Note from Carole: My 17-year-old daughter wrote this to present it to her high-school-level Awana group. I am so grateful she allowed me to share it with you here, because this is an issue most of us need biblical clarity on in this Age of Entertainment! If you’d like to listen (and see some fun art), click the video below (and subscribe to her YouTube channel!).

by Lainey

But just as He who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written: “Be holy, because I am holy.”
1 Peter 1:15-16 NIV

“So be holy in all you do.” When we read or think about this verse, we usually think about basically not sinning, as in following the ten commandments. But God actually calls us to be holy in everything, to do everything we do for the glory of God, because we are set apart for Him. That’s part of what “holy” means: set apart. Different from the world, because we belong to God and are meant to reflect Him. Holy also means pure, without sin. And God tells us we’re supposed to be holy in everything we do.

One area of our lives we often forget about when it comes to holiness is entertainment. 

If you look up the word entertainment, you’ll find that it’s “the act of providing or being provided with amusement or enjoyment.”

There are many forms of entertainment, of course. First, I’m going to talk about a form of entertainment we often don’t think of as entertainment, and then we’ll see how we can apply it to the rest of our forms of entertainment. 

How can we be holy in our humor?

Let’s think about what humor is. Humor is “the quality of being amused or comic, especially as expressed in literature or speech.” And amusing means “to cause laughter and provide entertainment.” We all experience humor in our daily lives. We read or make jokes with friends and family. We all like being funny and making other people laugh.

And biblically, humor is good! God definitely has a sense of humor, and humor comes from Him in the first place. Jesus mocks the Pharisees and sometimes makes hilarious metaphors. The mental image of someone walking around with a 2×4 sticking out of their eye like everything is perfectly normal is quite comical (Matthew 7:3-5). And hearing Elijah telling the followers of Baal “maybe your god is going to the bathroom” (1 Kings 18:27) is hysterical! Ecclesiastes 3:4 says there is a time to laugh. Humor and jokes are something we’re definitely allowed to enjoy! 

What we also need to understand, though, is that some types of jokes aren’t ok. Ephesians 5:3-4 says,

“but among you there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, of any kind of impurity, or of greed, because these are improper for God’s holy people. Nor should there be obscenity, foolish talk, or coarse joking, which are out of place, but rather thanksgiving.” (NIV, emphasis mine)

We’re clearly told that coarse joking isn’t meant for those who follow Christ. 

What is coarse joking?

But take a minute to ask, what is coarse joking? According to Google, “coarse,” when in regards to speech, means “crude, rude, or vulgar.” And the meaning behind the Greek word used in that passage means “coarse jesting” or “risqué wit.” Rude includes things that are “offensively impolite or ill-mannered.”

Some jokes might be considered a “Romans 14 issue.” Romans 14 talks about how we should take others into consideration when it comes to things that God doesn’t clearly forbid. If someone really dislikes a specific word or phrase, even if it’s not filthy language or coarse joking, you shouldn’t say those around those people. Even if it doesn’t bother you, you should help your brothers and sisters in Christ and avoid saying those things around them, even if you do use them elsewhere. 

Some jokes, though, we know, aren’t a Romans 14 issue. We know that because coarse jokes aren’t proper for Christians at all, according to Ephesians 5. And Ephesians 4:29 says,

“don’t let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouth, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.” (NIV, emphasis mine)

To joke about something is to make light of it, to be amused by it, or to try to amuse others with it. In a lot of cases that’s an okay thing to do. But when we joke about sins people struggle with or wrong thinking people have, is that building those up who struggle with that sin? Is it loving and helpful for them? Is joking about being gay (or drunk or high) in front of anyone who might struggle with same-sex desires, whether you know it or not, or who has someone close to them who identifies as gay (or who is an alcoholic or a drug addict) going to be beneficial to those people? Is it going to build them up? It’s really not. 

