We wrote about the hypocrisy in Hollywood; what about hypocrisy in us as believers in the Lord Jesus Christ? Are we part of the masses who encourage filmmakers in their portrayal of violence, sex, and various distorted worldviews?

I can hear the groans: “Here comes the legalism,” “Christians shouldn’t be prudish or Victorian,” or “We need to stay up on current culture so that we don’t sound weird to the world.” Or here is another: “Movies reflect the real world, and we need to be informed believers. We should be mature enough to watch things as long as we are strong enough not to imitate what we see there.”

There is some truth to these sentiments, especially when we consider it wasn’t that long ago when going to movie theaters was taboo for Bible believing, committed followers of Jesus Christ—at least in North America. Now, the theater is a moot issue, with any and every kind of flick available, and few social boundaries to encourage conservative values in this area.

Things seem reversed now, where the peer pressure is focused more on “not judging” others. The popular notion seems to be that everyone has freedom to carve out their own morality—kind of like the post-modern mantra that everyone has his own truth. Accusing someone of “judging” is like throwing Kryptonite at Superman—it’s meant to be the ultimate discussion stopper. It’s the one form of judging that is acceptable, like a Christian form of cancel culture.

Maybe it is time to ask whether our excuses blind us to NT teaching relevant to how we should think about these things. Like all issues, strong reactions and counter reactions easily prevent an open-minded discussion or even callous our minds to understanding relevant passages of Scripture. But we don’t want to be lopsided Christians who are strong in some areas but blind in others, do we?

The Book of Romans speaks strongly about those who engage in certain sinful behaviors; no one can deny this list is intended to be universal in application, since it originates with God:

And just as they did not see fit to acknowledge God any longer, God gave them over to a depraved mind, to do those things which are not proper, being filled with all unrighteousness, wickedness, greed, evil; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, malice; they are gossips, slanderers, haters of God, insolent, arrogant, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, without understanding, untrustworthy, unloving, unmerciful; and although they know the ordinance of God, that those who practice such things are worthy of death … (Rom. 1:28–31)

This passage lays out the moral degradation that results from rejecting God. Believers should certainly avoid anything that is symptomatic of those whose lives incur the judgment of God. But the apostle Paul takes it further:

.. they [those who reject God] not only do the same, but also give hearty approval to those who practice them. (Rom. 1:32)

Wow! Does my entertainment put me in the company of those whose choices signal “hearty approval” of sinful behaviors? Doesn’t clicking on a movie on Netflix or Amazon funnel a portion of my subscription cost to producers, communicating our approval for them to make more of the same?

Let’s take, for example, the name of Jesus, the name which is above every other name. His name is found in the mouth of many characters in movies. Some would say that simply reflects the world as it is, and further it is not used with the word “damn” or “hell” so it isn’t that bad. Yet, the disrespect is obvious, and this brings into question our loyalty to the One we claim to love:

“And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved.” (Acts 4:12, emphasis added)

Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. For this reason also, God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth. (Phil. 2:8–10, emphasis added)

Common in the world is the use of the name “Jesus Christ” or “Christ” or “Jesus” as expletives. Imagine for a moment if we used the name Mohammed in the same way. Our Muslim neighbors would be quite offended. We don’t want our children to use our Lord’s name in such a derisive way, do we? Imagine someone using my spouse’s name in place of a swear word. Do not our souls, as believers, recoil at the thought of using the name of the Savior who loves us to the point of dying in our place to rescue us from our sin?

Should we not recoil when the screenwriters plant into their script lines the gratuitous use of the name of Jesus Christ as a swear word for emphasis? To be sure, we hear people doing this frequently in our day-to-day lives—we can’t avoid it unless we become hermits or monks. We may express our disapproval or offense, but we can’t stop everyone from doing it. After all, unbelievers can’t be expected to act like believers. We can’t and shouldn’t always try to control others.

But we can control what we choose for entertainment. If we don’t want our children saying it, how do we justify being entertained by it? But, you might say, we can just ignore it, mumble a “tsk, tsk,” but still enjoy the rest of the movie. Some Christians choose to turn off the movie or walk out of the theater when it happens. The challenge comes, however, in two ways: you might be deep in the plot line and curiosity takes over to watch to the end; or you might find it difficult to stand up and leave the movie theater when it happens. Either way, you will reduce the number of acceptable movies for your enjoyment, and miss out some otherwise great Oscar performances.

Let me be succinct: do my entertainment choices honor my Savior? How does this passage inform us: “Whether, then, you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God” (1 Cor 10:31)? Are we being prudish when we take seriously the biblical mandate:

[W]hatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things. The things you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you. (Phil. 4:8-9)

Well, I may have opened up a Pandora’s box here. But if we call out Hollywood for its hypocrisy over producing violence on film and then abhorring a slap to the face in real life, we need to also examine ourselves to see if hypocrisy extends to us as well.

“Search me, O God, and know my heart; try me and know my anxious thoughts; and see if there be any hurtful way in me, and lead me in the everlasting way.” (Ps. 139:23–24)