Amos 5

14^(A) Seek good, and not evil,
that you may live;
and so the LORD,^(B) the God of hosts, will be with you,
as you have said.
15^(C) Hate evil, and love good, (ESV)

What you are entertained by today and find funny today, you may find acceptable and practice tomorrow.  If we do not learn to hate sin, we will often learn to love it.  For some it may be surprising what the church finds acceptable today that which was considered clear sin yesterday.  However, when we allow ourselves to be entertained by sin it will be much harder to hate it.  I can remember while in college on a Christian college campus back 12 years ago it was considered funny for guys to talk, walk, and wave their hands like a homosexual.  It seemed very innocent at the time.  We all knew homosexuality was wrong.  However, I now find friends who I went to school with tolerant and accepting of such a lifestyle and some no longer willing to call it sin.  How does this happen?  We were not hating what God hates, but rather we were enjoying what God hates.  This messes up one’s discernment and thinking.

There are many other issues beyond homosexuality where this is going on.  The church is often enteratianed by the same sin as the world.  In the June edition of World Magazine Gene Edward Veith commented on what is now considered normal.  Things even the world hedged on 10 years ago.  The shows he mentions that freely entertain with sin, The Office and My Name Is Earl, are the same shows I often hear Christians talk about as being funny or commenting on as “must see TV.”

The sitcoms of the 1990s—such as Friends and That ’70s Show—were full of sexual innuendos, double entendres, and suggestive plot lines. Today’s TV comedies—such as The Office and My Name Is Earl—do not depend so much on that kind of adolescent, off-color humor. Does that mean that TV is cleaning up its act? Not at all. TV has actually taken the next step downward.

The 1990s comedies approached the line of sexual propriety and then crossed it. This resulted in a titillating humor that made adolescents snicker and shocked their parents. Today there is no line to cross.

In The Office, arguably the funniest show on TV, it is simply taken for granted that unmarried people are having sex. There is no need for innuendo. The characters talk about their sex lives openly, and extramarital sex is normal.

…In the TV culture, teen sex, single adult sex, and in the most dramatic shift in sexual mores in history -homosexuality are all perfectly acceptable, unproblematic, and normal.  Conversely, tradritional sexual morality is presented as weird, strange, and out of the mainstream.

My point is not to condemn certain shows or create a black list for TV shows, but rather to ask the question, Are you finding humor in sin?  it is difficult, if not impossible, to find delight in sin and to delight oneself in God.  When we delight in sin we place ourselves in a dangerous tension.

Matthew 6:24
“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. (ESV)

As Christians, even our sense of humor is to be for the glory of God.

Proverbs 24:25-26:

24Whoever^(C) says to the wicked, “You are in the right,”
^(D) will be cursed by peoples, abhorred by nations,
25but those who rebuke the wicked will have delight,
and a good blessing will come upon them.
26Whoever gives an honest answer
kisses the lips.

My car is the vehicle we have chosen to not put any more money into than needed (it is 10 years old). If something is simply cosmetic then I just live with it. It boils down to priorities, how we want to use our money. Our mechanic has been telling me I need to replace the tires now for about a year (I tend to try and get as much out of the tread as possible). I have finally figured out an ingenious way to stop my mechanic from reminding me, I have quit taking it in to get the oil changed! Perfect, he has not said anything to me about my tires for months now. Before the comments fill up with advice on how bad that is for the car and my safety, I am taking it in tomorrow. And in case the obvious is not clear, the problem here is in no way my mechanic.

It has occurred to me that many of us are tempted to deal with sin in a similar manner. We know there is a lacking or a need of change, but we are not willing to pay the price or use the resources necessary. Therefore, we figure out “ingenious ways” to stop anyone of reminding us: some stop attending church or change churches, others avoid the pastors, maybe we simply stop asking for advice about anything lest the costly issue arises, teens will start clamming up around parents, we become more “selective” about who we seek advice from, still others will avoid certain church settings like Sunday School, after service discussions, etc.. We all know the routines. Now for those of you who thought my idea to stop getting the oil changed so the mechanic couldn’t tell me I need new tires was foolish, how much more foolish is it for us to do this with our souls? If there is a sin problem in your life, a know sin that requires change, it is time for an “oil” change.