Hey, What'cha Think?
I've got a question. Maybe we can get an answer together as we all discuss it. That is, for those left in the AF blogspace -- those few being the only who read our blogs. BTW, welcome back from the dead, Stacy. Your brother's still in the morgue, however. WE NEED MORE BLOGGERS!
Anyway, to my topic:
Lemme start with an illustration. And I'm choosing this example because it's clear, not because I' m picking something specific. Back in the thirties and forties, no AFer worth his/her salt would have been caught dead in a movie theater. The shows back then were considered immoral and unholy. Today, we look at those old movies and think "aw, that's cute..." We watch the movie "oldies" they so carefully avoided and think they're just fine. Further, we go to the theaters and/or watch DVD's with language and innuendo that would have sent an old-time AFer to their knees in repentance, and I'm talking about 'good' PG's and PG-13's, not the XXX stuff that passes for R these days.
My point's not to pick on movies or anything else specifically, but to ask a question. Do we determine the holiness of something on a sliding scale? As the world gets worse, do the things that we used to avoid look more and more OK? Is it alright to allow one "F-word" per movie because "there's just nothing good to watch any more and this isn't that bad except for a little bit here and there?"
I think there's a danger here. I hear a lot of young people these days talk about how hard it is to hold the line spiritually, how hard it is to stay saved, and I wonder. Brother Gilbert Olson used to (probably still does) testify about how it wasn't "hard to stay saved," it was the "only way." Does the fact that we compromise on the edge, that we allow our holiness to be the holiness that is just "not like the world" instead of "like Jesus" -- does that predispose us to failure? If so, then we need to get back to the old-time holiness that can keep a man or a woman on the gospel way.
Just something I've been thinking on myself. I've been studying holiness lately and it'll really make you think about your walk with the Lord. (BTW, thanks to M. Worthington and J. Baros for the book tips!) Lemme know whatcha think.
Anyway, to my topic:
Lemme start with an illustration. And I'm choosing this example because it's clear, not because I' m picking something specific. Back in the thirties and forties, no AFer worth his/her salt would have been caught dead in a movie theater. The shows back then were considered immoral and unholy. Today, we look at those old movies and think "aw, that's cute..." We watch the movie "oldies" they so carefully avoided and think they're just fine. Further, we go to the theaters and/or watch DVD's with language and innuendo that would have sent an old-time AFer to their knees in repentance, and I'm talking about 'good' PG's and PG-13's, not the XXX stuff that passes for R these days.
My point's not to pick on movies or anything else specifically, but to ask a question. Do we determine the holiness of something on a sliding scale? As the world gets worse, do the things that we used to avoid look more and more OK? Is it alright to allow one "F-word" per movie because "there's just nothing good to watch any more and this isn't that bad except for a little bit here and there?"
I think there's a danger here. I hear a lot of young people these days talk about how hard it is to hold the line spiritually, how hard it is to stay saved, and I wonder. Brother Gilbert Olson used to (probably still does) testify about how it wasn't "hard to stay saved," it was the "only way." Does the fact that we compromise on the edge, that we allow our holiness to be the holiness that is just "not like the world" instead of "like Jesus" -- does that predispose us to failure? If so, then we need to get back to the old-time holiness that can keep a man or a woman on the gospel way.
Just something I've been thinking on myself. I've been studying holiness lately and it'll really make you think about your walk with the Lord. (BTW, thanks to M. Worthington and J. Baros for the book tips!) Lemme know whatcha think.
posted by Rational Icthus at 1:39 PM
3 Comments:
And, yes, I know Zach has been posting, but a repeat's a repeat.
If your gonna rehash something, could you bother to edit it a bit to make it more current? No time to think now, but I will be back.
Okay...
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