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| Photo Credit: "love is all" |
You are in Ancient Rome. You can hear the cheering of the crowds in the Coliseum, you know that there must be something going on. It could be a fight between Gladiators, or it could be Christians being fed to the lions. People are cheering, not unlike the cheering at the Super Bowl, and are thrilled with the excitement that this "sport" brings. They watch people being slaughtered and within the first month of operation of this new arena the sand is stained red, thick and wet with blood. This is the price of entertainment.
The time after Christ's resurrection was dark. People who claimed to be Christians were killed daily, hourly. Many were killed for "sport". Thrown in the Coliseum, while people cheered for their deaths. Children would watch their parents die before them, or a parent would watch their child be devoured before them. They were beaten, tortured, eaten, and killed. They were even doused with oil and lit to be human torches for dinner parties.
Why should I go into these gruesome facts? This is our heritage, as Christians.
People who were Evil and Corrupt needed better and better entertainment. They were not satisfied until they could see death all around them. It was fun, since it was not them. Watching people battle to the death was normal. It was also Evil, and they delighted in it. Corrupt people enjoy watching people fight and die, they enjoyed rape and prostitution, they enjoy drunkenness and lust. If you take every Sin against God, they enjoyed it. In Sodom and Gomorrah men surrounded the house of Lot, they demanded that the men (Messengers of The Lord) be brought out to them to satisfy their carnal lust. In the entire town the only righteous people we know of is the family of Lot. The others were Evil.
When it comes down to what "Love" is, it is a choice and not an emotion. God is Love, and true love is aspects of God. Lot showed love by not protecting himself and sending out the men to be raped, he denied them and offered anything he could in return, in the end the Messengers pulled Lot into his home, and shut the door, preventing any harm to come to His family. (Genesis 19:1-29)
This may seem like a stretch but I want to make a point with this. Lot and his family lived in that town with all of the Evil people. At any time they could have joined in and also delighted in the things they did, but they did not because they were righteous.
To love is to follow God's commandments. (2 John 1:6)
Things that are not of God are to repulse us, that is our Spirit. Our Flesh desires these things and will try to win and swat us, which if why Paul wrote, "I die daily". (1 Corinthians 15:31)
We are to reflect Christ, who never delighted in what was evil.
To be "Just"is to "behave according to what is morally right or fair" (Google Dictionary Definition)
Christians and Jews find what is "right" or "moral" from the Bible, from the Word of God. Our standards are to be His standards. So lying, deceit, lust, murder, hate, adultery, fornication, false worship, etc. are things that are Evil and that we should not enjoy. Things to rejoice in would be like, salvation, love, truth, justice, peace, joy, purity, charity, and kindness. Things that the Lord loves to see, we should also love to see.
To love is to never rejoice in the mistreatment of others. We should not laugh when people are bullied or hurt by others, or by ourselves. If it is in "real life" or on a show, we should never take pleasure in the hurt of others. Having a strong sense of justice is essential if you with the be Christ-like. This is one small part of this aspect of love, to hate mistreatment of others.
Here is the other part, that may sting a bit more to say.
"Loving" violent video games and movies... We should NEVER enjoy films like "Saw" or "Final Destination"! EVER! Because watching the torture of people, "fake" or "real", makes us no better than the people watching children being eaten by lions and cheering! Death is not a fun thing, murder is not funny, and torture is not something to be laughed at while you munch on popcorn. You may not be "physically" doing these things, but killing people for fun is not a good thing to do!
I leave it up to your own conviction of what is the "limit" for Video Games and Movies. I pray we all listen to our conscience in this matter.
Another thing that is Evil that many Christians "struggle" with is Pornography. The addiction and love of this entertainment is an Evil and False thing that we should despise and stay away from. Most people are exposed at a young age from curiosity, and many Christian artists have said that Porn was something they had to overcome. Is was a thing that they substituted for real, pure love... It is false, it is a lie, and it is evil. But it is also something you can overcome! There are many sources and churches today to help Christians overcome this because it is a growing problem every day, and I am in full support of them. The first step is swallowing pride and getting help, just as an addiction to drugs or alcohol.
Cutting off the ties of Evil and Corrupted things is a difficult and painful process and can only be done with the help and Grace of God, and by Dying to our flesh daily. To be able to be a true representation of Love we need to cut off evil in our lives, and never approve of it when it is around us. Once you are no longer numb to it, you spot it more easily and stay far away from it.
To Love is to rejoice in the things the Lord does, and to hate the things He does. Having high standards draws others with high standards towards you, and even people with low standards. They want to know what makes you different and why you do not like the things that "The World" does. You are showing love to them by not tolerating wrong behavior towards them and others, and towards yourself. And you are showing love by not allowing those things to be around you nor in your life.
I hope this made sense, and helped you realize a few things in your life. It did for me.
Refining the Faith,
-C.A.M.
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