Another good thing to think about is that, by joking about a particular sin, we’re acting like that sin doesn’t really matter. Have you ever thought about how, by joking about sin, you’re laughing about something that put Jesus on the cross? Elizabeth Urbanowicz from Foundation Worldview said something that really hit home to me:

“I refuse to be entertained by anything that crucified my Savior. …Am I being entertained by something that Jesus bled and died to pay the penalty for?”

We should think biblically about what it’s okay to be amused by, in God’s eyes. Is it okay to be amused by things Jesus had to die for? We’re supposed to honor God in everything we do. 

Colossians 3:17 says,

“And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.” (NIV, emphasis mine)

And Ephesians 5:8-12 says,

“For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light (for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness and truth) and find out what pleases the Lord. Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them. It is shameful even to mention what the disobedient do in secret.” (NIV, emphasis mine)

We should want to glorify God in everything we do. Every little thing we do is meant to honor our Savior. Our jokes should, as well. Ask yourself, is this joke honoring to God? Does it glorify our Father in Heaven? Would you joke about that with Jesus, and expect Him to laugh along with you? 

If you don’t feel comfortable joking about certain things in front of certain people – your pastor, or your grandmother, or a respected teacher, or others you may want to think highly of you – or you don’t think they would approve, then how could you feel comfortable joking about those things in front of Jesus, who died to save people from those things? And here’s the thing: you are always in front of Jesus, who died to save people from those things.

Just because it’s funny, that doesn’t mean it’s okay.

“The command in Scripture that course joking is wrong is to say, ‘If it’s not okay, it doesn’t matter that it’s funny.’ “
~ Mike Winger

I think it’s clear, biblically, that we shouldn’t be making jokes about sin. This includes jokes about drunkenness, using drugs, LGBTQ+ lifestyles, and anything else that God tells us is wrong. God’s rules are for our good, which means those things are hurtful to us. Real people are really being harmed by these things. It’s wrong to make light of them.

What about other forms of entertainment?

There are other forms of entertainment besides joking, of course. We watch movies or shows or videos we find entertaining. We read books and comics, play board games, send memes, play with our pets, scroll Instagram, and many other activities we might find humorous or entertaining.

All these things can be good, but they can all be easily be corrupted, too. Our world is sinful, and all good can be twisted into sin. That’s the enemy’s goal; it’s what he’s been doing from the beginning. God gave us lots of great forms of humor and entertainment, but we need to be using them properly. 

Shows, movies, books, every kind of entertainment can be riddled with sin and inappropriate role models. We have to look at whether the entertainment at least glorifies God in some way, or whether it is only glorifying Satan. Because if it doesn’t glorify God in any way, it’s glorifying Satan and evil. We should always be paying attention to that. Are there redeeming qualities in it? Is good shown to be good, or is it just annoying? Is evil shown to be evil, or is it made to seem normal and okay, or even fun and enticing? 

Let’s take Marvel movies as an example. Those movies aren’t all bad, but they’re not all good, either. And we need to use discernment. My family has enjoyed watching a lot of these movies together, but when we first started watching them, our parents told us two things: 1) if you start swearing, we’re done, and 2) if you start acting like Tony Stark, we’re done. They were watching for negative ways the movies might affect us. That’s important.

In the Marvel ‘universe,’ we see different examples of how entertainment can reflect truth and point us to God, even though they aren’t perfect. Steve Rogers, who becomes Captain America, is, and has always been, a good moral person. And he always sticks to his morals and bases all his decisions and actions on what he believes is right, even when he has to go against his friends or leaders. He sacrifices himself for others, and his goal is to protect people in every way he can. These are qualities that reflect true goodness – we who know Jesus can see that they point to Him, even though the people making the movie probably don’t realize that.

Tony Stank – oops, Tony Stark, please excuse the typo – is a bit different. Instead of starting out as a good person who wanted to protect people, he was an alcoholic, egotistical, womanizer, and weapons manufacturer, to name just a few of the bigger things. Tony has a lot of problems, we can easily see that. It took being captured by terrorists for him to see what he was doing was wrong. But he did finally see that it was wrong, and he decided to change. 

