13 Lessons #6 Cultivate Discernment

Lessons #6:  Cultivate discernment over the “mental basket”

Our teens have been troubled by this verbiage that keeps popping up amidst their friends and acquaintances when rationalizing certain music on the Ipod, certain movies watched or books read:  all things going unalterably into the mental basket, instructing the heart, forging an image of “normal”.  The same persons seem ever to be drifting away from solid moorings in Christ, but don’t really notice, and would defend to the death their rights to put these things into their “basket”.  And then they’ll invariably say, “It’s fine; I’m viewing it through a Christian worldview lens.”

We got into a fascinating discussion on this during a recent trip, one morning just taking the time for talking rather than running off on some new inspiration (yes, sometimes it is better to just talk about what we are learning in our devotions and sharing things we each are thinking about, despite our propensity to set off on wild adventures).

Wise husband hadn’t been in on the initial discussions but he brought diamond insights now:

“What is the purpose of a lens?   First, to ask the question presupposes that lenses exist for a directed purpose.  If it is a microscope lens, the purpose  is to examine more closely; to look at the substance of.  If it is a binocular lens, it is to see things in the distance more closely; to make that which is obscure more evident to the naked eye; to understand details or to identify.  A dirty lens is worthless, for the very value of a lens is to see more clearly”.  All this he pointed out.  So we discussed the analogy.

Those who apply the concept of a lens to questionable music or movies or some types of books say, “Well, I view it through a Christian lens/Christian worldview.”  And yet their argument is actually meant to use that as an excuse for taking in all manner of media without forethought, or afterthought,  or discernment.  Their intended goal is to enjoy these things without any further attempt at examination,  as if the music/movie drops through the lens into their brain and automatically turns into something else, something benign or harmless, because the lens was a magical “Christian world view”.  But this belies the word.  They are not  examining more closely, or it would become evident that the movie lies about God’s reality.  They are not looking at the substance of, or they would realize that song is at war with how God has created women, men, marriage, morality.  They are not bringing things that are distant closer in order to understand more about God’s character and our sinfulness and need of Him.  They are not saturated in Scripture so that which is obscure can be made more evident to those who have eyes to see; they have not exercised powers of discernment that allow them to assimilate the meat of God’s wisdom, to understand details of His ways, to identify His thoughts and think them after Him.

What I do see happening is that they come into a naturalness of habit with these songs, artists, movies, and cultural trappings that is nothing short of “walking, standing, sitting with the ungodly”.  A settling in of what is normal soon morphs their understanding even all the while they insist they are seeing through the Christian lens.  But God has said that it is He who allows a darkened understanding.  Chilling words He speaks when He says He will “choose their delusions”.  One of the things I believe we should dread the most is the gradual darkening of understanding that comes through allowing sin into our lives little bit by little bit, like the smudges that occur on our lenses.  And we will not even know when our understanding begins to be darkened, for that is part of the very blindness, lack of clear thinking.

Recently we watched with our teens a ragingly popular movie that is largely uncontested. Yes, admittedly, it is part of a group of movies highly engaging to young men—understandable, and not overtly awful.  But what does it teach a young man about a woman completely severed from all relationships and autonomous—that becomes endearing to us as we watch her adorable self, despite her sleeping wherever?  And the brute force with which he defends his life and personal liberty even against legitimate law enforcement—as compared to the WWII movie we watched soon after that, equally as violent but portraying men who were giving their lives, their selves, for the sake of others, for others’ freedom? 

Do our children learn to think about what they are being taught to love?  To accept?  To treat as normal?  How does it match up with our pursuit of holiness?  With what God reveals of His thoughts?  Does it tell the truth?  Sometimes pretty gritty stories at least tell the truth.  Sometimes family friendly movies lie like a carpet.  Shocking what gets under the radar and we don’t even see that it is teaching our hearts that which God has expressly spoken against.

Our mental basket does have a way of defining who we are becoming.

"Earth's entertainments are like those of Jael:  her left hand brings me milk; her right, a nail." --CH Spurgeon