Entertainment is one of the seven mountains of influence that we have a responsibility to take for Jesus. The main stream of entertainment for a long time has been music and drama, but in recent decades, dance and comedy has taken a major role in this sphere of influence.
The advent of social media has also increased the rate at which video and comedy travels to the people. Dance has become a great entertaining tool today and it is arguably the greatest stream taking over all the streams of entertainment.
While the decadence in the entertainment industry is not the goal of this writing, I cannot ignore that there is a spike in immorality since internet has removed the gates of regulatory bodies that check the morality of songs and videos. Christians are gladly recognizing the sphere of influence, but, we must know where to draw the line. Let me share about each stream of entertainment.
Skit Makers Using Five-Fold Titles
The usage of the five fold offices by comedians as their stage name is one of the trends in this time. There are several Prophet this and Pastor that on stages today. At a point, it was looking like if you don't use Prophet in your stage name, you are not doing the right thing.
While I understand that some of these people are christians and they are trying to put some form of godliness in their work, it is wrong to use a five fold office as your stage name. Even if you function in that office in church, it shouldn't be associated with comedy. A spiritual office has its role in church and not in the marketplace.
A medical doctor who pastors a church is not a pastor in the hospital.You're not a pastor at work, neither are you a prophet. You may use the spiritual gifts to make your work better, but the spiritual office is meant for the church. To make matters worse, these comedians calling themselves prophets are doing immoral skits which means that they are not prophets. It is desecrating the office.
Dance
Like I noted earlier, dance is about the biggest entertaining stream today. All thanks to TikTok and Facebook Reels. I carefully say that dance is becoming a distraction to us today.
Dance in scripture, is for us to express our gratitude to God. Every culture has its own way of dancing which is all acceptable to God, but we should also know that dance can used to stir up demonic spirits. If God, the father of Spirits considers dance as a worship, then it qualifies as a way to also worship demons.
Some songs have no need for a danceable melody. We are so keen on entertaining ourselves in the church today. This is why sobriety, a biblical doctrine, is almost lost in our midst. Hymns played a huge role in causing repentance and intimacy with God until we changed the tunes and turned them into songs we can 'enjoy'.
I cring today when we sing those same hymns with dancing tunes so much that we don't pay attention to the lyrics again. Don't get me wrong. I'm not against dance, neither am I against any genre of music. I'm only saying we should be circumspect with dance. We dance to songs that we need to.
Today, we have a lot of carnal dances that have their root in immoral people and immoral songs. The church must draw a line.
Drama Ministry Turned To Comedy
These things began when a certain group- Alfa Sule (aka Otiganpa) invented what they called 'dance-drama'. I know many drama ministers have not forgiven them till now and rightly so, the invention posed drama to be a comedy thing than a ministration. The mess is still on ground till date.
Drama can have a comedy element, but drama in church is not comedy. Comedy had no place in any form ministry. Comedy makes us laugh, which is biblical and healthy, but when we gather as a church, there is no need for comedy. I have listened to a pastor saying God rebuked him for cracking too much jokes in his sermon. Entertainment is valid, but not in church! There is a line!
Entertainment Songs In Church
A lot of people say that those who listen to spiritual songs alone are religious. Well, don't be quick to conclude. For me, I think it is safe to stay with spiritual songs alone these days. Can a Christian listen to entertaining songs? Yes. Can a Christian listen to immoral songs? No. So, how do I identify an immoral song? This is where the line is. Many christians cannot draw that line so we get ourselves wet a whole lot.
Now, many christians ask if we should we have entertaining songs in church? Wow! Is it the same set of christians that cannot identify what an immoral song is that will know which one to sing in church? The truth is that many ministries pamper carnality and immaturity among themselves and this is why they permit some 'out-of-zion' practices during church service.
Conclusion
Entertainment is a valid sphere of influence, but it's use is being confused with what happens in church meetings. Church meetings has its role which is to edify and equip God's people for them to be able to do ministry. It's not for entertaining them.
Entertainment functions in promoting culture, stress reduction and creativity stimulation. The church is not cultural, neither is it the place to reduce stress. Entertainment has a high tendency to water down any discussion.
Some argue that entertainment can be used to bring people to church. Entertainment is not a ministry/kingdom tool. It cannot edify men to become like Jesus Christ. It never happened in the early church too. The line between ministry and entertainment is blurred today because we are not intentional about spiritual growth.
If we focus on spiritual growth in a church service, we will have little or no room for entertaining God's people because there a whole lot that God's people need in this time.
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