“Dude, do you see that?”
“What?” I stopped and looked in the direction my buddy was pointing.
“That! Right there.” He pointed to a black, muddy pit.
I walked around it and stared. “What am I looking for?” I asked. I saw absolutely nothing. It was a giant hole filled with a disgusting substance that smelled like tar. “Is this tar? Why is it here?” I looked around the street for a construction sign or some trucks or men in orange vests, but I saw nothing. It was just me and my friend.
“Nah, did you see what fell in? I saw it! I think it was a huge diamond!”
“So you saw a huge diamond falling from the sky into this sludge?” I scoffed.
He rolled his eyes at me. “Does it matter where it came from?”
“Don’t you want to know?”
“No.”
“Are you sure you saw it?”
“Yes.”
I sighed and put my hands deep inside my pockets. “Well, whatever. It’s at the bottom now. You can’t get it.”
“Lemme just…” he grabbed a stick and poked at the stuff. “I can’t feel the bottom.”
“Let’s go,” I prompted.
“Dude, there’s a diamond in there! I know it!” He tossed the slimy stick aside and took off his shoes.
“What are you doing?”
“I’m gonna get it.”
I grabbed his arm and pulled him away. “What are you talking about? You can’t jump in there, you don’t know how deep it is or what it is for that matter!”
“It doesn’t matter what it is! There’s a diamond at the bottom.”
I looked around for someone to help me—to reason with him, talk him out of jumping into what could be a bottomless pit for a silly rock. To my surprise, a 50 dollar bill was lying on the ground. “Hey, hey check this out! Fifty bucks! Here, take it!” I thrust it at him.
“Nah, that diamond is worth more.”
“But you don’t have to get all dirty if you take this!”
“It’s not going to affect me! I’ll just wash it off!”
“It’ll get everywhere! Your eyes, your ears, nose, mouth! How will you breathe in there??” I was starting to freak. He was really going to do it. He kept getting closer and closer to the pit. “Look, this fifty-dollar bill is free for the taking. It’s not covered under layers of slime. Why would you rather wade through that than take this?” I waved it in front of his face. He didn’t even look at it.
“I’ll hold my breath. Calm down!”
“I don’t think it’s worth it!” I yelled.
“Hey!” he snapped at me. “Just because you aren’t willing to get your hands dirty doesn’t mean you have the right to pass off your legalistic beliefs on me. This stuff won’t affect me. I’ll be fine. You like diamonds, don’t you?”
“Yes but—”
“We’re supposed to want diamonds, aren’t we?”
“I know but—”
“Then why is this an issue?”
“Because you shouldn’t be willing to do anything just to get it! You’re risking everything, exposing yourself to whatever garbage that is, and for what? For the possibility of a reward at the end. You don’t even know for sure it’s there.”
He pushed me away. “Whatever, man. I want that diamond. This junk,” he reached down and scooped up some tar in his hand, “will wash off. I’ll be fine. Just wait here and I’ll get it and you’ll see.” He jumped in.
I waited. I waited for a long time. He never came back.
He's a bit of an idiot, isn't he? The guy who jumps in the pit? Obviously. But, why do we not see ourselves as idiots when we do the same thing?
This story came to my mind as I was daydreaming in class. Yes, I do that sometimes. We all do. But it stemmed from what I had been thinking about all day. Is it okay as Christians to subject ourselves to sin in hopes of obtaining the tiny speck of truth that might lie within?
Let's start with an example from my life. I have made the decision not to watch the popular TV series GLEE. Why? Because it is filled with earthly morals, inappropriate humor, secular truths, and whatever else you can imagine. Now many things are filled with these things but this show presents them in either an "un-serious"/normal way or a very offensive way. (All you GLEE fans can get all offended now, but do me the honor of continuing to read.) A particular strand of "humor" that I cannot tolerate is homosexual "humor", and the show is dripping with it. So, thus my decision. Now every once and a while I reconsider that decision because I hear an amazing song from one of the episodes and I love well-done music. Then the familiar thought occurs to me: What am I willing to put up with, to let into my life, to loosen my convictions for, just to hear some good tunes?
Hmmm....
Every time, I decide not to give in and watch it.
And then recently, I'd been thinking a lot about why this is the only thing in my life I have applied this to. This came from a Friday night hanging out with friends and we were doing the usual, "What movie should we watch?" Someone said, "FIGHT CLUB!" My response immediately was, "No way. It's inappropriate for mixed audiences." Later that night when people were gone, I started wondering why I had decided that FIGHT CLUB was inappropriate for mixed audiences but okay for "un-mixed" audiences... guess what? It's Not.
Why do I like it? Why is it on my shelf? I tried to think. SEX VIOLENCE IMMORALITY SWEARING BLOOD SEX UNPRECEDENTED VIOLENCE VULGARITY SEX........ why do I watch this? Why do I drown myself in this slime and garbage, why do I get it in my ears and my eyes and caught in my throat? For what? Where is the truth? What is the diamond? Is there one?
Here's the diamond: the mind game.
Wow. I put up with all that crud because the story has an interesting twist?? Here's another question. Are there not movies with twists and mind games that are not covered in five feet of tar? yes. So why do we go for the unobtainable when something similar is just within reach? Why do we hold our breath and plunge head first into sin when we don't have to?
I'm not saying, "AVOID ALL THINGS WITH BAD STUFF IN IT BECAUSE IT'S SIN AND IT'S BAD!" But what I am saying is that we need to think about the movies and the music and the TV shows we like and why.
We should not shelter ourselves from the world. We need to know what's going on, what people enjoy and what shapes their worldview. But we need to realize where we are compromising OUR worldview for a mere nugget of truth.
And just to show you I'm not all about rant and no action, here's a list of some of the things I will prayerfully be considering removing from my entertainment shelves/desires--
"Fight Club", Eminem, Hip-Hop/Rap music, "Bridget Jones' Diary", "American Beauty", "8 Mile", "Boondock Saints", "The Departed", TrueBlood.
Hey, some of these things I'm not proud of. But i was truthful with you. Be truthful with yourself and with God. He's the one who really cares. He's the one who can really tell if it "affects" you or not.
Just try making a list. See what happens.
