Word For The Day: Dangers of Endless Entertainment

Yesterday I introduced to you the topic of “God and entertainment” and we said that even our entertainment must be done to the glory of God. I would like to now to talk to you, for the next couple of days, about the dangers of endless entertainment; what happens in our hearts and lives when we glorify entertainment? The first thing we are going to learn is that endless entertainment is an enslaving sin; it makes us slaves to it.

“No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money” (Mat. 6:24)

EXPLANATION:

Something I need to remind you of is that the Bible never condemns entertainment in itself; in fact, we see many examples of leisure and celebration being done the right way, such as when the Israelites come out of Egypt. The problem is the abuse of it that our sinful culture offers which has created many slaves.
Our passage refers specifically to the slavery caused by loving money, but the principle of serving two masters applies to anything else that becomes a master in your life. Unfortunately, endless entertainment is one of the today’s masters that possesses a great amount of slaves, all of which serve it faithfully day and night. Jesus emphasizes that it is impossible to serve 2 masters; we were created to serve one master only, and every time our heart creates a new master, we lose joy and begin walking away from Jesus, which is what hating means in this context. Sadly, endless and mindless entertainment is a cruel master that has no mercy on his slaves. It requires all of your effort, your time, your thought and your money. It takes the best of you with no mercy. It demands your youth, the best years of your life so that your energy is spent on serving him above all things. Conversely, Jesus is a good master that demands your life, not only for his glory, but so that you are also satisfied and ultimately fulfilled in him, the only one who can give true and lasting joy. When Jesus truly becomes the master of your life, you will begin to look at entertainment as something that must serve you in your pursuit of joy in Christ, and not as the cruel of master of your life.

APPLICATION:

Endless entertainment is a master without compassion that will keep you from the true master of our lives. As a slave to the master of endless entertainment, you will be prone to avoid anything that draws you away from your allegiance to this cruel master, which includes responsibilities, work, service to the local church, etc. In fact, because your allegiance is to your cruel master, you will be upset when you are given tasks and responsibilities that keep you away from it.

If you spend countless hours on facebook, Instagram and other social networks without creating meaningful, personal relationships with the purpose of serving others, then you are a slave that is looking for fulfillment in the wrong place and with the wrong master. If you spend countless hours on Netflix, watching television or playing video games, you are bowing down to the wrong master. If you spend much time mindlessly relaxing and resting to the neglect of your responsibilities, the master of entertainment has taken the best of you for his purposes. I plead with you, set yourself free from this master with the grace that God alone can offer, before the cruel master of entertainment destroys your life and leaves you poor, joyless and spiritually stagnant. Turn back to Jesus, the only master who is loving, merciful and compassionate.

God bless you,
Pastor Hector