As I sat and watched the corruption mounting and the line between the good guys and the bad guys blurring - blood and guts spilling in techno-coloured HD, I heard myself thinking - 'and why exactly do I enjoy watching this stuff?'
I remember the first movie I ever went to see in a theatre - Cool Hand Luke with Paul Newman, George Kennedy, Dennis Hopper and others. I presented my case for going to my father - who was not happy that I was asserting my newly arrived at adulthood by making, what he felt, was a bad decision.
That was the first of many, many movies that I have watched, enjoyed and tolerated.
Don't get me wrong. I love movies. I love to escape into the wonders of space, intrigue, mystery, drama, comedy - even documentary. I can lose myself a well told story and sometimes even in a second rate story - I so much want to make it work.
But after 35 years of watching movies am I better for it? I'd like to think that some of them have helped to form who I am - in a good way - to dream big dreams, to imagine what could happen if.... Some movies have helped to bridge conversations with people about God and how Jesus relates to us, including us in his story. Some have helped me rethink why I believe what I believe and how to relate to others through faith building story telling, imagery painting, character development and refinement - my character building and refinement, too.
But, to be honest, I also know that some of them have helped to nurture angst, anger, lust, greed - not all that godly of a quality to mix into the Jesus-in-me cocktail!
And that's the trouble with entertainment. It mostly doesn't exist to teach and to train - just entertain. Thankfully some does teach and train and stretch our perceptions and dredge up our compassion. But many only exist to entertain. And entertainment is its own reward.
I'm not against entertainment, relaxation and fun - quite the opposite. But sometimes I think that I need to hear what Paul said again in the paradigm of my culture, my society.
1 Corinthians 10:23 "Everything is permissible"—but not everything is beneficial. "Everything is permissible"—but not everything is constructive. 24 Nobody should seek his own good, but the good of others. (NIV)
Or as The Message puts it:
1 Corinthians 10:23 Looking at it one way, you could say, "Anything goes. Because of God’s immense generosity and grace, we don’t have to dissect and scrutinize every action to see if it will pass muster." But the point is not to just get by. 24 We want to live well, but our foremost efforts should be to help others live well.
At the end of the day, I know that Jesus isn't going to ask me, "Did you or did you not go to movies?" But he will want to know if I helped people along the way through my life. And when it comes down to it, helping people, engaging with them - be it in conversation or practical acts of love and kindness - is what he is concerned about.
The trouble with entertainment is that it is seldom more than self-serving. Maybe it's not a "sin" to see a movie like my Dad thought it was. But I also don't think that it is always good or necessary - especially when it takes us away from engaging with people - helping them live well!
