A Matter Of Time

I suppose it was inevitable. But that does not make it any easier. Ted Baehr, of WorldNetDaily, notes that, according to a MarketCast survey, "conservative, red state, fundamentalist Christians go to more violent, R-rated films than do liberals." Now, I have no idea what data they have to verify this conclusion. You can't make such a comparison without accurate data, and the MarketCast study he sites, like all such studies, are only as good as the anecdotal evidence they use. So, first, I am not sure that the "more ... than do liberals" statement, could really stand the light of day.

However, Dr. Baehr does make a valid point when he says, "We need to be agents of change, rather than the other way around." Over the past years, with the growing popularity of cable television, videos and DVDs, has come the increased acceptance of the motion picture genre in general, and especially going to the theater itself.

I am not going to try to make the point that going to the theater is somehow worse than the other visual media. I do not think that case can be made. Nor am I going to try to prove that Christians who use any of these media are somehow more "worldly" than those who do not.
But, the increasing influence of the world on the believer is something that should concern us all.

Whatever the de-sensitizing agent, whatever the excuse, the end result is that believers are increasingly less concerned about living outwardly separated lives, at least in terms of the generations that have gone before. Godliness is being defined as a matter of theological concern, but not of practical concern. Godliness is no longer a recognizable standard, but a subjective idea - something that we get to define for ourselves.

If believers are to start influencing culture, rather than the reverse, they will have to get serious about holiness of life-style. They will have to give up their rights and "liberty" in favor of the liberty to finally live life in the presence of God, to the glory of God, and not for their own benefit. Believers will have to learn that actions matter. They matter because actions describe the heart, and actions determine outcomes.

If the data from the MarketCast survey is accurate, then even the most rigorous Biblicists seem to have regressed in lifestyle. If the world around us conforms us to itself, we cannot be instruments of God in the reclamation of souls to His glory.

Who is influencing whom? Is the Spirit being allowed to remake us in the image of Christ, or is the world conforming us to itself?