There is a Difference Between Watching a Video at Home and Going to the Movies.

 

I used to go to the movies a lot before I got saved at the age of 34.  I went to the movie house afterwards a few times, but I no longer felt comfortable there.  Even though my choice in what I wanted to watch had drastically changed.  It did not feel right to be there.  So I quit going.  However, I do watch a FEW SELECT movies at the house from time to time and did not get the same uncomfortable feeling.  Now the point of this article is not to discuss what is ok or not ok for a Christian to watch.  I am going to stick to what is the difference between watching the same movie at the movie house vs. watching it at home.  There is a difference.  Some will call you a hypocrite if you will not go to the movie house but you will watch them on the TV.  I have heard this before and you probably have to.  I heard it for years and could not give them a very good answer.  My answer sounded kind of shallow.  So I decided to go to the movie house one more time and watch a “safe” movie.  I did not have much of a choice.  Almost all of it is garbage.  So my wife and I picked out something that did not sound too bad and went.  But this time I was going to pay close attention to what was different from watching this same movie at home. 

 

1 The People

 

I noticed the first difference before we even got in the theatre.  It felt more like a party atmosphere.  The parking lot was jammed full, people were cutting people off, horns were honking, and people were cussing at one another.  After I finally found a parking space and got out of the car I heard the most awful sounds.  Boom Boom Boom went the noise as cars drove past us as we walked.  And the people were yelling and hollering continually.  There were several groups of “adults” and groups of teens that were looking like they were going to have sex right there in the parking lot!  I thought to myself well here is the first difference.  I would not be subjected to this at home.  Now you can’t go out anywhere without getting some of this today.  Even if you go to Wal-Mart.  But not at this level!  Strike one for the movies and I had not even got into the theater yet.

 

2 The Music

 

We get our tickets and find our seats before the previews started.  I did not want to have to fight for a seat.  And strike two happens.  They are playing the most awful noise over the theater speaker system that I have ever heard in my life.  It was loud, with a hard beat.  This music had no melody or harmony at all.  They were not even singing.  Some of the stuff that the guy was saying in this “music” is not even fit to repeat!  I was sitting there thinking this movie that is about to start is rated for children and they are playing this hate filled garbage.  At this point I said well I got two strikes against the movie house verses my home and I can’t take any more of this so I was just about to leave when the music stopped and the previews started.  So we stayed thinking that the worst was over.  After all the rest of this we would watch at home right?  Wrong again!

 

3 The Previews

 

The first preview was ok.  The second one was filled with violence.  The third preview only started and it was horrible.  I remember seeing a message before the previews (I don’t remember the exact words) that it carried the idea that the previews had been rated and approved for all audiences.  Either they lied.  Or they have a perverted idea of what is ok for children to see!  Strike three for the movie house.  I do not have to be subjected to the previews at home.

 

4 The Movie

 

All we had to go on to make our choice was a commercial we saw on TV, and the movie poster we saw before we got our tickets.  Not much to go on.  The movie was going on ok for quite a while.  I was actually enjoying seeing the scenery on the big screen.  And then it happened, all the sudden the movie turned into what I would call a rated R.  How can they in good conscience approve this stuff for children?  The answer of course is that they don’t have one.  We were trapped in the middle of the row.  I was thinking stupid, stupid, stupid, why didn’t we seat where we could escape.  We closed our eyes and held our ears hoping that we could guess when it was over.  What I would have given for a remote control right then.  The main point here is that you decide to watch something at home and it turns out that it is not what it was represented to be, and then you have a remote.  You watch something at the movie house and you have to endure the bad part or leave.  If a movie has one bad scene you can fast forward at home.  But not at the movie theater.  When the movie industry sells their wares, they are not very honest about what you are buying.  You cannot trust their rating system.  Now remember I am sticking to the difference between watching something at home and at the movie theater and not what is ok to watch.  But in my opinion, very very little that Hollywood produces today is any good for consumption.

 

5 The Exit

 

The ordeal was finally over.  I was thinking how much worse it was than I remembered it being.  Was my memory that bad, had I changed that much since I was a babe in Christ, or had it gotten that much worse in the years since I had been there?  Or was it a combination of all three?  I was glad that it was over.  But wait, it was not over.  The awful music started again.  We were trying to get to the exit but it was clogged with people.  Then the “lady” in front of us started going into convulsions.  I was thinking about yelling for a medic when I realized that her convulsions were in step with the awful beat.  Somehow she was able to stay on her feet and get thru the exit.  Her convulsions stopped as soon as she got out of the range of the “music”.  Then I noticed the people who were getting out of the other movies, most of which were R rated, and they seemed to be different than when they went in.  They were even more wound up than they were 2 hours before.  If I would have remembered it like this, I would have never walked into that place.  I had committed a sin by going.  I now had to pray and ask God for His forgiveness, and I asked Him to keep from EVER doing it again.  Wanting an answer to the question what is the difference between watching something at home and watching the same thing at the movie house did not justify the wrong that I did by going.  What did I do wrong you ask?

By being in association with the party even though I did not party myself.  We are to be separate. 2 Cor 6:17 Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you.

 

By hearing that awful music. Eph. 5:19 Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord;

Our music is to be spiritual and not fleshly.  Our music is to have melody and not beat.

 

By getting a few glimpses of things before I could shut my eyes in the previews.   

Psalm 101:3 I will set no wicked thing before mine eyes:

And if you think about it a while you can find many more things that I did wrong by going. 

 

Even IF you can find a good movie to watch, you can not escape the other wickedness that you will be exposed to by going to the movie theater.  There is a difference between watching something at home and watching it at the movie theater.

 

 

 

 

 

In world war two,  there was a commander of a submarine named Commander Gilmore.  This country was fighting for our freedom.  If we lost we would have lost our freedom and been nothing more than slaves.  His boat was in a fierce battle.  He had sunk 3 japanese destroyers.  They were all out of Torpedos.  There was no time to get more.  The battle was raging.  He gave the order and his Sub rammed another destroyer.  The destroyer was mortally wounded.  It was going down to its doom.  The commander raced forward to check the damage.  And he got wounded.  His first mate was coming to help him.  but the commander told him NO.  CLOSE THAT HATCH AND DIVE NOW.  For you see the destroyers guns were turning to fire on the sub before the destroyer sank.  There was only moments before the guns could fire.  The first mate objected  but I can get you in a moment.  The commander said that is a direct order CLOSE THAT HATCH AND DIVE.  He knew full well what that order meant for him.  It meant a watery grave.  He gave his life so that all of his crew could be saved.
That's what Jesus did for you.  He gave his life that we could be saved.  Satan is our destroyer.  And he is training his guns on you.  And it could be only moments before he fires.  But I got great news.  Jesus did not stay dead.  In three days he rose again and acended into heaven.   And we too can have a home in heaven if we will but believe.