the newspaper? No. I’m glad I have it, because it helps me know the community and gives me an outlet for voicing concerns when I feel the need.
But it’s not necessary. I can live for Christ and impact the area without it.
I don’t need TV, either. And for a number of years in our married life, we didn’t have one. We listened to Christian radio, and so we got all our national and world news from that.
When we wanted to watch a video, we would have to go Deb’s mother’s house or borrow a TV and VCR.
I think you see my point. You don’t NEED anything outside of the Scriptures to live for Christ.
Now I think that avoiding everything except Scripture is to avoid taking advantage of the many ways to interact with people Jesus died for.
If you’re ignorant of what is going on in the community, or what the concerns of the people are, then you are missing opportunities to bridge the gap between what they’re hearing and seeing, and what God can offer through Christ.
This is the reason for this series about The Da Vinci Code. I wasn’t going to bother talking about it at all. But after talking with one of the managers of The Little Professor Bookstore, I found that many people in our area are reading the book, and will probably see the movie.
This means that people in our area will have questions about the book and movie, and I wanted to give you something you could use in discussing them with people.
You might be wondering why I didn’t advertise this series in the paper, which we do sometimes.
My reason is simply that I didn’t want it to appear that we were jumping on the bandwagon of being agin’ the book. I’m tired of Christians and churches being known more for what they’re against than for being truly interested in helping people find Christ and live for Him.
So I am not saying we should avoid everything except Scripture. Rather, I think we need to use these things to help us reach our world for Christ.
A second general principle I want us to look at is that…
2. The Bible is the measure of all truth.
Colossians 2:8 –
See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this world rather than on Christ.
The issue here is that if something contradicts Christ and the Bible, then it is wrong.
People can make all sorts of claims that they have the truth. But if it doesn’t square against Scripture, then it’s wrong. It’s that simple.
But don’t let the simplicity of that statement cause you to miss out on how important it is.
Jesus said that HE was the truth. And if someone comes along and says that he is the truth, then one of them is wrong. They both cannot be true, because Jesus says one thing and this person says another.
Either the earth is round or it’s flat. You can’t have it both ways. Either Jesus is the truth or he’s not. You can’t have it both ways.
This verse in Colossians is packed with stuff, but I want to look very quickly at two main things that will help in this whole discussion, okay?
* Refuse to give up control.
See to it that no one takes you captive…
That word captive is huge. Folks, we can’t allow ourselves to let others control what we think, especially when it concerns God and the Scriptures.
I think you’ve heard me say countless times that you should not take my word for what you hear here.
Check it out. Be like the Bereans who wouldn’t even let Paul get by with just saying stuff – they checked out what he said against the Scriptures.
The problem comes because too often Christians let other people determine what they should think about stuff, and too often these other people have no love for God whatsoever.
And the next thing you know, they have embraced thoughts, lifestyles, and all sorts of things that are contrary to Christ.
Don’t let that be the case for you.
The second thing I want to point out from this verse is that…
* The world has nothing of substance to offer.
…hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this world rather than on Christ.
The fact of the matter is that almost everything you hear or see out there is based on the belief that your main duty is live for yourself and live for the moment, because this life is all you’ve got.
There is very little acknowledgment of the idea that there is more than this life and that we’re accountable for how we live our life.
Man is the ultimate, and God is whoever or whatever you think it is.
The problem is that this is false. It’s hollow and deceptive. There’s nothing there except a bunch of feel-good philosophy that has nothing of eternal value.
These philosophies fall short when the ultimate questions of life are asked. What am I here for? Is there any purpose in life? Is there a God and does He love me? How can I make my life count?
Jesus and the Bible offer real answers to these ultimate questions of life. And the answers aren’t based on the ramblings of day-time talk shows. They’re based on the character of God Himself through Christ.
So how can we keep ourselves from being unduly influenced by secular sources? I’d like us to look at that as we look at some…
Principles for filtering the good from the bad:
What should we keep in mind as we encounter books like The Da Vinci Code, or other secular materials? What can we do to keep from being taken captive by hollow and deceptive philosophies?
