26th August 2018
Should being a Christian affect what you watch and listen to? Join Esther Calvert-Jordan as she reflects on Proverbs 4...
Read: Proverbs 4
I love music, I don’t think I go a single day without listening to something.
But, when I became a Christian my taste in music changed dramatically, not in regards to the way the music sounds but the message that it conveys (I still love a bit of Caribbean Soca or RnB!). I became conscious of the need to ‘Guard my heart with all diligence, for out of it are the issues of life’ (Proverbs 4:23).
I understood that I needed to be mindful of the things I was allowing to get into my heart, knowing that the doorways to my heart are my senses. Considering that my life was going to be shaped by what I allowed to get into my heart was, for me, a call to action.
Recounting the times when I used to go clubbing during my first year of university, I remember the way the song that was played would change the atmosphere. There were certain songs that when played were guaranteed to spark some kind of fight or argument, I wasn’t surprised when I heard that certain songs had been banned in the club.
It wasn’t long into my relationship with Jesus that I stopped listening to certain music or watching certain TV shows or films that didn’t have an edifying message. Not because I thought God was going to punish me for listening or because I was trying to follow ‘the rules’ but because I understood that it was to my benefit to be conscious of what I was letting influence my life. I knew that what I watched or heard had the ability to be reproduced in my life – so I might as well make it something good. I decided to be intentional about what I was letting into my heart.
For me, if it was something that was going to inspire thoughts or actions that weren’t in line with the direction I had been given by God in his word, I just disconnected myself from it. And that’s another part of this whole passage that resonates in my heart, the countless benefits of responding to the wisdom that God gives me in his word. Not because his wisdom is about rules or restriction, but his wisdom is life, it’s direction, it’s protection, honour and so much more.
For me reading this passage gives me a helpful reminder that my life as a Christian is not a passive one, there are things that I need to do. God isn’t going to guard my heart, that’s my job. And if it is my job then I’m also responsible for what happens in my life as a product of what I let in.
I choose that the information that I feed myself with whether it be music, television, newspapers, whatever it is; will inspire courage, faith, hope and love. And in a world where the media is bent on promoting fear and division, I think it’s so important that I ‘diligently’ defend my heart from unwanted intruders.
Esther Calvert-Jordan
Content Innovator for Scripture Union England and Wales
Living to be God's outstretched arms of love to the people and nations of the earth. Passionate about touching lives with the love of Jesus and equipping others to do the same.