Ten Minute Bible Talks Devotional Bible Study - Should Christians Watch Game of Thrones? | Questions You're Asking | Colossians 3.2

Episode Date: August 17, 2020

Even the Bible has extremely explicit, immoral content in it, so where do we draw the line? How do you know what is and isn't okay to watch? See how https://www.thecrossingchurch.com/staff/patrick-miller/ (Pastor Patrick Miller) decides in this episode as he continues our series on https://www.thecrossingchurch.com/podcast-series/questions-youre-asking/ (Questions You're Asking). Interested in more content like this? Check out https://www.thecrossingchurch.com/staff/keith-simon/ (Pastor Keith Simon's) discussion on https://www.thecrossingchurch.com/podcasts/should-christians-watch-the-bachelor/ (Should Christians Watch the Bachelor?) Like this content? Make sure to leave us a rating and share it with others, so others can find it too. To learn more, visit our https://www.thecrossingchurch.com/ (website) and follow us on https://www.facebook.com/TenMinuteBibleTalks (Facebook), https://www.instagram.com/thecrossingcomo/ (Instagram), and https://twitter.com/thecrossingcomo (Twitter) @TheCrossingCOMO and @TenMinuteBibleTalks.  Your support makes TMBT possible. Ten Minute Bible Talks is a crowd-funded project. Join the TMBTeam to reach more people with the Bible. Give now.

Welcome to 10 Minute Bible Talks, where we connect the Bible to your life and the time it takes to get to work. I'm Keith Simon. And I'm Patrick Miller. Right now, we are answering questions you're asking. A lot of these are coming from our Facebook page. So, follow 10-minute Bible Talks on Facebook, vote on your favorite questions, or you can just give your own, and you might hear it right here on the podcast. Should Christians watch Game of Thrones? This is a conversation you might be surprised to hear.

I have had a lot of times with a lot of different people. I'm not sure I've ever convinced anyone to change their position on this particular issue, but it's a nice stand-in for a question that a lot of people ask. What kind of content should Christians watch or not watch, listen to, or not listen to? It's not just Game of Thrones. It's all kinds of television shows, movies, books, and music. You can fill in the blank, but we're going to look at Game of Thrones because that's a easy and specific example to hop into. So let me start here. Some Christians out there will say something like this. I haven't actually heard many people say this, but this seems to be the point. Christians should only consume media that doesn't have immorality. Now, on the surface, that sounds like a great idea,

except for one thing, that doesn't exist. There's no TV show. There's no content out there that probably doesn't have some form of immorality. And if you really believe that, then I'm sorry, you should stop reading your Bible. I don't think it's possible to read the story of of Judah and Tamar without blushing just a little bit. I mean, maybe unless you watch too much Game of Thrones, in which case it's pretty G-rated. But that's neither here nor there. Here's the second thing I hear Christians say.

They say, well, okay, we should only consume media that teaches explicit lessons about immorality. So yes, shows or movies or books will have bad things happen, but they need to draw a moral lesson from it. Well, again, if you really believe that you shouldn't read the Bible, because the Bible is full of stories that are, to say the least, morally ambiguous. When Abraham gives his wife Sarah away to Pharaoh, the Bible never spells out whether that was right or wrong. You might think one way or the other, but it's not a clear moral lesson in that instance. Okay, so maybe someone replies at that point. Well, look, I realize the Bible has this kind of stuff in it, but it's the Bible after all. So we should just be careful about this kind of content in non-biblical material. But again, there's a problem because it's clear that the authors of the Bible read all kinds of scrolls, and documents that were outside of the Bible, which for sure had some explicit content.

It's clear that the book of Genesis is in conversation with the Anuma Elish, which has both violent and sexually explicit scenes in it. There's stories of God defeating Leviathan, which is a clear reference to the pagan God, Lothon. And if you read those stories again, you'll realize they aren't for your kids. We've got proverbs that are taken from Egypt. I mean, they're almost verbatim Egyptian proverbs. And again, the point here is, Were all those proverbs clean and wise and good? Well, probably not. So even the authors of the Bible, certainly they weren't just reading perfect, pristine, totally moral content outside of the Bible. So what about the Game of Thrones? What should we do with that show? Well, I've got bad news for you.

