“Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of
God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to
God—this is your true and proper worship. Do not conform to the pattern of this
world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able
to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.”
This summer our college ministry at Clairemont Emmanuel is
going through a series called “Under the Influence.” It is not a series on
drinking, addiction or drugs, although that could play into the discussion.
Rather, it is a series where we are exploring how we are influenced by the
world around us, and how we can allow God to truly be the one who leads and
influences us in all things. And so these next blog posts are designed to serve
as a follow up from our group discussions in bible study, and if you are not
able to be part of our bible study in San Diego, my hope is that these posts
can stimulate your own self reflection to see how you are being influenced by
the world around you.
This passage in Romans comes at a major turning point in the
letter. In chapters 1-11 Paul has laid out a brilliant exposition of the
Christian Gospel: How we are all sinners by nature and by choice, how our sin
separates us from God and leads to death, how Jesus Christ saved us from the
penalty of sin through his death on the cross, and not only saved us but
liberated us to live for God. Then in chapter 12 he begins a discussion
applying the Gospel. In light of this beautiful and glorious Gospel, how then
should we live? What should we do in light of God’s lavish and undeserved
grace? These two verses begin that discussion.
Part of our response
to the Gospel is that we are called to be transformed by the renewing of our
minds. This will allow us to truly be able to discern what God’s will is, and
in turn be able to fully live for him. So this transformation is critical to
the Christian life. But what does it imply? There are many answers to this
question, but let me offer two thoughts on how we can engage in this
transformation, particularly as it applies to the various forms of media that
we take in on a daily basis.
One, we need to be filled with God’s Word. If we want to
know God’s will, we should fill our minds with God’s Word, where God’s will is
so clearly laid out for us. Several weeks ago our worship pastor gave a
beautiful message from Psalm 1 describing the person who drinks in God’s Word; that
person is like a tree that yields fruit and prospers, that person is one who is
strong and healthy. If we want to have a transformed mind, we must be filled
with God’s Word. If we want to think Christianly, and have a Christian mind,
then our minds need to be filled with truth for us to reflect and act upon. And
being filled with God’s Word is critical for us to be able to think about the
rest of our cultural input. If we are not filled with God’s Word, how will we
be able to understand the aspects of our cultural input that are good and those
that are not? And when it comes to thinking about the media that we take in,
how does our bible input compare to our media input? Five minutes of bible
input compared to hours of watching TV and movies, listening to music, and reading…whatever
it is that you read… will not go very far in terms of having a transformed
mind. To have any chance at having a transformed mind we must have God’s
transforming Word of truth inside of us, and it must be our dominant input
source!
Two, we need to think critically about what we take in from
our culture. Being filled with God’s Word greatly helps in this task, as
mentioned above! But we also have to start thinking about how we are influenced
by the world around us. When it comes to media, how is it impacting me? It is
naïve to think that we can watch or listen to anything and not have it impact
us in some way! The question is not, does this TV show influence me or not?
Rather the question is, how is this TV show influencing me?
So here is the challenge: Take some time think about what the major
sources of media intake are in your life. For some it may be music. For others,
movies. For others, TV shows, especially since so many shows are now available
online and entire seasons can be watched over a span of a day or two! What are
your major media sources? Then for each of those major media sources, ask
yourself the following questions:
1)
How is
this shaping your understanding of truth and your worldview in general?
Some media sources are explicit in how they try to define truth… The Matrix is
such a movie where truth is clearly defined, and (spoiler alert!) it is NOT a
biblical definition of truth! Other media sources are more subtle in their
efforts, but a look behind the scenes and you can begin to see truth twisted,
and worldviews fundamentally altered as the distinction between good and evil,
right and wrong gets gets easily blurred. How are these views of truth and
right and wrong shaping your beliefs?
2)
How is
this shaping my values? One only needs to look at the past few years of
media to see that what was off limits and completely inappropriate is now
acceptable and mainstream. This applies to language, sex, violence, and much
more. If we allow our values to be shaped by our media intake then our values
will continue to change over time, and given the current trend, our values will
get worse over time. It is common to get defensive at this point and argue that
your values are better than your favorite TV show…that you have a higher
standard than what you watch or listen to. But if that is the case you are
still measuring your values against the changing cultural norm and not against
God’s Word which does not change. And even if your values are better than the
cultural norm, measuring up five feet from the bottom of a ten foot swimming
pool will still leave you under water. The media will have a powerful impact on
your values if you do not think critically about your media intake!
3)
How is
this shaping my identity? The bible says some very clear things about who
we are, what sin has done to us, and who we are in Jesus Christ. On one hand
there are media influences that deny our sinfulness and our need for a savior,
and get us to see ourselves as much better than we really are without Jesus. On
the other hand, there are media influences that degrade our humanity and the
beautiful truth that we are made by God, which skews our identity in a very
negative light. What does your favorite media source say about your identity
and how is it shaping your identity?
4)
How is
this shaping my self-image? Every human being is made in the Image of God,
the Imago Dei, and as such every
human life is beautiful and precious to God, and should be beautiful and precious
to us. We shouldn’t downplay our sin, but we also shouldn’t deny that God made
us and we are a beautiful creation. Unfortunately Hollywood and other media
sources have a nasty little habit of telling us that we are never good enough
physically (and in Hollywood’s terms, is there really anything else important other
than physical appearance?) and to get us to criticize how we view ourselves,
which leads to a constant dissatisfaction with ourselves. Now should we take
care of ourselves? Sure! But we should do so because God has made us and we
should care about what God has made, not because we are trying to reach some
unattainable physical standard set by the media. How does media shape your own
self-image?
If we truly want to live in light of the Gospel, we need to
be transformed by the renewing of our minds. We need to take in God’s Word and
we need to think critically about our media intake. This will probably take
time, so we need some patience as well and we need to keep relying on the grace
of God to grow in this area! And thinking Christianly about our media intake may
lead us to make some sacrifices in terms of what we take in and what we expose
ourselves to. But it will also lead us into a deeper and more fulfilling
relationship with God, which is worth every sacrifice that we can make!