We’ve all had that rude awakening moment where we realize we are sinful human beings, or realize what we’ve been doing is a sin, and we immediately make changes. Some changes can be immediate, like Tony no longer selling weapons and choosing to fight for what’s right. Others take longer, like how he more slowly gave up alcohol and partying and women. Though he started off as a terrible example, Tony became an example of how we can grow in character and how we should turn from our sin, even if our growth takes a long time. So, again, we who know Jesus can see pictures of truth in the story of Tony Stark. If he stayed the way he was at the beginning of Iron Man, we wouldn’t even slightly enjoy him as a hero. There wouldn’t be any redeeming qualities, nothing that points us to truth, and he wouldn’t be worth watching. 

On the other hand, even though the basic storyline is always good vs. evil, there are parts of Marvel movies that point us away from truth and God. Some parts promote using bad language or immodest clothing, some bring in dark topics that may affect us in a negative way, some make good moral choices look dumb and wrong choices look fun. And we need to notice those things, too, in light of what we know to be true. If we don’t notice them, they’re much more likely to become less bad and more normal in our minds.

With any type of entertainment, it’s important to notice how much of it glorifies or reflects our Savior and whether the bad things in it are portrayed in the correct light. It matters how it affects us – is it making me think any sin is less bad? Are cuss words in my mind now? Is it affecting my emotions, my desires, or my thoughts in ways that are pulling me away from God and from righteousness? 

Philippians 4:8 tells us what we should focus on:

“Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.” (NIV)

Does the entertaining thing I’m doing or watching help me focus on these things, and on God Himself? Or does it take my focus away from them?

How can I tell whether entertainment is good or bad?

Just like we should ask whether we would joke about certain things in front of Jesus, we should ask things like, would I invite Jesus to watch that show with me? Would I send Him a link to that song, or sing it in front of Him? Do I think He’d sing along? Do I think He’d play that video game with me? Do I think He’d hang around and be pleased with me while I do whatever it is I’m wanting to do?

Think about the show you’re binge-watching right now. Think about your go-to YouTube channel for when you’re bored. Think about the video game you spend the most time playing and the movie you want to go see next and the book you’re reading and the songs you sing and dance along with. What’s the subject matter? Is that something it’s okay to make light of or be amused by? Would you invite Jesus to watch/listen to/play that with you? Does it glorify God at all? 

Some things, no Christian should ever use for entertainment. And some things may be okay depending on the person and the situation. We need to be thinking biblically about our entertainment, because we’re supposed to be glorifying God in everything we do. 

We need to recognize what’s good and what’s bad in our entertainment. If we don’t recognize what the bad is, it’s going to affect us in a bad way. Even a good show can do this. Have you ever watched the Andy Griffith Show? It’s a super good show, right? Biblical values, good men, funny, and really no bad lessons taught by the show. But…even a show like that can affect someone in a bad way. My older brother watched that show when he was about 5 years old. (I did get his permission to share this, as long as it’s funny, so be sure to laugh! Don’t get me in trouble!) He especially liked Opie, the little boy, of course. But instead of learning the lesson Opie learned by the end of the show, my five-year-old brother hyper-focused on the bad things Opie did. As soon as Opie did whatever wrong thing he did, my brother went and did it himself. He didn’t wait to learn the lesson Opie learned. So, as you can imagine, he didn’t get to keep watching that show. That good show was bad for him. We have to use discernment, even with things that seem to be good overall.

If anything takes me even the tiniest, little smidge away from God, I want that thing miles from me. 

It’s true that there’s not much holy entertainment in this world. Because we are in this broken world, we know that all our input isn’t going to be perfect. Can there still be reasons to watch or do things that aren’t fully good? Sure. Sometimes we build relationships through entertainment. Sometimes we learn how others are thinking, how they’re seeing the world. That can be valuable. In those cases, we need to be sure we’re working to discern the bad from the good, acknowledge the bad and correct it, at least in our minds, and find and study Scripture that applies to that situation. In His Word, God has given us what we need to navigate this broken world; He knows we can’t fully avoid all the mess. 

