The Church of The Silver Screen

You can’t have clean thoughts if you drag your mind through the gutter. Likewise, you can’t expect to live a Godly life while exposing yourself to the basest forms of humanity. Hollywood is 97% filth, but I would say that almost the same percentage of Christians pay to see its movies. Drug use, pre and extra-marital sex, foul language, nudity, and violence characterize American cinema today. It is a sick cancer on the mind of society, and even worse for the Christian church.

Rome in their glory had their gladiatorial games, so we have our mini-coliseums, in every city and town, all across the nation. We watch as people are unceremoniously slaughtered, raped, and sometimes worse. But our excuse to ourselves is that it’s not real, it’s only a movie. But that’s the problem. We only get the glorified Hollywood version of the actual killing and debauchery, the real version includes the real consequences of those actions. Real gangsters are no-brained low-lifes that feed on the misery of others. But not in a cool way; in a If-I-Don’t-Repent-I’m-Going-To-Spend-Eternity-In-Hell way. Real life has those kinds of consequences.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again; Hollywood is the pulpit of this generation. Its teachings pervade our everyday lives. How many times in a week to you think of or draw reference to a movie? How many times do you sit for an hour-and-a-half sermon in front of the T.V. or at the theater? So you tell me, does your time with God even come close to your time with Hollywood?
I’m not saying I am above any of this. Actually I am writing this as a result of too much Hollywood influence in my life. I love a good movie. I get lost in it. I can forget reality for a while. But the outcome is a shabby, weak excuse for a Godly example to others.

Jesus said, “Come to Me all you who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” Movies don’t give you rest, they give you nightmares. Peace can’t be found on the silver screen, or on the LCD for that matter. We must wake up from our Hollywood-induced comas, splash some water on our faces, and get moving in the race. Remember, there is much work, and little time. So please do yourself a favor and cut your membership with the Church of The Silver Screen.

The Main Question

The idea of losing one's salvation begs one main, overarching question: If we can fall away from grace and back into death, then at what point are we considered "apostate"? In other words, where is the line? Who picked it? And most importantly, where is this line clearly communicated in God's Word?

We are called as Christians to live in the joy of our freedom, not in fear that we have fallen from grace. For we could always ask ourselves, was it today? Did I offend the Lord greatly today? How do I quell His judgement? What steps can I take to gain back my salvation? The ultimate end to this thinking is salvation by works. But the apostle Paul said, "There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus."

"By grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it
is the gift of God; not as a result of works, that no one should boast." -Ephesians 2:8,9

If we accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior then we are "sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise." (Ephesians 1:13) But if we believe we can fall away because of our own works then we denigrate Christ's work on the cross. Jesus' death fulfilled the law so that we would not have to pay ourselves. If we believe that we can somehow undo what Christ has done, then we make ourselves to be greater that He, and we sorely underestimate the saving power of His blood.

Good Shepherd, Eternal Father - Can We Lose Our Salvation? Part 3

Let’s next put the idea of losing one’s salvation to the test by comparing it to some examples in the Bible. In John chapter 10 Jesus speaks of Himself as the “Good Shepherd”. He explains to the Pharisees that He is the door to the sheep, and anyone who enters can come and go and find pasture. Finally, when pressed about whether He is the Christ (the Anointed One) he says, “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow Me; and I give eternal life to them, and they shall never perish, and no one shall snatch them out of my hand.” So according to Jesus no one, not even Satan, can snatch us away from Him once we are saved.

Notice that Jesus makes a point to say that, “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow Me?” Let’s jump ahead to another parable, one that was made famous because of its incredible imagery: The Prodigal Son.

I have heard those that say you can lose your salvation use this story as a proof for their argument that one can fall away, but regain their salvation through repentance. I believe this parable says something different. Notice that the young man didn’t feel bad about what he had done, he was looking after himself. He went back to His father because he had to, he was starving!

But Jesus says that the father saw his son while he was, “still a long way off.” His father ran out to him and embraced him! But why would he do this? Because he was waiting for his son to come back so he could express his love to him. As far as the father was concerned, the boy was never an outcast. Would the father run out to greet an outcast?

It made no difference that the boy offended the father deeply, that he took his gifts and squandered them. The boys’ “apostasy” had no effect on his father who was ready and willing for him to come back home and experience his joy and grace. Or do we suppose that if the boy had died in the pig pens, to extend the parable a little, that the father would not go to him, take him and bury him as a rich man’s son?

My friends we are the sons of a rich man. He will not let us go. He will not allow anyone or anything to take us away from His grace. The safety that we have in Him is overwhelming. Though we may squander our gifts, and miss opportunities to glorify Him, He still cares for us, and we are still His sons.