I've always thought that I kept respectable, "good" company. I feel like I've always known and believed that "He who walks with the wise grows wise, but a companion of fools suffers harm" (Proverbs 13:20).My closest friends encourage me, don't talk trash, and are uplifting. And I need that. As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another, and this is soooo important for Christians especially, that they are built up in fellowhship with one another.
Introductions aside, I realize I may be guilty of entertaining corrupt company afterall. These people are not my friends, do not know my name, nor do they know I exist. But through the media (music, movies, etc...) they constantly influence me, be it ever so subtly (sp?). I find that the more I listen to mainstream music and allow myself to listen to "trash" (you know the trash I'm talking about), it infiltrates my mind. My thoughts can become not so godly, my speech not so uplifting, and my actions not so selfless just by listening to the "hit" music continuously. With movies, too, it is easy to become disillusioned by false views of relationships, love, and identity. Yes, it may be the norm that people get drunk, keep no check on their tongue, and have a new "lover" every weekend, but this is NOT Christ-like nor even healthy behavior. By keeping company with today's media, women sadly come to believe that their body and image is their ticket to love and success. How to keep a man seems to be the number one topic on all the tabloids... (it's rather sickening). For guys, listening to the current music and watching movies, they may begin to devalue women, seeing them only as objects and not complex, and often complicatingly beautiful individuals. Power does not come in the form of money (sorry to disappoint you rappers), possessions, nor physical prescence. All of these notions are LIES. Lies.
I tend to generally think that the music I listen to doesn't matter, rationalizing that I listen to it for the beat, the way it sounds, etc. Yes, this is true. But lately I've noticed how much TRASH is in these songs. So, in a way, this is a confession and admonition to myself to be more picky about what music I listen to. But it's also a challenge to you to be selective in your media choices. When you watch/listen to something day in and day out, it has become the company you keep, and that is just as destructive as hanging out with a literal bunch of fools.
Hm, but I find that as a Christian I should listen to this type of thing, and simply not let it effect me negatively. I have actually found that if I listen to it, I can actually like it, and yet it barely influences anything I say or do. Who better to hang out with a fool, than a fool that follows christ? How can we claim to have a monopoly on what is "right" in the "christian economy"? I walk into Christian bookstores and sometimes I think, why? Why make a different culture when we should be changing the one we are in? Many movies also portray a beautiful side of love, should we devalue the movie simply because they have sex before marriage? I say no. Instead let us chastise ourselves as Christians and embrace everyone else. Larkin I do agree though some things can get to you, I just wanted to raise questions. Keep doing what you think is right!You are a beautiful person through Christ anyone will agree. I like you blog.
ReplyDeleteI like your reasoning here, it is true, what you listen to affects your mind, at the same time, there can be "good" music that is not Christian, but much of pop music today is "trash" as you call it, movies as well I would agree. It is important for us to be able to live in this world but not take part in it's evil. This is something I remind myself of often, I think thug luxury is disgusting anyway, so I don't tend to have a problem with rap or any of that, but in other forms I do. Even with the people around us, it seems to be a delicate balance, since Christ himself went directly to the wicked and tried to befriend them, but yet we can see that he kept his disciples as his closest friends, so he had the balance of strong fellowship while not completely cutting himself off from an unbelieving world that needed to meet him. We must be ambassadors I suppose, bringing our Christ to the world while not taking in the world ourselves. Good article.
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