We are in the world. We don’t belong to it any longer, though. 

God should be first in our lives. If He is first, everything else will follow after. If we put God first and what He wants for us, if we give our lives to Him, our hearts will be aligned with Him and we will want to live as He wants us to live. Our unrighteousness – anger, jealousy, laziness, avoiding or refusing to share the truth of God with others, any form of sin, will begin to fall away. We may struggle with those things still, in fact we will keep struggling with lots of those things until we’re in person with Jesus, but we’ll at least be making progress toward becoming more like Jesus, because He’ll keep working in us. 

What if I’m not sure if it’s ok?

If you aren’t sure if something is ok for Christians to be watching or joking about, just don’t.

The only time we should just do something, even with doubts, is if the Bible tells us to, such as spreading the gospel, loving our brothers and sisters, or any other ways of Christian living. We are no longer of the world. God has rescued us out of the world, so if we have doubts about whether something is okay, we should remember this: it can’t hurt us to just not watch that movie or show, or read that book, or listen to that song, or play that video game. (Yes, really. It would not hurt us to not play the video game!)

Other questions to ask yourself: Am I feeling ashamed or concerned or doubting it? Am I feeling convicted about it? Am I uneasy, or do I feel the need to be secretive about this entertainment? Do I avoid it around leaders or people I look up to and want to have a good opinion of me? Do I feel like it may not be good for me? A “yes” answer, or even a “maybe,” to any of these questions is a good indication that we should find something else to do with our time and attention.

If we ignore the Holy Spirit when He tells us something is bad or that we shouldn’t do it, we will grow numb to Him. We’ll be able to hear Him less and less. And that’s not a good position to be in. 

We need to be discerning with everything we put into our heads, especially entertainment. We shouldn’t let our guard down just because we’re relaxing. And we need to be calling out the bad things we notice, even if it’s just saying “language” in our head every time there’s a curse word, or reciting Scripture that tells us the truth when we hear things like “I’m a good person” or “we were born this way” or “we get to do what we want.”

I know a lot of the things we look to for entertainment are things we like, enjoy, and want to do. But, in reality, it doesn’t matter what we want. It matters what God wants. As Dr. Richard Caldwell says,

“[I]f it’s not pleasing to God, if it’s not helpful to me, to my soul, to my walk with God, then I need to learn to say no to things for the sake of my soul.”

Summary

Remember, a lot of jokes and humor, a lot of things we do for entertainment are good! Jokes can honor God, and resting can honor God, and if entertainment points us to truth and to God, that can honor Him, too – we can build relationships through forms of entertainment, we can read or write stories (like the Chronicles of Narnia) that reflect truth and point to Jesus, we can notice the good and the bad (according to God’s Word) in everything we watch and sing and play.

We should absolutely lean into God-honoring humor, and even entertainment (as long as we don’t let it keep us from other things we should be doing, of course)! We can have fun, laugh and be amused. These things aren’t bad. Philippians 4:4 says,

“Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!” (NIV)

We are supposed to be glad, and give thanks to God! In every thought, word and deed. 

All of us do need down time – God says rest is good. LAZY is not good, but proper rest is. So if you have your time management under control and the content of your entertainment is biblical and pointing you to truth, and you don’t have biblical reason to think you shouldn’t, then it’s good. 

When jokes and entertainment become bad is when they glorify sin or pull us away from God in any way. Like I said, if anything takes me even the tiniest, little smidge away from God, I want that thing miles from me. Joking about sin, taking sin lightly, being entertained by sin – these are not Romans 14 issues, these are simply improper for God’s holy people. 

So please, don’t stop having fun or making jokes, but try to think about whether what you’re joking about and what you’re being entertained by is honoring our Lord and Savior. 

Below is a downloadable list of questions to ask when you are considering whether what’s entertaining you honors the Lord, and a downloadable list of Scriptures that apply to that. If you choose only one, please choose the Scriptures.