“Let Me Entertain You” is an old song and goes back as far as vaudeville days, when live theaters were in every city across the United States
When radio and talking pictures came into existence in 1927, vaudeville began to wind down and in the 1930’s its popularity ended. Then ‘Technicolor’ came to the silver screen and a few years later television began to invade homes across the nation. Entertainment was in full bloom. Today, television is in almost every country in the world and rakes in billions of dollars a year. This money comes from showing violence, crime, sex, perversion and the occult. What effect does all this have on the Christian?
Sadly, many Christians continue to watch things on television and the big screen that are spiritually damaging to themselves and others. How much leisure time is wasted in front of the “idiot box”? How many times do we decide to watch television instead of reading God’s Word?
Television and movies can be great tools for evangelism, but most of the time they are used by Satan to drag people more deeply into the world. We can become ‘TV Junkies’ hooked on soap operas, pornography, nudity, and course language. Some people are fascinated by violence and after a long period of time become insensitive, even to real life violence.
What others see us watching has a great effect on our witness. Can you imagine sharing Jesus with someone and then inviting them into your home to spend the evening watching an R-rated movie? Many Christians do this, but don’t realize the impact this may have on a new Christian. “Therefore let us stop passing judgment on one another. Instead, make up your mind not to put any stumbling block or obstacle in your brother's way.” (Rom. 14:13)
Today, we think we don’t have to deal with , “eating things offered to idols,” as Paul wrote about in 1 Cor. 8:7-12. However, isn’t this the same as sitting in front of the idol (television), and partaking of forbidden things? These forbidden foods consist of sinful cravings, lust and evil desires. The Bible is very outspoken when Paul writes, “Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For everything in the world--the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does--comes not from the Father but from the world. The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever.” (I John 2:15)
How do we know when we have stepped over the line and have entered into sin while being entertained? “You are happy if you have no qualms about what you allow yourself to eat. Yet if a man eats meat with an uneasy conscience, you may be sure he is wrong to do so.” (Rom. 14:23) [The New Testament in Modern English, J.B. Phillips]. The Holy Spirit will check us and use our conscience to let us know what is right or wrong. If you have doubts about what you are watching, don’t do it, or you will be sinning.
There are other types of entertainment and one that is adding much to the moral decay of Christianity is gambling. Our government promotes it, some churches use it, and various organizations depend on it for money making projects. What began as a child’s game and now takes in billions of dollars a week all over our country is Bingo. Now that casinos are popping up, you can bet (pun) more money will be poured into them in one year, than our national debt. Dice, cards and slot machines are not the only things that bring in big money. Gallons of booze are consumed nightly by the patrons who are there to be entertained.
I personally know of families who have lost everything because of their addiction to gambling. Christians are being sucked into this type of entertainment. Does playing an occasional game of Bingo make you a sinner? No, but it opens you up to an addiction that could end up costing you everything you have. “People who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge men into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many grief’s. But you, man of God, flee from all this, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness.” (I Tim. 6: 9-11)
Gambling appears to be a quick way of getting rich, but those who win never seem to be able to hold on to it. It was no different in Old Testament times. Proverbs has much to say about getting rich quick: “Wealth from gambling quickly disappears; wealth from hard work grows.” (Prov. 13:11 TLB) It also gives advice as to what we should do with our money: “The good man’s earnings advance the cause of righteousness. The evil man squanders his on sin.” (Prov. 10:16 TLB)
Isaiah asks a challenging question: “Why spend money on what is not bread, and your labor on what does not satisfy....? (Isa. 55:2 TLB) Perhaps we can ask ourselves the same question today. Do we always need to be entertained, by wasting our money on things that don’t last? Some years ago we took our grandchildren to see the latest version of Walt Disney’s “101 Dalmatians”. Having not been in a theater for many years, I was greatly surprised at the cost; not only the tickets, but of the popcorn and drinks. I don’t even know the cost today, but it must be much more. Once you walk out of the theater, its all over. Yet on the good side of it all is perhaps this is the only time you have ‘family time’.