There is no rating system out there. You're not going to flip over in your Bible and find the MPAA of TV shows list where it's going to say these are the shows where Christians can watch. these are the shows that Christians cannot watch. It's not in the Bible, and we always need to be careful about adding rules that aren't in the Bible. Now, just because something's not in the Bible doesn't mean that the Bible doesn't have anything to say about it. There's a whole field of things that the Bible clearly wants to weigh in on, even though it's not spelling out the answer for us. In these areas, they're kind of gray areas, we use a term called discernment. What discernment is, is when you think through, is this the thing that God does or doesn't want me

to do. To be discerning is to be a wise person. Now, here's the deal. I'm a nerdy dude, okay? I'm probably nerdier than you. And so when I found out that there's this TV show based on a great fantasy novel series as the biggest nerd out there, I'm like, oh, this sounds awesome. I have to watch it. I mean, especially if it's supposedly got great acting and a great story. Oh my gosh, I was so excited. But then I heard about the sexually explicit content in Game of Thrones. And whether or not you're aware of it, Game of Thrones has incredibly explicit content in it. In fact, it made its name as one of the first TV shows that really crossed some major boundary lines and the kinds of things that they would show. And as I learned more about that

and heard more about it, I decided personally to make the choice not to watch Game of Thrones. That was a discernment decision. And I want to walk you through how I got there. I'm not saying that I'm right and someone who watches Game of Thrones is wrong. But what I find is that many people, whether they do or don't watch the show, haven't really thought carefully about why they're not doing it. And I think these are the kinds of questions that we can ask of any media that we want to intake before we take it on. So let's start here. We need to start by asking the question, what is maturity? Because, well, I'll just tell you a story. I remember years ago I was helping a friend move and on the friend's night saying I saw a copy of the book, 50 Shades of Gray. And so I said,

well, that's interesting. Why are you reading that book? And he responds to me and says, well, I know it's kind of mature, but, you know, I'm an adult. I'm mature. I can handle this. I mean, I want to give it to my kid. Now, just think about what he said there. He's saying, the reason you don't give a book to a child is because they're not mature enough. In other words, they're not old enough to handle the kinds of content that are in that book or in that TV show. Maturity is being old enough to be able to handle radically sexually explicit content. Now, I have some serious questions about that definition of maturity. To me, a mature person is not someone who can watch anything. To me, a mature person is someone who knows what they are able to watch or not watch. It's someone who knows when I watch this

kind of thing, it makes me into this kind of person, ergo I will not watch that kind of thing. That's what real maturity is. It's knowing what's good for me and making the choice to do the good thing, the thing that helps me walk with Jesus, trust his spirit, become more like in picking the good thing rather than the not good thing. For me personally, watching a show like Game of Thrones, I want to be someone who's wise, and wisdom tells me that watching sexually, explicit content is going to put my heart and my mind in a place that is not close to Jesus. Paul calls Timothy to flee all sexual immorality. It's not just avoid it. It's not just make do with it. It's flee, run away from it. Why? Because that's wisdom. That's wisdom for Timothy. It's wisdom for you and me.

And so I had to make the choice. I'm going to flee from the sexual content inside of Game of Thrones. Now, part of the reason why I want to do that is because I realize that it will change how I think. and that leads to a second point. You need to ask yourself the question. When I watch this show, where's my mind? Because wherever your mind is, there's a good chance your heart is right there. I'll frame this differently. I like what someone said.

