Anchoring Your Entertainment Choices to God's Heart
Because it's not just music
It’s not just TV and it’s not just music. When I hear believers say this, I cringe. We, of all people, should know that everything starts in the spirit realm. It’s either the kingdom of God or the kingdom of darkness. Taking this into account, I want to be sure you’re equipped in this new year to anchor your entertainment choices to God’s Heart.
I know many of us feel like as believers we seem to have to give up so much just to follow Christ, and we do. Remember Romans 12:1-2? It’s our reasonable service to give up whatever God asks us to since He gave us His Son. One of the reasons people struggle to live a biblical lifestyle and trust God is that they don’t have a complete understanding of what it means to be a disciple. I started calling myself a disciple a few months ago, foregoing calling myself a Christian. Not because I’m not a Christian but because calling myself a disciple causes me to see things from Christ’s perspective.
Disciples lay down their lives and don’t see the sacrifice as something they had to do. They see it as something they get to do. Christians believe in Christ. Disciples live for Him. The other reason believers struggle to live a biblical lifestyle is because of the way we define fun. I remember when I used to say, “Man, I can’t do anything fun as a Christian”. But then, I had to ask myself, is it fun to drink, hang out at bars, have men dancing all over me, have sex with a man I may never see again, or run the streets just to say I did everything I wanted to do?
Fun isn’t about rebellion. If we look back over our lives, most of us did things out of rebellion. Our parents disapproved of them, and everything they told us to stay away from, we wanted to try for ourselves. I chose to lay the foundation for this article this way because once we understand that we are disciples of Christ, and not just believers in Christ; and we learn to redefine fun, we’ll be able to anchor our entertainment choices in God’s word.
About four years ago, Netflix put the sitcom Girlfriends on their platform. I remember being hyped, thinking I had another great binge-worthy show that I could watch while packing to leave for Atlanta. Three episodes in and I felt the weight of conviction. I couldn’t figure out how I had been able to watch the show when it first came on. Between the sexual content, the spiritual fluidity, and the subliminal vulgarity, I realized that my spirit couldn’t take it. I realized that from college until that point, I had become a completely different woman. I’d grown closer to God and the Holy Spirit was able to send an alarm whenever I was about to cross a point where I’d create a separation between me and God.
To some, it may not be a big deal; however, Ephesians 4:30 does tell us not to grieve the Holy Spirit. I believe we grieve the Spirit whenever we do anything that causes the Holy Spirit to feel sorrow, pain, unhappiness, or distress. Our daily activities can either bring peace or grief to the Holy Spirit. Paul exhorts believers throughout the entire New Testament to live a life worthy of the calling we have received. Whether you agree with it or not, how you move about your day plays a large role in this.
The other thing we have to consider is that while the word of God doesn’t flat-out tell us what shows we can and can’t watch, or what music we can and can’t listen to, Psalm 101:3 says, “I will set nothing wicked before my eyes”. We have to rightly divide the word of truth. If we know that there are verses that tell us to separate the profane and holy, as well as not having fellowship with the fruitless works of darkness (Ezekiel 22:26 & Ephesians 4:11), then why does God have to spell everything out for us? If we’re waiting for God to spell it out word for word, we will always struggle with obedience; not to mention, God reveals a lot through both His Lagos word and His rhema words.
So, how do you anchor your entertainment choices to God’s word? Let’s dive into it. FYI, this also applies to all forms of entertainment, including sporting events.
1) Flow with the Holy Spirit’s conviction, not your feelings. We’ve all been in positions where we feel a nudge from the Holy Spirit, but because we don’t see the issue with what we’re doing, we push it away and move forward. For example, when God told me to walk away from a friendship, nothing had happened yet that would warrant me walking away. I remember God saying, “And you want it to stay that way. Walk away now.” God shouldn’t have to send us a bunch of blinking red lights for us to take heed. It’s the same with our entertainment choices. We may be watching something, and it isn’t inherently a sin, but God knows it isn’t good for us. I stopped watching Law & Order: SVU a few seasons ago because while it’s fun to see the cast solve a crime, constantly being bombarded with images of rape victims and murder wasn’t healthy for my spirit.
