Media and My Heart

In the book we’re featuring this week, Worldliness: Resisting the Seduction of a Fallen World (you can order it at a special sale price at ginormous sale ), Pastor Craig Cabaniss offers some great questions for people of all ages in how they relate to media.

Heart Questions

• Why do I want to watch this program or film? What do I find entertaining about it?
• Am I seeking to escape from something I should be facing by watching this? Am I seeking comfort or relief that can be found only in God?
• What sinful temptations will this program or film present?
• Do I secretly want to view something in it that’s sinful? Am I deceiving myself by saying “I’ll fast-forward through the bad parts”?
• Similarly, am I telling myself, “I’ll just visit this web site once, and I won’t click on any other links I find there”?
• Am I watching because I’m bored or lazy? If so, what does that reveal about my heart?
• Am I watching simply because others are? Am I trying to be relevant or to fit in?
• How have my online relationships impacted my face-to-face relationships? How has my online activity impacted my soul? For better or worse?
• What motivates me to create and maintain a blog, MySpace, or Facebook presence? Am I attempting to impress others? Am I being prideful, slanderous, deceitful, or self-righteous?

Here is some additional perspective from Russell Moore on children and cell phones.

And from Al Mohler on social networking (Facebook, etc.) sites.