They said, you are what you consume. In other words, the things that we watch on TV, that we see on our phones, that we listen to in our AirPods, whatever it is, those are the things which will shape us into the kinds of people that we will become in the future. For example, maybe you're someone who struggles with anger. or arguing too much. Well, some of your favorite shows might be shows like the West Wing, where you've got people who are quippy and they're arguing and they're cutting each other back and forth. But maybe, given the fact that that's a temptation for you, that's not a good show for you

to watch because it trains you to become a sarcastic, cynical, quippy, cutting person like the people inside of that show. I mean, I'm just speaking for myself. I have found that to be the case. I'm not even talking about sexually explicit content. When there is content that is connected to my own sin struggles, it often makes them worse. Now, when it comes to sexually explicit content, where's my mind? I'm going to become what I consume. It's not merely am I going to give into temptations to lust. And by the way, Jesus said that when you lust after someone in your heart, that's real lust. So if you're lusting after that woman on the screen, I have a hard time imagining that you're not, or the man on that screen, I have a hard time imagining

that you might not be. That is for sure a sin. But let's say you say you're not doing that. You just have to accept the fact. This is going to shape my vision, my idea, of what appropriate sexuality is. Do you want Game of Thrones to shape your sex life, to shape how you think about sex? I certainly don't. I don't think that's a wise approach. In Colossians chapter 3, verse 2, it says, set your mind on things that are above, not on things that are on the earth. Where's your mind at? In Psalm 1, it says, Blessed is the one who meditates on the law of the Lord day and night. If you are in taking way more Game of Thrones than you are spiritual content, my guess is that's going to be shaping who you are. Okay, a third thought and a final thought. We need to remember

that the people acting in these shows are real people. They're not fake people. I realize that the show is make-believe, but that doesn't change the fact that they are real. Now, I realize they might not really be having sex, but they are acting as though they are. They are certainly touching. They are seeing and doing things that should really only happen between a man and his wife. And you are paying to be able to see that. I realize you might not buy the show, but if you're paying for HBO, you're paying for some streaming service, or even if you're just watching it illegally on a website that's advertising, you are putting money towards that. And so you just have to ask yourself the question, would I think it was wrong to pay money to watch someone have pretend sex in front of me?

Would I have a problem with that? Would that cause my spouse problems, my girlfriend, my boyfriend, problems? Why do we think it changes when it's on a screen? Why do we think it changes when it just involves a lot of money? We have to wrestle with the fact that these are real people. Proverbs 1412 says this. There is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end, it is the way to death. I think sometimes we take too lightly the content that we're taking in. We think it's no big deal, but in reality it might be leading our minds and hearts into a dark place. It might be paying for other people to do things that are painful and not good for them. I mean, if you ever read actors talking about having to film these sex scenes, they will tell you it can be absolutely degrading.

They're real people. It might not seem like a real big deal to you, but in the end it leads to death, not just for you, but for them. So I'm obviously making a case here for why in my own discernment I've decided not to watch sexually explicit TV shows like Game of Thrones. but I think these are questions that you can ask of any content. What's maturity? Do I know myself well enough to decide this is the content that I should or shouldn't be watching? Here's a quick hint. If there are no shows that you have said no to, I'm not just saying like, hey, say no to pornography or something like that. There are no TV shows that you want to watch it. You have said no to. If you haven't said no to anything, that's a good sign that you aren't showing much maturity.

Because if you know yourself, there's inevitably going to be one or two or three shows that you're going to say, you know what, that's fine for other people. That's really not. good for me. On the other hand, you need to ask, what's on my mind? What's shaping who I am? What's shaping my values, the kind of world I want to live in, the kind of person I want to be, how I see other people? Is this show going to misshape it, or is it going to help me see people with a biblical view? That's a question that we have to wrestle with. And lastly, we need to consider the people who are acting in these shows are real people. Now, I realize that maybe in violent shows, people aren't actually doing violence to one another, but still, we need to ask the question, is me watching this show

putting someone else into a immoral situation that's degrading them? These are hard questions. And I've obviously come to my own perspective on one particular show, but other people might come to different places. I would simply encourage you to show wisdom, to discern your way through this, and to try to apply these questions, these principles, any time that you're taking in content. Thanks for listening. If you've enjoyed, this content, please subscribe and give us a rating. That helps other people find this podcast more easily. Also, ask yourself, who could you share this podcast with? Texting an episode to a friend or a family member is a great way to help them grow spiritually. If you want to go deeper, check out our show

notes for book recommendations.