We could spend a lot of time on this, but I want to look very quickly at three ways we can keep from being taken captive, while still enjoying the good that the secular world has to offer. First…
> Don’t believe everything you read, hear, or see.
You would think I wouldn’t have to say this, but folks, way too many people, including Christians just think that if it’s in the newspaper, on the TV, or in the movies, then it’s just gotta be true.
“But Oprah said…,” or “But Dr. Phil said…,” or “But ‘Dear Abby’ said…,”
You simply cannot trust everything you come across, even from so-called “Christian” sources.
I used to manage Christian bookstores, and I can tell you folks, there’s a LOT of junk out there.
That reminds me. The Da Vinci Code is a novel. That means it’s not true, right? If a Christian writes a fiction novel, isn’t that really lying, since it’s not true? Should a Christian read “Christian fiction?” Hmmmm. Gotta wonder.
There are some great people who I can read and have absolutely no problem trusting almost anything that comes out of their mouths or pens.
Guys like Billy Graham and Chuck Swindoll, as well as denominational guys like Keith Drury and Jim Garlow.
They’ve been around awhile, and they’ve shown that they are consistently Scriptural in what they say.
But my list of these kind of people is pretty short.
Here’s the bottom line of what I want to communicate here: Don’t let others do your thinking for you.
Be someone thinks for yourself. Don’t allow the media to do your thinking for you. Don’t allow books and movies to do your thinking for you. Please don’t let the politicians do your thinking for you. And don’t even let preachers do your thinking for you. I’ve already told you that!
Don’t believe everything you come across. Second…
> Set some boundaries for what you allow.
Look at the words of Jesus here from Matthew 6 –
"The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are good, your whole body will be full of light. 23 But if your eyes are bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness!”
I think what Jesus is saying is that we need to be careful what we let into our lives, because it can bring either light or darkness.
We need to be people with standards, and they should be grounded in Scripture.
It’s simply a fact that there are plenty of things that are simply not good for us to put into our lives.
I’m sure we can all think of things that we should stay away from, because they’re clearly sinful and harmful.
But what about books and such that aren’t quite so blatant? Or what about novels or movies that don’t have a lot of sex and violence? Should we let these things in?
I think we CAN, but that doesn’t mean we should.
A lot of it has to do with your spiritual maturity.
Some people are strong enough in their faith to read the writings of people who are not in favor of Christianity and the Bible without shipwrecking their faith.
So they can read books like The Da Vinci Code and not be threatened by what it says about Jesus, the Bible, and Christian history. They recognize the errors and can refute them when necessary.
But many cannot read such things, because they’re not spiritually mature enough to recognize error and put it aside.
These people should stay away from those things that challenge their faith, until they are more mature in it.
Lastly…
> Use the filter of Scripture.
This goes back to what I mentioned earlier: if it’s contrary to Scripture, it’s wrong.
If what you’re bringing into your life brings ungodly thoughts, actions, and habits, then you need to get rid of it. Or if it promotes these things, then it does not pass the test and needs to be put aside.
That’s pretty simple, I think.
Obviously TV, movies, magazines, and such are not mentioned in Scripture, and are therefore unscriptural. We can’t say that you shouldn’t read or do any of these things.
But what comes across in them can be anti-scriptural. It’s up to you to limit that kind of material in your life and in your home.
That’s called building a buffer in your life. And you can’t go wrong by doing what you can to keep harmful stuff from entering into your life and home.
Conclusion
Folks, popular media can have a place in the life of the Christian. But it needs to have its proper place – in submission to the Word of God.
And when it’s in the proper place, then you’re able to take advantage of opportunities to discuss serious issues from a Biblical standpoint, and in a reasoned and reasonable manner.
I hope that you will look at things from a critical angle, always testing things to make sure they line up with the Word of God.
Because ultimately, that’s what counts. The world and its people will go away, but the Word of God will stand forever, just as it always has.
Live according to this, and you’ll avoid the pitfalls of what the world has to offer, while enjoying the good it has as well.
Let’s pray.
