Alright–this has gone far enough…I feel as though I need to lay down a line here.
Let me first say that I consider myself a good Christian.
I am a 20 year old college student. I live with my parents. We go to church every Saturday evening. In two years of college I have never missed a day of school. I maintain a 3.8 GPA.
I enjoy a few beers from time to time. I do not ever go out drinking. When I drink, I am under my parents roof. I do not get so sloshed that I lose my senses, but I may watch a ballgame with my father and feel a buzz.
I watch network television shows. Everybody Loves Raymond, Frasier, Seinfeld, and yes, even Two and a Half Men. I watch these shows for entertainment and humor. I do not watch these shows for role models or as a guide on how to live my life.
I have masturbated in the past and still do occasionally. I try to resist temptation but I do fall occasionally. While I do think that masturbation should be avoided as best you can, I do not consider myself a hell-bound sinner for gratifying myself once and a while. Again, I do not seek it out–but self-gratification is HUMAN NATURE which we all succumb to from time to time.
I sometimes go out with my buds and have a good time (perfectly sober, I might add). We sometimes flirt with girls and hang out with them. We even kiss a few girls from time to time. No, we are not out looking for wives, which is what some puritanicals here say is the only time to go out dating. We are out having fun and I don’t think that is wrong.
That is my story. As I said before, I consider myself a good Christian. I also try to be a good student, good son, good grandson, and good person. I am sure that some of you, maybe most of you, believe that I am a sinner and will probably go to hell if I were to die right now, but frankly I do not care. I am secure enough in my faith to believe that God knows that I have a good heart. I love Jesus and sincerely believe He loves me.
So maybe we should all kind of cool our jets with speaking of how immoral television shows are. Think about it–do you think Jesus is going to judge on what is in our hearts or what kind of shows we watch?
I don’t know if I can lend any voice of sanity to this discussion, but let me give it a try.
We have a responsibility to avoid all occasions of sin, I think those ‘occasions’ are different for everyone. For some people, watching some TV shows or movies that contain sex or sexual innuendo causes them to dwell on impure thoughts, leading to the occasion of sin. Others can watch the same shows and it does not have any affect on them. So if these type of shows causes you to lust, masturbate, etc, then you should avoid them.
Masturbation is a sin, even if you don’t think it is. You are achieving sexual gratification simply for the gratification. Sex was given to us as the ultimate expression of commitment and devotion between a husband and wife and for the sole purpose of procreation and not self gratification.
Going out with your friends is certainly not problematic in and of itself, however, again you have a responsibility to govern your actions. Flirting, again, in and of itself is not problematic, it is one way that opposite sexes attract one another. Ultimately you are looking for a partner for life, if you are not, then you have no business flirting and kissing the girls. That said, once again, you have to keep everything within context. Are your ‘kisses’ simply ways of expressing a friendship? If yes, then probably harmless. The long and the short of it is yes, you do have to think about your actions constantly. That does not mean you should lock yourself away from the world to avoid any possible occasions of sin.
I think that you are indeed a good Christian, a good son, good student, etc. You are simply growing up, something we all have to do and in that process there is a lot to sort out, things that seem quite harmless to you may not be as harmless as you think. Only God knows what is truly in your heart and if you continue to strive to do what is right, then you will. At the end of each day, you should take just a little time to examine your conscience and discern whether all of your choices and actions of the day have been truly Christian. If not, say and act of contrition and strive to do better the next day. We are all sinners and but for the Grace of God, would go to hell. That is why we rely on His Mercy, but that does not give us a free pass to do whatever we please and then just say I am sorry later, but then continue in a sinful lifestyle.
There was a time in my life that I watched a lot of TV shows and movies that thinking back on some of them now, I am horrified at how desensitized I had become. As my faith and prayer life have grown over the years, I have come to understand much more. If I am watching something now and the thought occurs to me that maybe this isn’t what I really need to be watching/doing, or I find the content to be offensive, then I simply turn it off or go do something else.
There is a very fine line between good and evil, we all walk it every day. Try to increase your prayer life, think about what you are doing, have fun, but be cautious. If something in the back of your mind says this doesn’t seem right, it probably isn’t! Remove yourself from the situation. Don’t be discouraged, just that fact that you come to this forum and ask questions and debate indicates that you truly do want to do the ‘right’ things and lead a good and holy life.
