The Not So Good Ol' Days

"Gone are the days/Of 'Leave It to Beaver'/Matt Dillon and his sidekick Festus/Now we survive on the immoral lives/Of those of 'The Young and the Restless'" ~ Carman, "Soap Song" on Radically Saved

I love Carman. His style of music, his passion for seeing the Kingdom of God manifest in the lives of God's people, were both honorable in every way. However, there is one line in this song that bothers me. I am not slamming Carman for using it, I'm just taking exception to the mentality behind it.

Matt Dillon and his sidekick Festus were sheriff and deputy who put down crime and criminals in their small town. That was the admirable side of them that made their show popular. The down side, however, was their friendship with Miss Kitty.

Miss Kitty was the local bar owner and the proverbial "mother of harlots" of her town. I'm sorry, drunkenness and fornication aren't virtues in any society, and yet Miss Kitty was the protected queen of the show. Our acceptance of this has led to where we are now: drunkenness (or drug abuse) and fornication are now praised with reckless abandon on the vast majority of shows today. Sure, there are the "family-type shows" where the father and mother are stable influences in their children's lives, but those shows are not only few and far between, we seem to get a lot more entertainment value the more dysfunctional the family is.

Of course, we won't change Hollywood any time soon, but we can change ourselves. We let Hollywood get to this place because we have not cut off the source of their revenue. That source is only cut off when we exhibit and teach lives of holiness to the Lord.

Calling on others to follow Jesus is my passion in life. More importantly, for those who watch me, is my personal pursuit of Him in every area of my life. That means I don't pay for things that will not glorify Him. That means I don't bring things to my house and indulge in them if I will be drawn away from Him. True, as we live lives that honor the Lord, the world will mock us. I say, "Bring it on!" The worst they can do is kill us, which means we go to Heaven, the best they can do is follow us, which means they go to Heaven, too. How can we lose?