Watch Yourselves

 

Wednesday, February 23, 2022

One day Jesus said to his disciples, “There will always be temptations to sin, but what sorrow awaits the person who does the tempting!  It would be better to be thrown into the sea with a millstone hung around your neck than to cause one of these little ones to fall into sin.  So watch yourselves!                     Luke 17:1-3a

A warning is only as big as the power owned by the one making the threat.  In Luke’s account, the threat carries more weight than a herd of elephants cascading over Niagara Falls.  Jesus spoke to the stormy winds on the Sea of Galilee and they immediately hushed.  That’s impressive, but climate control is nothing compared to the power that speaks to death and then walks out of a sealed tomb!

That being said, the warning Jesus gave to his disciples, about tempting others to sin, carries the kind of powerful retributive promise which should leave anyone shaking in his boots.  If the Creator of everything speaks, it’s important to listen.

A prime example of those who do not listen is found in the entertainment industry.  This statement points at virtually the entire industry, with few exceptions.  Frankly, compared to even 20 years ago, the amount of vile language, indecent depictions of sex, and graphic violence, have gone off the charts. 

A typical “excuse” used to prop-up the industry’s self-aggrandizing image is that they simply offer a product.  They claim to bear no responsibility for what the people view.  It is true there is an on-off button to TV, internet, publishing, and theatre.  But there is plenty of responsibility nonetheless!

A man who grew up in the same house with Jesus was the apostle, James, who had this to say about the source of temptation: 

Temptation comes from our own desires, which entice us and drag us away.  These desires give birth to sinful actions.  And when sin is allowed to grow, it gives birth to death.  James 1:14-15

So, if temptation comes from within, it is our own fault…yes?  No argument there, says the Hollywood producer…let the buyer of my indecent artwork beware.  However, if you objectively (and honestly) revisit what Jesus said to his disciples about the sorrow that awaits those who do the tempting, you’d be hard-pressed to make a case for producers of smut and visual filth getting off scott-free on judgment day!  You cannot own both sides of an argument, and the fattening of bank accounts will swing the ledger’s testimony against the entertainment industry at the foot of the Great White Throne!  Even O.J.’s attorney wouldn’t be able to pull that one off!

For You Today

Whichever side of the “smut vs. decency” issue you support (and you ARE on one side or the other, either by your words, deeds, or simply silence), remember the warning of Jesus.  He wasn’t joking.  If you’re on Jesus’ side of this issue, pray for those who aren’t; they are in a very precarious place.  When the king of glory says Watch Yourselves, looking the other way isn’t an option; you’re either with him, or against him.

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road; have a blessed day!  

[1] Title image:  Pixabay.com  Unless noted, Scripture quoted from The New Living Translation^©