There is another type of entertainment we cannot leave out. It’s called, “Christian Entertainment”. The Christian entertainment industry is to Christians, what Lady Gaga is to the lost. The only difference is they don’t call it entertainment; they call it “Ministry”. Believers fork out millions of dollars a year to be entertained by Christian artists, like Amy Grant, Carmen or Sandy Patty. Most of these artists won’t even come to a church for under $5,000 to $10,000. TV preachers go to the same hairdressers and exclusive clothing shops as movie and soap opera stars. They have all the trappings of the ‘rich and famous’. After all, who will watch them if they just stand up and preach the Word of God. In order to draw a following, they have to be skilled in dramatics, be able to sing, laugh, or cry at a moment’s notice, or do all three at once.
We now have Praise seminars to teach believers how to praise God. We have praisers, dancers and banner bearers, angels flying from wires, musical extravaganzas, big screen teachings, Christian television, and the list goes on. “Let Me Entertain You” in the name of Jesus, is to the tune of billions of dollars being poured into ministries. You can buy accompaniment tapes, records, CD’s, sheet music, recording artist tapes, videos, etc., so we can be entertained from morning to night. With all this entertainment, when do we find time to spend with God?
We all want to go to a church that is known for great entertainment. This is where the praise team is jumpin’ and jivin’, the soloist is sure to bring out the Kleenex and the pastor is a stand up comedian and Shakespearean actor all at the same time. The ushers march in like little soldiers, the dancers all look and move like angels, and the orchestra is a combination of rock, pop, country and Mozart. By the time we get past this, we know we’ve been entertained, but the question is, “have we been ministered to?” What happened to “the good old days” when people wept at the altar for repentance and salvation? When did it change that, “the priests, who minister before the LORD, weep between the temple porch and the altar. Let them say, 'Spare your people, O LORD. Do not make your inheritance an object of scorn, a byword among the nations. Why should they say among the peoples, 'Where is their God?'' (Joel 2:17)
God help us; we’ve changed, but You haven’t. “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.” (Heb. 13:8) We can read in the Bible what God says about himself, “I the LORD do not change.” (Mal. 3:6) He still wants us to spend time with him; quiet time. How often do we hear people say, “Where is God; I don’t hear from him.” God has made us a promise that he will answer when we call, “Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know.” (Jer. 33:3) The reason is, we are so busy being entertained we aren’t listening. The prophet Jeremiah warned us (48) times in his book, to ‘LISTEN’!
Try to grasp a picture of the average home in the late afternoon. Mom and Dad arrive home from work and the children from school. The radio is playing in one room, the teenager has a CD going full blast in his room, and Dad is listening to the calls on the answering machine. Mom turns on the computer to look for E-mail while turning on the television to watch the latest session of her favorite ‘soap’ she recorded earlier. Dad moves on to the family room, turning on the big screen to catch the day’s news. Meanwhile, Mom moves on to the kitchen to put dinner in the microwave, set timers, running the can opener and food processor at the same time. Little Johnny is playing Nintendo with the sound turned to ‘deafening’ and Mary is learning to play Jingle Bells on her own keyboard. The washer and dryer are already churning and chugging away in the laundry room and all the phones keep ringing and ringing.
It isn’t that God doesn’t answer our prayers, his answers fall on deaf ears. All day long we’re bombarded with sounds of entertainment and pleasure. “To whom can I speak and give warning? Who will listen to me? Their ears are closed so they cannot hear. The word of the LORD is offensive to them; they find no pleasure in it.” (Jer. 6:10) As long as we know God hasn’t changed, it must mean that we are the ones who need to change. We must set aside time in our busy lives for Him. Even Jesus had to set himself apart, “And when he had sent them away, he departed into a mountain to pray.” (Mark 6:46)
“Let’s Take Time to Wait upon the Lord, Lets Take Time to Listen to His Word”, should be the song of our heart, not, “Let Me Entertain You”. When the frills and chills of entertainment are stripped away, we find but one thing remains; “You shall love the Lord thy God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself.” (Luke 10:27)
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