What Should I Teach My Children About Movies?

[Pastor Matt]

Updated OctOBer 20, 2009 (first published December 24, 2003) (David Cloud, Fundamental Baptist Information Service, P.O. Box 610368, Port Huron, MI 48061, 866-295-4143, fbns@wayoflife.org; for instructions about subscribing and unsubscribing or changing addresses, see the information paragraph at the end of the article) -

I received the following question by e-mail a couple of days ago: "What stand do you take on going to the movie theater? My husband and I are born again believers and do not feel that we should go to the movies, but we now have teenage children and they are asking why they cannot go. I don't want to tell them because we said no, but would like to give them some biblical answer to help them understand. Do you have any information that might help me. Thank you for your time."

REPLY FROM BROTHER CLOUD

Before I answer your question about why God's people should not go to the movies, let me make a couple of general comments to your statements.

First, I commend you for wanting to give your teenagers a reason for their faith. This is very important. As they grow older, they don't need a mere list of dos and don'ts; they need to learn to think biblically for themselves, to apply the Scriptures to their daily lives. They need to learn that the Bible is very practical and that it speaks to absolutely every situation in life. I grew up in church but I didn't know this. I thought the Bible was just a bunch of old stories that had almost nothing to do with today. I had no idea that it was a Living Book! Of course, I was not saved then; I didn't get saved until I was 23 and had scarred my life deeply with sin. I can't blame my foolishness and rebellion on anyone else, but oh, that the church of my childhood had made the Bible more practical!


Posted at http://www.wayoflife.org/files/3e4dfda414c35b1929454aed1be74103-437.html#unique-entry-id-437

[Annie]

Updated OctOBer 20, 2009 (first published December 24, 2003) (David Cloud, Fundamental Baptist Information Service, P.O. Box 610368, Port Huron, MI 48061, 866-295-4143, fbns@wayoflife.org; for instructions about subscribing and unsubscribing or changing addresses, see the information paragraph at the end of the article) -

I received the following question by e-mail a couple of days ago: "What stand do you take on going to the movie theater? My husband and I are born again believers and do not feel that we should go to the movies, but we now have teenage children and they are asking why they cannot go. I don't want to tell them because we said no, but would like to give them some biblical answer to help them understand. Do you have any information that might help me. Thank you for your time."

REPLY FROM BROTHER CLOUD

Before I answer your question about why God's people should not go to the movies, let me make a couple of general comments to your statements.

First, I commend you for wanting to give your teenagers a reason for their faith. This is very important. As they grow older, they don't need a mere list of dos and don'ts; they need to learn to think biblically for themselves, to apply the Scriptures to their daily lives. They need to learn that the Bible is very practical and that it speaks to absolutely every situation in life. I grew up in church but I didn't know this. I thought the Bible was just a bunch of old stories that had almost nothing to do with today. I had no idea that it was a Living Book! Of course, I was not saved then; I didn't get saved until I was 23 and had scarred my life deeply with sin. I can't blame my foolishness and rebellion on anyone else, but oh, that the church of my childhood had made the Bible more practical!


Posted at http://www.wayoflife.org/files/3e4dfda414c35b1929454aed1be74103-437.html#unique-entry-id-437

These are wise thoughts from David Cloud. It's so important that children grow up walking with God, having a relationship with Him and with loving parents, who don't say, "Here are the family rules,"
but interact on a deeper level, maintaining fellowship and guiding through example. As I interact with my kids, I'm finding that there are things my children "just know" aren't right...not because I've told them they aren't, but because they're growing up in a home and church with people striving to be pilgrims in this world instead of getting sidetracked in "Vanity Fair" and worldliness. They've never wanted to go to a movie in a theater...because that's not something we've done with them, and it doesn't really look like their idea of a good time. (For the record, my husband and I don't think going to see a movie in a theater is sinful, in and of itself. We've never told our kids it's wrong.)