Spiritual Warfare in Entertainment

I'm not one to talk much about spiritual warfare. In a practical sense, I don't think the Bible emphasizes it a great deal--at least it doesn't specify the parameters of the war that rages around us. We of course know that there is a great conflict between light and dark here, but we know little of it's actual shape.

I've been reflecting a bit on yesterday's post, though, and I can say that I do think that one of the primary ways Satan seeks to derail us is through distraction and mindlessness. C. S. Lewis has popularized this idea in his Screwtape Letters. I don't buy all of Lewis's ideas, but there is something worth considering there. I've thought about this in relation to Ipods. It used to be that when you walked somewhere, or worked on something, or stood in line, you were more or less forced to engage those around you or, if alone, forced to think and contemplate and perhaps even pray, if you were particularly redemptively minded. Nowadays, though, our favorite artists walk with us everywhere. Long drive in the car? Bring your favorite downtempo cd. Long walk across campus? Don't pray for those ten minutes--listen to that familiar favorite you've heard a thousand times. Standing in line? Don't engage someone in conversation--just turn up the tunes and avoid social interaction altogether. In small ways, we are in a battle to be spiritually minded and to shrug off the quick, the easy, and the entertaining to actually fasten ourselves to something lasting and good.

I love good music and I listen to it daily. But I'm also reminded often of the need to steward the resources available. I must regularly remind myself that entertainment is not the master of me. Such a suggestion is an attack, albeit a quiet, easy-to-heed one. No, I am the master of entertainment, and I must pray that I do not become so mindless, so bored, so desperate for the perpetually blissful state of the entertained that I miss out on quiet moments with my God.