Right Thinking

“Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.” (Philippians 4:8, ESV)
We live in a world where very little is held sacred anymore. What do I mean? Things that I would never have dreamed of seeing or hearing on TV have become common place. Every aspect of personal hygiene is discussed in commercials, cursing and foul language are common to regular programming, not just confined to movies. Diseases that were not even mentioned in polite company are now paraded out before us with the idea that education is taking place to prevent others from contracting the same diseases.
Baloney. The commercials, the TV programs, the movies, all have one common goal and that is to titillate or to encourage people to desire to know what is sordid in life. It’s like adding sugar to foods; the sugar isn’t necessary to many products, but it gets the consumer to come back for more. We already know the end result of too many calories from sugar, but what about too much of the dark side of the world? Our minds are bombarded daily with sleaze, filth and horror. News programs don’t try to hold back on showing carnage but rather put up some flimsy warning to viewers, “May not be suitable to some audiences.”
So what’s the antidote for all of this? People have talked about how bad TV is getting since I was a teen and that’s more than forty years ago. Nothing has changed except the purveyors of the evil in our world have become bolder. You can unplug your TV. You can sell your computer. You can quit taking a paper. You can cancel your magazine subscriptions. And? And even those bold moves won’t entirely eradicate the darkness that is ever present. No, the real antidote is given in the book of Philippians. Walk with me through this verse. “Whatever is true. . .” We are so quick to latch onto things that we should know are patently untruthful when we should stand up for what is true. The Word of God is true and to think on the Word of God is to fill the mind with truthfulness. Once we begin thinking about things that are true, our view of the world begins to change. “Whatever is honorable. . .” Hollywood starlets carrying out immoral actions to be displayed on TV and in the magazines certainly isn’t honorable. I don’t need to know the latest episode in the sordid lives of celebrities. But what about the honorable deeds that happen everyday, right around me? Do I take time to think about those things? There are many honorable things done but they don’t make it into our newspapers. “Whatever is just. . .” I think we hear so much about injustice it is hard for us to think about things that are just. God is just. Christians should crave justice for everyone. We are bombarded with calls for rights, but the call for justice goes unheard. We should think about just things. “Whatever is pure. . .” There’s the one we really need to spend time on. We should think pure thoughts, not unholy, filthy thoughts. Once again, the antidote is to spend time in God’s word. When we reflect on the pure life of Jesus, our hearts are filled with light, not darkness. Whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, whatever is excellent, anything worthy of praise, these are the things we should be thinking about. We need to act decisively in this world, not merely go with the flow of what society is throwing at us. The goal of all that is lurid in what is euphemistically termed “entertainment” is our minds and our wallets. TV programs and movies need money and they get their money from sponsors. Sponsors want their products to sell and believe they will get more people to consider their products if they are connected to the latest seamy show. We need to be thinking about things that are beautiful, excellent, praiseworthy, lovely.
Thinking about what is good and pure rather than thinking about all that is evil in our world is a choice. It is the choice that Christians who are trying to live their lives incarnadine, lives colored blood red, will make because to take up your cross daily means to die to self, daily. And to die to self is to deny my mind the darkness, the evil, the vile things of this world and to replace that with the very thought of the Master. Jesus could see a "woman of the world" as a daughter of God, created by Him for that which is lovely, rather than to exploit her, even if only in the mind. Dying to self is the call of Jesus to every Christian who ever lived. Sunday morning pew sitting by itself will not insure protection from the evil one. Daily praying and meditating on God’s word will.