Religion 1001

OK, so this theatre class is becoming more of a religion class for me. This week I had to write a report on how Circus Maximus is like the local movie theatre. For those of you that don't remember Circus Maximus was the Roman arena where 50,000 people gathered to watch wrestling, and animal fighting, or Christians being chase by the animals until they died. Well I did the report and all, but it really got me thinking about how much Circus Maximus really is like the local movie theatre. Back in the day Christians never would have hung around there for "fun" or "fellowship". Circus Maximus meant death for true Christians, the ones that wouldn't renounce their faith to save their skin that is. I think the same can be said our local movie theatre, and the general entertainment that we find in America and the world today. It does not mean physical death, but by golly it could most certainly mean spiritual death. I mean, it is equivalent to walking directly into the enemies camp and sitting there and enjoying the exact same thing that they find entertaining. Sharing in the sin, vile, wickedness that the world likes to put on a movie screen. But we aren't content to partake of it at the theatre alone; we like to invite it into our homes to share with the world there too. Now I can't generalize and say ALL TV, and ALL movies, and ALL video games are bad, and that they ALL mean death. I do however find that almost all of them are. If there isn't sex, then there is foul language, if not that then crude humor, and if not that then rebellion, or lying, or dishonoring parents, or dishonoring GOD! I don't think that Jesus or the disciples thought that lounging around Circus Maximus was fun. And even if the movie as a whole isn't "bad", do I really want to devote my time to watching it. Do I want to spend even 30 minutes entertaining myself with the same thing that the world is? So this week God has been challenging me to not look like, partake of, or share entertainment with anything of the world, but rather to spend my time partaking of the things of the Kingdom that I am a part of.

And there are a few shows that aren't horrible, and can even be educational, or a few movies that uphold what is good, and right, and true, but I want to spend the time that God has given me wisely. So if watching those things is wise, and spurs me on to love and good works more than praying, or more than reading Gods living word, then sure, I just might go for it. This is just what God has been challenging me with this week!