The older I get and the more I have seen and experienced, the more I appreciate the wisdom of these words:
...I want to invite all Christians to join me in this pursuit of greater purity of heart and mind. In our day, when entertainment media is virtually the lingua franca [common language] of the world, this is an invitation to be an alien. And I believe with all my heart that what the world needs is radically bold, sacrificially loving, God-besotted, “freaks” and aliens. In other words, I am inviting you to say no to the world for the sake of the world. The world does not need more cool, hip, culturally savvy, irrelevant copies of itself. That is a hoax that has duped thousands of young Christians. They think they have to be hip, cool, savvy, culturally aware, watching everything in order not to be freakish. And that is undoing them morally and undoing their witness.
(John Piper, “12 Questions to Ask Before You Watch ‘Game of Thrones'” at www.desiringGod.org)
How can we as parents and teachers prepare our young people for the very difficult task of being "God-besotted, 'freaks' and aliens"? One way is to very intentionally develop in them a biblical worldview of all of life—including a biblical view of the ever-pervasive and influential entertainment media. This does not mean that we simply ban them from every form of entertainment media. But it does entail equipping our children to be discerning. Toward that end, here is a free lesson regarding television and movies from our curriculum, Your Word is Truth: A Study for Youth on Seeing All of Life Through the Truth of Scripture. This lesson provides many opportunities for interaction with the students, and is designed to both challenge and encourage them toward greater maturity, holiness, and lasting joy. Here are some other very helpful resources for parents:- It's Never 'Just a Movie' (or 'Book' or...)
- God's Word on Discernment and Nurturing Our Spirits
- Talking to Kids About Media Discernment
- Media Discernment 101
(Image courtesy of Graur Razvan Ionut/FreeDigitalPhotos.net.)
