Hi [BLANK],

Thanks a lot for the email and for thinking through these things! You bring up some good points that I'll try to address below:

Hi Arthur,

During the last message you challenged [the TD'ers] to go six months without movies, video games and questionable websites.

And questionable TV shows (and their commercials I should add), I believe I said.

You also challenged them to worship God in the creative ways. It's not that I think that trying it out for six months wouldn't be a blessing (if anything I believe that it will be beneficial), but the challenge can be misunderstood and here are some random thoughts about that...

In the beginning of the message you told the kids to remember two things that went something like this:

1. Abstaining from certain activities does not make a person righteous (Ex: Pharisees)

2. Nor does engaging in certain activities make a person righteous (Ex: serving)

Yes! However, that does not mean we shouldn't abstain nor engage in certain activities out of love for God. Going to church doesn't make me righteous but should I be going and do I want to? Absolutely!

I agree with these two statements and it's probably something you're planning on reemphasizing. But what about people who choose not to abstain from certain activities? Does that make them unrighteous?

Please allow me to be glib for a moment. No, that doesn't make them unrighteous because they already are unrighteous (as am I and everyone else). Nothing we do or don't do makes us anything. Being precedes doing. Does not going to church make one unrighteous?

All I can say about those who decide not to take up the challenge is that they haven't arrived at that conviction yet. I pray they eventually do. However, two things will have happened:

1. They have been presented and challenged with looking more deeply into their daily lifestyles and they now know that not everyone "is doing it" and in fact some are not. That's good. They must see that honoring the Lord permeates each area of our lives and that none is excluded.

2. They, hopefully, will be more aware and sensitive to the whole area of entertainment and its influence. They will likely at least think a little more about what they are viewing.

Clearly, yet humbly, presenting a goal to shoot for in order to see if it may actually benefit one's life is worth the risk to me, even if it may offend some. That's all over Scripture, right?

We must take the admonitions of God in Scripture (flee immorality, make no provision for the flesh, Phil. 4:8, do not rejoice in unrighteousness, ad nauseum, ad infinitum) seriously and not leave them merely as general thoughts. I'm trying to apply them as they are intended to be applied.

When I say certain activities I don't mean sin in this case, and when I say Unrighteous, I don't mean that we are ever righteous on our own. Maybe using an example relevant to the challenge will make it more clear.

Let's say there is a person at td who doesn't decide to take up the challenge fully. They're not convicted to completely cut off video games and movies. Does that make them any less? No, right?

One of our counselors is one of these people, but this person plans to wean himself/herself over time instead of cold turkey. Here was my reply to this person: "Of course, that's fine. We're after progress, right? I would like you to push and stretch yourself, though, so you can feel the joy and pleasure of striving hard for God. And don't forget that you never have to be afraid of doing the right thing.

Have you thought of how, on the positive side, you might stretch yourself in your pursuit of the Lord? And how you plan to be more intimate and in closer communion with Jesus?"

I only challenge people to follow the Lord and to do whatever it takes to do so. Does it make them any less? Yes and no. No, in the sense that they are positionally righteous already, by the grace of Jesus alone. Yes, in the sense that there is a lessening of capacity to rejoice in, enjoy, and be pure in the Lord. Perhaps I can weakly draw this analogy. Does it make Vlade Divac any less a basketball player that he was or is a chain smoker and doesn't see the need to stop? In a very real way, the answer would have to be yes because it limits his capacity to perform at his highest level. Coaches must present challenges to players (and swimmers) for optimum performance. The ones who want to cling to their habits and not even give it a try may "feel lower" but it is the coach's absolute responsibility to try to get the best out of them.

We run the danger of making people "feel lower" when we encourage them to do anything: go to SS, TD, ST missions, 30-hour famine, SPCH, etc. If they don't do it, they may feel left out. And in a way, they are, because they aren't participating. Do I think any less of them? No. Do I wish they would/could participate? Yes.

