Day Twenty Three

Ephesians 5:6-13

6.)  Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience.

7.)  Therefore do not become partners with them;

8.)  for at one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light

9.)  (for the fruit of light is found in all that is good and right and true),

10.) and try to discern what is pleasing to the Lord.

11.) Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them.

12.) For it is shameful even to speak of the things that they do in secret.

13.) But when anything is exposed by the light, it becomes visible

         What do we condone? What do we let slip by?

         At the most recent Oscar ceremony, the presenter made a sad little joke about one of the women in the audience who has a shaven head. The reason for the shaven head is because she has a medical condition that causes her hair to fall out. The joke was tasteless and out of place. That kind of thing is why I don’t go to movies and support that kind of garbage. The woman’s husband stomped up on stage and slapped the presenter. (It was all over the news the next morning which was the only reason I knew about it. In fact, it was the only reason I knew about the Oscars.) All of this made for interesting television, I suppose. I know that the Oscars have had declining ratings for years, and I wonder if the slap was staged to drum up interest for next year.

         But the thing that got me was that the Academy of Silly People, that over sees the movies, came out and said that such actions of violence are not acceptable under any circumstances. The next day, the actor who did the slapping also said it was unacceptable under any circumstances. Immediately, my mind said ‘unacceptable under any circumstances except when we can stage horrific violence and make lots of money on it.’ Movies and TV are horrible these days. Violence and sexual content littler the scenes. Vulgarity in language assault the ears. If you make a public outcry you are trying to censor the artist’s work. You are accused of being a NAZI (accused by people who don’t even know what NAZIism is) or something worse. So, many people, many of them Christians, line up to buy the tickets to monuments to debauchery.

         And we sit by.

         We could, of course, picket theaters. We could buy radio spots. We could run ads in the paper. But all that is just free advertisement for the movie. So how do we bring pressure?

         First, you don’t go to objectionable movies. Not that your $20 will make a big difference, but it is a start. And if you really want to do something that will cripple these people, PRAY! So much of what we do is empty without prayer. Quite a few years ago I was asked if our church would help support busloads of people going to Washington DC to march on Washington to draw attention to efforts to abolish abortion. Three day trip. One day to get there, one day to protest and pose for the cameras and one back. They were going to show the nation how Ohioans felt. I didn’t even hesitate. I just said ‘no.’ The lady looked like I had slapped her. She called me a baby killer. I told her that we would open the church for three days for their anti-abortion soldiers to come in and pray. For three days we would feed them, house them and pray with them. But no, that wasn’t a public protest. The following Sunday there were a half dozen Right to Lifers protesting in front of our church with signs that said we supported abortion. But I ask you, what would have been more effective? A march on DC that the news media would ridicule or three days of intense prayer?

         In the above passage, Paul says this, 11.) Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them.

12.) For it is shameful even to speak of the things that they do in secret.

         When it comes up in conversation, explain why you do not support the evil in the world. Don’t go into detail, just make your statement. And, most important, pray about the thing the Lord has laid on your heart.

         Today’s prayer is to cause Christians to see the evil and then take prayerful steps to combat it.