Influence of the Media - Maurice Warburton

Maurice Warburton brings several years of experience in online media to Listooder as we consider the influences the media has on our Christian lives. As co-founder of the website EternityWhere.com, Maurice has seen the positive impact that online communications can have for the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The dangers, however, are many, and this is the focus of Maurice’s message tonight. In Ephesians 2:2 we see the devil described as ‘the prince of the power of the air’. It has pleased God to allow the devil to have dominion over the air, the atmosphere, that which we breath, see, hear and speak through. Whether it be mobile phones, television waves or the internet, every form of communication travels through the air at some point along its journey, through the devil’s domain, and so it is not surprising to see his control and his influence upon these things. The media is being used by the devil to lie. The deity of our Lord is questioned in the media. So too is the authority of Scripture, the creation of the world, the moral standard for our lives. For many years, media has been used to carry lies which have turned many against the truth of Scripture. The media is being used by the devil to lull. The Word of God often asks that we ‘think’, ‘consider’, ‘behold’… To ponder the Scriptures can be a great revelation to our hearts, revealing what Christ has done for us. But the devil does not want us to think. The devil want to ‘amuse’ us, occupying our thoughts with mindless concepts, lulling us into a spiritual sleep. The media is being used by the devil to lead. Not only does the devil subtly ‘numb’ our minds to the Word of God, he also tries to lead us as far from God’s truth as he possibly can. Often the most lovable characters in a soap are those engaged in homosexuality, causing a conflict in our minds as we attempt to reconcile those feeling with the clear condemnation of Scripture. Much of most catchy and appealing music in the charts today promotes materialism, lust and many other concepts which, in any other situation, Christians would run from, yet music tends to pull us in. It is in all these circumstances that we must show great discernment, accurately employing the wisdom of God and the leading of the Spirit in our lives. Television in itself is not inherently wrong, nor is music, but whilst enjoying these gifts we have been given a responsibility of God to be disciplined, to be careful and to be wise, lest we allow the devil to lie to us, to lull us into spiritual sleep and to lead us into temptation.