The other part of what I'm trying to accomplish has nothing to do with who's better or worse or more or less. This part is not a moral thing. I'm just trying to give people a chance to see what life would be like without large amounts of exposure to the medium of the media. Will people see any difference in their life and clarity of their thoughts? I don't want people to be so dependent on media for their existence. As I taught, I believe that the medium as well tends to deaden senses and abilities. So, I'd like people to taste what it would be like without it for a while. Perhaps they'll like what they discovered and choose it in their own lives from their own heart. I don't really see it as such a big sacrifice. And if it is such a big sacrifice to some, then perhaps that should tell them something.

All I'm asking really is to give it a chance and not to attribute more to it than necessary.

You already mentioned the person who decides to take the challenge is definitely not better.

He's not better than anyone else but he has a chance to be "better" than he was before in living in the Lord. The measurement doesn't have to do with anyone else - just himself and God.

But I can see how a person who decides not to take the challenge feel lower. It sounds like the same thing as #1 but somehow it's two different things in my head. Maybe it doesn't need clarification. Let me know what you think about that one.

Another thing about the challenge is that second part still kind of makes me wonder. I totally understand why you put it in, but it seems like I have enough difficulty worshipping God in the "non-creative" ways and it's important not to forget to keep on worshipping in these ways. I think we talked a little bit about this on Sunday already and I remember you saying that the presupposition of the challenge is that the person would be engaging in these activities. It would be great if people started trying different things to worship God like ministering to those in need or writing songs, but the last thing we want is for the "new activities" to replace the old (for the lack of a better word) activities.

Good point. My aim with the "creative" ways is to find ways and avenues for people to experience God via His Word. Any way to get the Word into lives and to "force" us to think through it and meditate on it more. The main idea that I stated clearly, I think, is to spend lots more time with the Lord. There's no other way around it. Quality relationships take time. So then, regarding the challenge, the time that would have been used to take in the media could now be used to meet with the Lord. Hopefully, it will be beneficial.

Thus, I suggested things such as reading larger portions of Scripture, retranslating chapters, memorizing chapters, doing Bible studies. Other things I suggested were more artistic but anchored in having to think upon the Lord for longer periods of time. If someone takes me up and writes hymn texts or musical lyrics, they'll have to hopefully meditate on Scripture more. The painter who may paint something must have a very clear idea of what it is they want to convey. Hopefully, that means more time in considering the different nuances of passages and verses, and, ultimately, the Lord

I know for me, when I stretch myself in ministering to new people or new types of people, my faith is stretched and I'm silently praying a lot more (like l did last week at SPCH) for guidance and direction. I then often find myself quoting verses that remind me of what I'm doing.

The key here, I think, is this. If we don't express what we've been impressed with, then what we've been impressed with starts to lose its impression and starts to get stale. We need to be passing on the grace passed on to us so that God can give us more. If we don't express it and give it, we have no capacity for more. God wants us to be rivers not reservoirs.

Let me know what you think

The goal is the true En-Gedi, the Lord. He doesn't want us settling for cistern water!

However, I do understand that there are risks and dangers with putting out a challenge as I have - a danger to divide people and put them in camps, a danger to give people a false sense of righteousness and unrighteousness.

Therefore, we must walk very humbly and graciously and carefully. But we still must walk. I believe that out of concern for people, churches and preachers have been very sensitive in many areas and subjects. That's great! But I also think it's gone too far in many, many cases and out of our sensitivities to one another, we've diluted and/or eliminated much of God's message and truth to us as well - hard truth, but truth intended to help transform us for our good. We've lost a lot of sensitivity to the Lord.

The fact of the matter is this, I honestly and truly believe what I've taught on this subject and that people are becoming diminished because of their media intake. Souls are being poisoned, discernment is being clouded, evil is being delighted in, the Lord is being disregarded, and the most terrible thing is, it's all being done voluntarily!!! No fight, no force needed. The Christian is volitionally taking in the world in large volumes and the Lord is being pushed out - all so we can entertain ourselves. It's too high a price to pay.

I'm with you and share your concerns but I'm not sure how else to approach it. Let me know how you think we can proceed.

Let me know what you think!