What is Crossing the Line?

Many Christians have argued over this question, and I am finding a personal struggle with it here at a Chrisitan college. What is crossing the line? What kind of music is okay to listen to? What words are considered 'bad' words? 

I have gone back and forth on my answer to this question, but as I have taken time to think about it, I have found that I just to different conclusions based on where I am spiritually. For example, when I am not spending too much time thinking about giving God glory, but still caring about how God wants me to spend my time, I found that I was okay with some secular songs as long as they were not bad songs. Yet, I found as I allowed that, the secular playlist of songs I was okay with was growing. I started to care about the words and message of the song less and less as I focused on the beat. Because of social media, I would hear a few seconds of a song and decide to love the whole song without taking the time to listen to the message. But this is the wrong focus. The world does not see us as different if we listen to the same music as them. Yes, we can still have a witness if we listen to secular music, but choosing not to listen to songs that do not Give God Glory does not add to the way that people look at us. We need to be different. 

I have been reminded that Christians are supposed to be set apart from the world. While some songs might be okay to listen to, it does not make us look different if we are okay with whatever is being played. I have to take into consideration all of what the song can mean, or what the words specifically say. This means that I cannot listen to a song because I enjoy the beat. I need to pay attention to the words to see if any bad message is communicated, or if there is any hint of a sinful act being encouraged. The message of the song needs to have good intentions along with every little detail in the song. There are some songs that don't have a positive or negative intention to them. Those are more borderline, which I will get to. Another borderline detail that I will address is songs with good morals to the lyrics, but not with a biblical base. For example, girls should care about how they look and remember that they are beautiful, but that does not mean that they can choose to not take care of themselves because no matter what they are beautiful. On the contrary. We are told we are beautiful because we are created in God's Image. But at the same time, our bodies are temples so we should take care of them. We should not be obsessed with caring for our looks, but we should take time to make sure we are using what God has given us, our life, in a wise way. 

When it comes to movies, though, it may look a little different. For example, what are the 'rules' on foul language? If there is one 'bad' scene in there but the character repents of their sins, does that mean that the whole movie is bad? Where should we stand on those issues? While I am not an expert by any means, and most of what is said in this post is a matter of personal opinion and conviction, I have found that if something like foul language or certain scenes can become sin for you, then the whole movie should be avoided. It is better to miss out on a 'good show with a great plotline that everyone is talking about' then to watch it and end up falling into temptation that you could have pushed farther away if you had just avoided it entirely. For example, I have found that if I watch a movie that has bad words in it, those words will stick out to me, and often I cannot get the simple word out of my head for no other reason than because I heard it and I know I should not repeat it. Again, on another subject, I have figured out a way to remove such thoughts for a time and focus on something more pleasant, but it is still annoying and depressing that the thoughts come to be in the first place. So for my sake, I have found that it is better to avoid the movie altogether to save myself from having to go through the pain of unpleasant thoughts or sinning internally.  

It really all comes back to Giving God Glory. We need to make sure that the lyrics to a song are positive and uplifting for all who hear, or are otherwise conviction of the root of a problem, such as confronting someone with sin and reminding them to repent and turn back to Christ. This is our main goal in life and I hope that you remember this in everything you do, whether that is listening to music, watching movies, or anything else.