Are you for some reason wondering if watching television or movies is a sinful thing to do?
Probably you are in a situation where you are being withheld from watching TV as a young person, with the excuse that it is a sin, and you are wondering that “is watching TV really a sin? Is watching movies a sin?”
Or you worship at a gathering of a believer where it is believed that watching TV is a sin? And you are really worried about the validity of this?
Is Watching TV a Sin?
Watching television in itself is not a sin, but what you watch and the priority that watching TV takes in your life is very important.
So, you can watch TV as a Christian, the act on its own is not sinful. It is just a result of technological development.
There are different things that one can watch on TV in this time and age. Whatever you watch on TV must in one way or another glorifies God, or benefit your life.
Watching TV is not a sin, but watching shows that promote and heavily reveal things that do not align with the standards of the word of God and help your personal life is not godly.
Is Watching Movies a Sin?
Just like watching TV is not a sin, watching movies in itself is not a sin. But the kind of movies will matter, to your spiritual life.
Can watching TV or Movies Become Sinful and Harmful to One’s Personal Life?
Somehow, Watching TV or movies can lead you to sin if not careful. And this is a matter of what you consume on TV.
The kind of shows or movies you watch on TV matters a lot. And you have to be intentional about filtering them.
How Watching TV or Movies can be Harmful or become sinful
These are ways in which watching television can become a bad habit or even sinful. Let’s have it here:
- You waste too much time watching TV or movies
It is very bad to waste so many hours on television or movies every day. It is not the habit of highly successful people.
Watching TV or movies can be very addictive. Yes, I know that. It can feel easy to do that, than any other thing. I have spent days binge-watching movies, but in the end, it wasn’t helpful.
I am not against watching movies, but one must not just waste time mindlessly with movies. Wasting time equals wasting life, actually.
You must be disciplined enough to have a limit to the number of hours you can spend on television or movies a week.
Instead of spending hours watching TV or movies, you can spend those hours studying the Bible, praying, reading helpful books, having a good time with family or friends, working on building a skill, meditating on the word of God, etc.
There are a lot of things you can do outside watching TV. Spending so much time on TV watching shows that are not of benefit to your life could equal wasting life.
Besides watching TV to entertain yourself, you should watch TV shows that can add to your life positively.
- You watch things that are not healthy for your soul
There are a lot of shows or movies that can be helpful that one can watch. It could be helpful to your career, and academics. And it might just be that the shows help you learn things about life in general.
But there are also that can be so bad for your soul. Have you ever listened to a song, and you end up being depressed or sad? That is the effect of the song on your soul. It is also possible for movies to have that kind of effect.
- You watch things that are not healthy for your spirit
As much as there are healthy shows and movies, there are a whole lot of other shows on TV that won’t be healthy for you as a Christian to watch.
Once you see or noticed that a show is not helpful for you or it is draining your spiritual life, it is just okay for you to stop watching the show.
You have to be intentional about it.
- You watch things that can fuel your lust.
You can’t keep watching shows or movies that will fuel your lust, and you expect not to indulge in sin. The Bible advises us to stay away from every appearance of sin.
There were times I gave excuses to watch movies that made me think about s*x. This stirred unnecessary desire within me, which later turned into a problem.
You can avoid that kind of issue, by just staying away from movies that fuel your lust. Don’t trust yourself not to fall.
Your own lust might not necessarily be s*xual, it might be around money. You might not want to watch movies that instigate making money in any way, even if illegal. Rather you can watch movies that motivate you to work hard, to make a decent and honest living.
- You prioritize watching TV over God
You should not place watching TV or movies over God no matter what. Let me bring this into perspective so that you can understand this perfectly.
So, let us say that there is a show you want to watch by 9 PM, and then you feel a strong urge by the Spirit to pray around that time, what would you do?
I know it can be tempting to watch your favourite show, but your decision, in the end, can reflect or show how much your love or prioritize God.
Make sure you prioritize God over TV. Things like watching TV are fleeting. You should not choose it over God. It is simply idolatry.
Idolatry is not only worshipping idols, it could also mean that you place something above God in your heart. And even that is a form of worship.
How Can Christians Use Movies or Television Effectively?
We have established that watching TV is not a sin in itself and that how we use TV is what matters. But is there a way we can use TV effectively as Christians?
- It can be a tool for the gospel
There are different shows on TV that promote the Gospel of Jesus Christ and things pertaining to the matter of the Kingdom of God.
This medium is a platform to win more souls for Christ, and can also be a tool to edify other believers of Jesus Christ.
There are great Christian movies and series, with beautiful testimonies all over the world right now. An example is the series that depicts the story of Jesus, titled “Chosen.” I watched the first season of this series, and I can assure you that the series is such a wonderful one.
There are other wonderful Christian movies, like Overcomers, War Room, God’s Not Dead, Breakthrough, etc. I have watched each of these movies, and I fully recommend them to you
- For entertainment
I understand that there are certainly sometimes we just want to be entertained, chill and have fun as Christians.
You can have entertaining shows that can entertain you, and still not be harmful to your spiritual life. There are wholesome comedy shows that can be relaxing to watch.
All you need to do is to know what can entertain you as a Christian, and be able to find them on TV.
For movies, it feels like it is getting harder, as the day goes by to find movies without nudity, homosexual inclusions, etc.
If you can find movies that are great, that is cool. There are still wonderful movies that can inspire you to have a great work-life or to improve your life.
- For learning and personal developments
There are shows that can be driven toward teaching a particular thing you love. You can make it a habit to watch those shows, as they are helpful to your life.
What TV Shows Should a Christian Not Watch?
There are a number of shows that are out rightly not advisable for believers to watch. This includes shows that promote nudity, violence, and anything that does not align with the word of God.
I have given you parameters to judge what you should not watch, and what to watch. Also, knowing that Holy Spirit is always with you, and He sees all your actions should guide your decisions. Ask yourself if the Holy Spirit will be cool with what you are watching.
Conclusion
Some people may want to as a whole discredit watching TV because of the fact that not all content on it is wholesome for Christians.
But the fact is that we live in a world that is sinful already. We must learn to live a life of Christ, even in this sinful world.
I hope this helped you. I will like to receive your comments on this.
