If I didn’t have some semblance of self-control, I’d eat a bar of chocolate a day. Sometimes I still do. When I was in eighth or ninth grade, my literature teacher assigned “The Bitter Side of Sweet” as our reading.
The story is about young boys trapped as child slaves at a cacao farm in Africa. The work is incredibly dangerous. One day, a feisty girl arrives – she was kidnapped to prevent her mother from exposing slavery in the cacao business – and they try to escape.
It was heartbreaking. I couldn’t believe what I was reading, and further research proved many beloved candy companies source their chocolate from farms where children, like the main characters of "The Bitter Side of Sweet," were enslaved.
The story had such an impact on me, it changed the way I shop. Even seven years later, I don’t buy chocolate unless it’s labeled ‘fair trade.’
Entertainment is incredibly influential. Humanity is drawn to stories through film, literature, song and conversation.
“We are sort of built for stories,” said Steve Bailey, assistant professor of film and media arts. “…we like to hear stories. It reveals stuff about humanity and about us. We see ourselves in characters, and then we try to make sense of our world through watching other people live through it.”
Edward Meadors, professor of Biblical studies, said entertainment draws us into a narrative we participate in, allowing us to identify with the characters and experience the action, tragedy and comedy.
The stories people consistently put into their heads build patterns that shape the way they think.
“If it's a narrative that is in some way corrupt or unjust, immoral, unethical, then it has the potential to alter our thinking and give us an experience that is disadvantageous to our character development,” Meadors said. “It could be corrosive to our character development, because we're actually playing out sin.”
Scripture repeatedly calls us to focus on what is holy (Romans 8, Ephesians 4:22-24, Philippians 4, etc.). We are to “take every thought captive to obey Christ,” (2 Corinthians 10:5). The entertainment people pour into their hearts and minds can make this more difficult.
Stories appeal to people’s emotion, which is why, in my case, I stopped buying certain brands of chocolate. Emotion is powerful and can change minds.
This is why discernment in choosing entertainment is so important. Romans 12:2 says, “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.”
Discernment is so necessary in what we watch so we’re not influenced by the content we’re pouring into ourselves or our emotions. Of course, this doesn’t mean Christians should avoid all secular entertainment.
Bailey said he’s noticed that some Christians say they need to separate themselves from all entertainment and some who believe everything is on the table. The important thing is to strike a balance. Even a movie like the Greatest Showman contains Scriptural messages about forgiveness and reconciliation.
As students head into the summer, they’ll have more time for entertainment. What kind of stories will they fill their minds with – the vapid emptiness of shallow content, or solid stories that will point them to Christ?
