Cleaning Out Your Mind

There are things all around us that influence us. Some of those things we cannot control, others we can. This past week in both junior high and high school youth group we took a hard look at the negative influence music, movies, and video games can have on us.

Colossians 3:1-11 sets the tone for the lesson. There is a whole list of things Paul tells us we are to have nothing to do with as Christians: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires, greed, idolatry, anger, rage, malice, slander, filthy language, and lying. (What a list!)

While it's easy to nod and say 'Yes' those things shouldn't be present in our lives, we must examine how often we let those things into our lives through music, tv shows, and the like. It is hard, if not downright impossible, to find tv shows today that don't possess any themes from that list. What, then, is a person to do? Call the cable company and cancel our service? Rip the radio out of our car?

This is a hard topic to teach on because I am realistic enough to know that no matter how hard students work to get rid of the music, movies and video games that are bad influences, the things on that list will constantly be around them due to the world we live in. Instead, my focus was on getting them to think critically about what they watch and listen to.

We all make these decisions daily about what we allow into our lives. I can't answer the question for everyone about whether a specific tv show is appropriate to watch. I can't tell everyone which music they shouldn't listen to. However, I can tell you that we are to work as hard as possible at putting to death and ridding ourselves of those things listed by Paul in Colossians 3.