2) Write a list of all the television shows, movies, books you read, and music you engage with. Next to each thing, write out which kingdom it builds. If you see that something is building the kingdom of darkness, then you know you should let it go immediately. For those who want to know what it means to build the kingdom of darkness, the simplest explanation is anything that promotes sin, demonic activity, or things that oppose God, builds the kingdom of darkness. I remember that I couldn’t read certain romance novels anymore. While I write Christian romance, I write clean content. When I was signed to a publisher, my pen sisters all had books with sex scenes and cursing in them. I couldn’t support it. How can I maintain my abstinence and purity if I’m sowing the exact opposite into my mind daily? Once you have this list, pray over it. You may find that you were already struggling as you engaged with some of this content and this list will bring confirmation.
3) Ask God for replacement entertainment. Remember, a house that’s been swept clean is left empty unless it’s filled with something (Matthew 12:43-45). Some people may feel better taking time away from entertainment as a way to cleanse, but for those like me who love television (not to mention, I’m in the Hollywood space as a writer), then ask God what you can watch and listen to. I gave up a lot of demonic and secular music. However, Tori Kelly and Chrisette Michele are artists that have pure hearts and while they aren’t gospel artists, their music isn’t tied to anything demonic. When it comes to shows, I’m pretty much binging Family Matters and watching Shark Tank these days, but I’m sure shows are coming out that will be safe to watch.
4) Be intentional about the spaces and places you go and the events you attend. While you can’t control someone else’s home or car, you can be intentional about where you go. I don’t judge people who may not be at this level of maturity in their walk, however, because I’m prophetic and I pick up on spiritual things all the time, I will turn down an invitation to places and spaces that are hosting events tailored to promoting or showcasing demonic or sinful entertainment. Side note: As a disciple, you do have authority (Luke 10:19). I remember being in two different situations where I rose up boldly and asked them to change the channel or music. One was at a friend’s house and the other was at a hair salon. We have to be willing to shift the atmosphere when we’re in the room. The devil should flee in your presence.
5) Lastly, always choose Christ over culture. Let’s go back to redefining what fun means. Ask God what fun looks like for you and write it down. Culture will always try to dictate what excitement and fun look like. Nine times out of ten, it will go against the word of God. Choose Christ over whatever culture deems is cool. This requires dying to yourself daily and recognizing that you can’t make choices without God. Remember, anyone who loves the world has enmity against God (James 4:4). Whenever you choose Christ over culture, your entertainment choices become less of a hassle because you’ll recognize right away what isn’t God. This may mean you need to unfollow some social media pages and clean up those accounts that trigger you.
As you go into this new year, take inventory of your entertainment choices. I pointed out sporting events because I wanted to go to a boxing match last year. There’s a boxer I know that has become a pro and he’s had two fights that I could’ve gone to. However, God explained to me why I couldn’t go. Anyone who knows me knows that my two favorite sports are basketball and boxing. I used to box. While it was hard, I trusted God and chose not to go. Is going to a boxing match or a basketball game a sin? Of course not, but God revealed that the atmosphere at a boxing match would cause me to not have a good time. I’m sure you can imagine what God was referring to.
Being a disciple isn’t a cakewalk, by any means, but Christ didn’t die on the cross so we could become more comfortable with the things of this world. He died so we could make it to our permanent home in heaven looking more like Him.
Side Bar
While this article is being released in our winter issue, writing it made me think of all the cookouts and family summer events I didn’t take part in over the last two years. Our theme for January and February is being anchored to truth and submitting to truth. This means your family may not understand how you move in this new season. Sometimes God will say you can’t go to that family hangout or event simply because He knows what might come up. It’s not always about secular music or liquor being served; sometimes, you’re carrying your next big project and He knows you’ll want to share it prematurely in excitement, which could cause you to abort what you’re carrying.
I had a family member reach out to me recently, and while she wasn’t inviting me to anything, she asked me if I was okay. I said I was, but she proceeded to say that she felt I would tell her that even if I wasn’t. I’ve been home in Philly for almost two years and have only heard from this person a few times. I felt in my spirit that this was her way of trying to find out what was going on with me. I respectfully answered, “Not at all. I’m just in my focused and silent season”. That shut down any questioning that would’ve continued.
How does this matter to turning down family engagements in obedience to the Holy Spirit? It made sense why God wouldn’t allow me to stop by this family member’s home since I’d been back in Philly. He knows that sometimes people will want to know what’s going on with us and when we’re in prophetic seasons or seasons of surrender, we have to be silent. Not everybody is invited into the birthing room. All of this is central to not only anchoring our entertainment choices to God’s word but also making sure we’re not going into spaces where our spirit would be frustrated.