Post by Cindy on Aug 7, 2018 12:28:22 GMT -5
Tim Challies wrote a great article that will really make us think. I'll post a link to the article itself at the end so you can read the whole thing, but for now wanted to post part of the scenario he asks us to consider:
(Excerpt)
For this scenario, you need to imagine that you are married. Your husband or wife has made a few movies in the past and is just beginning to gain a reputation in the industry. And now comes the offer of a great new role that could perhaps be the career-maker. But here’s the thing—it will require a couple of explicit scenes. Your spouse will first do a scene where she (or he) is alone but completely naked. It will last just a few seconds in the final production, but the filming will require disrobing in front of the film crew and a few hours of shoots and reshoots to make sure every angle has been captured just right. Then, of course, in the actual film, your spouse’s body will be drawing every eye for the duration of the scene.
The second scene will be an explicit sexual one–the kind you probably skip when watching a movie on Netflix. Your spouse and co-star will spend a couple of days shooting a scene in which they have sex with one another. Of course they will not actually have sexual intercourse, but their task over the many hours of takes and retakes is to make viewers believe they are. So they will kiss and touch and take their clothes off and fall into bed together and do their absolute best to simulate being in the throes of passion.
After another short portion of the scenario, he asks a number of questions for us to consider. Rather then write all the questions, I'll just let you read them at the link, and for now will give what my answer to Tim was: (as I was answering on my kindle which makes typing very difficult, my answer wasn't as involved as I'd have liked it to be.)
Do you believe your spouse can participate in this movie and complete these scenes to the glory of God?
No, I don't think that's possible. God tells us that we're to dress modestly. Being naked is the opposite of that. We're also commanded not to cause another to sin, and many of those watching would be tempted toward coveting, lust, (which is adultery), or be tempted to see more via pornography etc. We're also commanded not to do anything that could be seen as wrong. By doing this movie with the public knowing you're a Christian, it would give the erroneous impression that God condones those kind of shows and that they're OK to watch. Our bodies are temples for the Holy Spirit, so I don't see how anyone who's been truly saved would put themselves in such a position.
I'm afraid that if they were at the point where they would seriously even consider doing this, that it would show that their hearts were hardened and their conscience had been corrupted so they were No longer hearing the Holy Spirit due to grieving Him.
I most certainly would not be comfortable with my spouse doing this and couldn't stand the idea of others, especially friends seeing it. As you've pointed out, we're to guard our minds and hearts. One way to determine whether or not we should watch, listen to, or read something, is by using the guidelines in Philippians 4:8. I don't see how anyone could say these types of scenes would fit the qualifications in that verse. (OK, maybe in a worldly way, but not knowing God's standards.) Some people say sex is a normal function of life, so there's nothing wrong with seeing it. But so is using the toilet, and I sure don't want to see that either! We tend to forget that a married couple is one flash. They're no longer just two individuals. Just as in the body of Christ, what happens to one member affects all the others, the same is true to a married couple. Plus we're told outright that the wife's body belongs to her husband, and his to her. We're also told that we're not to share our body with anyone other than our spouse. We take that to be about sex and I'm sure it is, but it can also include showing our bodies to others.
If one of my friends did this I would be heartbroken, and would tell them so. I would pray for them and tell them why I felt the way I did. They probably wouldn't want to be around me much after that.
I would expect my pastor to confront this person with their sin, following the pattern for church discipline Jesus gave us, and if they didn't repent, to remove them from those various ministries until they did.
If the pastor and his wife were the ones playing these roles, they would no longer be eligible to be a pastor. If they didn't repent or leave, I would.
As you can see, I left out the actual scripture quotes that I was using to back what I said, but I think most of you will be able to recognize which scriptures I was thinking of with each of my answers. I'd love to hear what you guys would say to these questions.
Please read the whole thing at the link and then if you'd like to post what your answer would be.
www.challies.com/articles/sex-on-the-silver-screen-a-scenario-to-consider/
(Excerpt)
For this scenario, you need to imagine that you are married. Your husband or wife has made a few movies in the past and is just beginning to gain a reputation in the industry. And now comes the offer of a great new role that could perhaps be the career-maker. But here’s the thing—it will require a couple of explicit scenes. Your spouse will first do a scene where she (or he) is alone but completely naked. It will last just a few seconds in the final production, but the filming will require disrobing in front of the film crew and a few hours of shoots and reshoots to make sure every angle has been captured just right. Then, of course, in the actual film, your spouse’s body will be drawing every eye for the duration of the scene.
The second scene will be an explicit sexual one–the kind you probably skip when watching a movie on Netflix. Your spouse and co-star will spend a couple of days shooting a scene in which they have sex with one another. Of course they will not actually have sexual intercourse, but their task over the many hours of takes and retakes is to make viewers believe they are. So they will kiss and touch and take their clothes off and fall into bed together and do their absolute best to simulate being in the throes of passion.
After another short portion of the scenario, he asks a number of questions for us to consider. Rather then write all the questions, I'll just let you read them at the link, and for now will give what my answer to Tim was: (as I was answering on my kindle which makes typing very difficult, my answer wasn't as involved as I'd have liked it to be.)
Do you believe your spouse can participate in this movie and complete these scenes to the glory of God?
No, I don't think that's possible. God tells us that we're to dress modestly. Being naked is the opposite of that. We're also commanded not to cause another to sin, and many of those watching would be tempted toward coveting, lust, (which is adultery), or be tempted to see more via pornography etc. We're also commanded not to do anything that could be seen as wrong. By doing this movie with the public knowing you're a Christian, it would give the erroneous impression that God condones those kind of shows and that they're OK to watch. Our bodies are temples for the Holy Spirit, so I don't see how anyone who's been truly saved would put themselves in such a position.
I'm afraid that if they were at the point where they would seriously even consider doing this, that it would show that their hearts were hardened and their conscience had been corrupted so they were No longer hearing the Holy Spirit due to grieving Him.
I most certainly would not be comfortable with my spouse doing this and couldn't stand the idea of others, especially friends seeing it. As you've pointed out, we're to guard our minds and hearts. One way to determine whether or not we should watch, listen to, or read something, is by using the guidelines in Philippians 4:8. I don't see how anyone could say these types of scenes would fit the qualifications in that verse. (OK, maybe in a worldly way, but not knowing God's standards.) Some people say sex is a normal function of life, so there's nothing wrong with seeing it. But so is using the toilet, and I sure don't want to see that either! We tend to forget that a married couple is one flash. They're no longer just two individuals. Just as in the body of Christ, what happens to one member affects all the others, the same is true to a married couple. Plus we're told outright that the wife's body belongs to her husband, and his to her. We're also told that we're not to share our body with anyone other than our spouse. We take that to be about sex and I'm sure it is, but it can also include showing our bodies to others.
If one of my friends did this I would be heartbroken, and would tell them so. I would pray for them and tell them why I felt the way I did. They probably wouldn't want to be around me much after that.
I would expect my pastor to confront this person with their sin, following the pattern for church discipline Jesus gave us, and if they didn't repent, to remove them from those various ministries until they did.
If the pastor and his wife were the ones playing these roles, they would no longer be eligible to be a pastor. If they didn't repent or leave, I would.
As you can see, I left out the actual scripture quotes that I was using to back what I said, but I think most of you will be able to recognize which scriptures I was thinking of with each of my answers. I'd love to hear what you guys would say to these questions.
Please read the whole thing at the link and then if you'd like to post what your answer would be.
www.challies.com/articles/sex-on-the-silver-screen-a-scenario-to-consider/
!!
