Eating Poop?!?

Today I’m doing a follow up to a post I did earlier this week about what I’ve been learning in the book of Ephesians, and if you didn’t read it then, you should probably click here and read it now, or this won’t make as much sense. This is some more of what’s been going on between me and God.

I know many of you did not have the pleasure of my acquaintance when I was in high school, so for your sakes, let me give you some background. I am a preacher’s daughter (and on a side note, I also married “the son of a preacher man" :) Anyway, my parents are strong Christians and they did a lot of things right when they raised me.

One thing they were always very particular about was what we watched on TV. There was a looong list of shows we couldn’t view for one reason or another – and though I didn’t always think so back then, their reasoning was usually pretty good. I’m not saying I never went behind their backs and snuck in a show or two that wasn’t allowed, but for the most part, I stuck by their rules. Flash forward to “the college years”. I attended a Bible college. They were (unbelievably) stricter than my parents when it came to TV. There were ways to get around the rules (there always are) but when all you can watch in your dorm is basically news or sports well…I didn’t do a whole lot of TV watching.

I graduated college, got married and suddenly, a newfound freedom – I could watch whatever I wanted! Now, I had boundaries for myself. There were and still are shows that I won’t watch. But there are a lot of shows that have crept into my regular viewing habits that are less than edifying. Not only do they not build me up…they are tearing me down.

I’m not going to make a list here of all the shows I think are appropriate or inappropriate, because my point is NOT to be legalistic on what is ok or not ok. That is something between each individual and the Lord.

The problem for me is I’ve now grown so accustomed to some of the inappropriate content in what I watch, that all too often, I don’t even notice it’s there. Worse yet, I have started to think some of it is funny.

Enter these verses:

But among you there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or 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 (Ephesians 5:3-4 -- emphasis mine)

The notes in my study Bible describe the “obscenity, foolish talk, or coarse joking” this way:

“Any speech that is obscene and degrading or foolish and dirty, as well as suggestive and immoral wit.” (emphasis mine)

So I decided to play a little game I like to call “Strikeout”. This is what my parents did with movies and TV shows that we watched growing up. The rules? The show (or movie) gets “3 Strikes”. It might be an inappropriate joke, scene, etc. Three strikes and, “Yer Out!” Off goes the show. I played this with several of my favorite shows. Would you like to guess how they fared? One show didn’t even make it 5 minutes…I was honestly shocked. I have been tuning out a lot of junk.

John MacArthur, in his commentary on Ephesians says this and I’m quoting him because -- well, he puts it better than I can!

Many Christians do not expose and rebuke evil because they do not take it seriously. They laugh and joke about things that are unadulterated wickedness, that are immoral and ungodly in the extreme. They recognize the sinfulness of those things and would likely never participate in them; but they enjoy them vicariously from a distance. In so doing, they not only fail to be an influence…but are instead influenced by it – contaminated by it to the full extent that they think and talk about it without exposing and rebuking it…To ignore it is to encourage it; to keep quiet about it is to help promote it (emphasis mine)

My friend Lindsey made a point once – would you eat brownies if you knew they had just a little poop in them? I mean, just a little bit. You probably wouldn’t even taste it. The answer (for most of you I’m hoping :) is no. Poop is poop, and it doesn’t belong in the body, that’s why it comes out …and ya don’t put it back in. Even if you don’t taste it, it can make you sick.

Well, I’m telling you, I am done eating poop. It is not going to be easy. I know it’s going to take work. In my head I’m already thinking (whining), “But I won’t be able to watch hardly ANY TV!” And God is probably smiling down at me saying, “And is that REALLY such a bad thing?”

No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it (Hebrews 12:11)