Where's the Standard...Or Do We Have One?

You can call me old fashioned. You can say that I am "behind the times." You can say that I am way too conservative. You can call me a stick in the mud. Whatever you want to label me is okay, but I am a little concerned. I am talking to the Christians out there. As you read this article please do not think that I am condemning you; because I am not. I am asking you to stop and think about what I am writing, and to re-evaluate your standards as a Christian. I have a thousand faults to your any one-I can promise you that. I have lived long enough to know that when God warns us in His word: So people, who think they are standing firmly should be careful that they don't fall (I Corinthians 10:12), it will come to pass in your life if you think you have it all together and that you will never mess up. The thing I want to know is: What is the standard for Christians? The correct answer of course, is The Word of God. But what are YOUR standards? If we as Christians abide by the standards set forth in the Word of God, then why do so many Christians look just like the world? What makes us different from lost souls? Certainly it is not just the fact that we attend church every Sunday, although if you are a Christian you should not forsake the House of God. Where's our standard of holy living, you know the one mentioned in Romans 12:1 & 2? Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God-this is your spiritual act of worship. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is-His good, pleasing and perfect will. Please remember the clause in the just mentioned verse: Do Not Conform Any Longer To The PATTERN OF THIS WORLD. (caps and emphasis mine). What has me concerned is a TV show called Pretty Little Liars (PLL). First let me say that I have never watched the show. I did not even know that the show existed until I got an email from the American Family Association warning me to boycott the show. My concern level was raised because I am hearing of so many young girls watching the show. However, my concern level hit the roof when I heard that so many young Christians girls were watching the show. So where is the standard for what Christians should watch? If you are a young Christian girl watching this show, or if you are the parent or grandparent of a young Christian girl watching this show, please consider these questions? Would you sit in front of the TV with Jesus and watch this show? Guess what? If you are a true born-again believer, He lives inside of you and He is watching this with you. What is it in this show that can help you grow into a godlier woman? What is it in this show that can help you renew your mind, like it says in Romans 12:2? What is it in this show that will help strengthen your walk with God or draw you closer to Him? Parents and grandparents, if this is what we are teaching and or allowing our daughters and granddaughters to look up to, what kind of generation will they become? What kind of wife and mother will they become? Personally, I think it is a tool of Satan to desensitize us to what is being accepted in society. Even if you disagree with what is in this show, but you choose to watch the show, or any show with such content, eventually your mind will become more accepting of this type stuff. The more stuff that you see like this the more you will begin to think that it is okay. Please remember: Television is NOT your standard to live by. The Word of God is your standard. Here is what I received from the American Family Association. You be the judge. I am not trying to be legalistic. I am just a little concerned.

Dear Bette:

Imagine a junior version of "Desperate Housewives" and you have ABC Family channel's newest program "Pretty Little Liars." This new show is geared toward teens and airs on Tuesday nights at 8:00/7:00 central. The past several episodes have been rated 14-DL or PG-L.

Content from the first three episodes includes:
1) A 17-year old girl is at a bar, drinking alcohol. She meets a man, as s*x with him and lies about her age. The same girls' father had an affair. She caught her Dad and the other woman and he has asked her to lie to her mother about it.
2) On the first day of school, the man this girl has s*x with turns out to be her teacher and the two continue to have a relationship anyway.
3) A friend shoplifts, gets caught and her mother has s*x with the detective in order for the charges to be dropped. The mother also tells the daughter to lie and say it was a misunderstanding. Later her boyfriend turns her down when she wants to sleep with him because she seems desperate by throwing herself at him. She steals his car and wrecks it to get even. She is also bulimic.
4) A different girl thinks she is gay, has a female friend over for a sleep over and they share a bed. They cuddle. Later they kiss in a photo booth at a party.
5) Another teenage girl is kissed by her older sister's boyfriend when he enters her room and tries to seduce her. We discover later that she has kissed another older man.
6) During a flashback this group of friends lit a bottle rocket and threw it into another less popular girl's garage. Unfortunately, it sets the whole house on fire and there is an explosion. We know that someone was inside and she was blinded.
7) Two girls smoke m*irjuana.
8) Foul language written in letters and with lipstick on mirrors from a mystery person who is taunting them over a friend who was murdered. They are all hiding what really happened to her.

This series will deal with homosexuality, adultery, eating disorders, family dysfunction, deceit and underage drinking. In this new program everyone is lying about something.

Pleasing to God or does it grieve His heart?