The Place Of Popular Media In The Life Of The Christian (Da Vinci Code - 4)

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.