In Chapter 7 (“The God of Entertainment”) of Gods at War, Pastor Kyle Idleman tells of a mission trip one of his friends made to India. His friend had a picture of what served as the family room in an Indian home. The centerpiece, somewhat like a mantel on a heart in our country, featured a carved idol. Every seat in the room was arranged to face that idol.
A few hours later Pastor Idleman walked into his living room, sat down in his recliner, and turned on his big flat screen TV. It was then that he noticed every chair in his living room was carefully positioned to face the TV on his mantel. While the author certainly is not against entertainment- after all, God has given us a planet of wonders- he is struck by the idea that perhaps we have gone from watching entertainment to worshipping it. We need to discover, Pastor Idleman says, what the chairs of our heart are aligned around.
So, what makes entertainment problematic? One of the greatest Old Testament figures, Solomon, found the answer to that question as he relentlessly pursued entertainment, always looking for pleasure. Solomon’s problem, the author notes, was that he was trying to make entertainment something it wasn’t:
“He (Solomon) was looking for the meaning of life in amusement, trying to find the main event in what was just the sideshow.”
Today’s question: What specific forms of entertainment most capture your heart, instilling a worshipful response that truly belongs only to God? Please share.
Tomorrow’s blog: “Going ‘Haitian’ “
