Can Christians do this?

[Ashley755]

So, here is an but of an uncommon question.

I know Christians are not supposed to delight in evil. But imagine, in something fictional like a movie, or a book, someone did something I found humorous, though the action itself was be morally wrong. Could I laugh? Would it be permissible? Would taking amusement in something like that, even if it was only in a made up story, be harmful to the soul?

What do you guys think?

 

[Doug Melven]

I myself am a sci-fi fan. Specifically of fantasy like Wheel of Time by Robert Jordan.
I have read other series and had to quit because of something in the book. Like the Legend of the Seeker series has some not good parts in it.

I heard an illustration once where some kids wanted to go see a movie that had just a little bit of questionable content. And the father said they could go see the movie but they had to try some brownies he made first.
They said OK and just as they were about to take there first bite the father told them I think you should know
I put just a little bit of dog poop in the mix, not much just a little.

The kids refused to eat the brownies.
Stories that have questionable content in them are equivalent to just a little bit of dog poop.

 

[Presbyterian Continuist]

I love 1950s westerns. I watch them for relaxation. I have just watched a whole series of the Granada TV Sherlock Holmes with Jeremy Brett.

 

[Greg J.]

It's easy to get judgmental about such matters, because answering a question like this depends a lot on where someone is along their walk of faith. Strictly speaking, we cannot apply what we believe God wants "me" to do to other people. Even in the case of clear sin, we might know that no one should sin, but we do not know that someone else should stop a certain sin right away. We can tell them about Jesus, though. When we come to Christ we have an array of sin problems. I haven't met anyone that "just" stopped them all when they were saved.

New Christians need to be taught that their new #1 goal in life is to know Jesus himself (knowing about him through Scripture is how we start [and continue]). That is why we need to live according to the Spirit, so that each of us will be led by the Spirit. We need the Holy Spirit to guide us in our faith journey, which includes being convicted of some sins such that we feel pressure to stop doing (but not all of them at once).

For if you live according to the sinful nature, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live, because those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. (Romans 8:13-14, 1984 NIV)

God is looking for people who will give him their whole hearts. God loves and helps those that do so fully without limit.

 

[Sabertooth]

To the OP, there were things that I didn't have a problem with as a young Christian that I find distasteful now, as @Greg J. wrote. Nobody twisted my arm to change. It just became clearer as I read the Word and walked with the Holy Spirit.

Paul wrote [in 1 Corinthians 10:23],
“All things are legitimate [permissible—and we are free to do anything we please], but not all things are helpful (expedient, profitable, and wholesome). All things are legitimate, but not all things are constructive [to character] and edifying [to spiritual life]." AMPC

 

[Neogaia777]

Asking a person what is humorous to them, is like asking them what is beautiful or art to them, and you get many different responses, so, are any of them "wrong"...?

Are we supposed to feel convicted about certain kinds of humor and or laughing...? And are we to try and change it, if we are supposed to...?

God Bless!

 

[royal priest]

It would depend in large part on what we thought was humorous and why. Sometimes it isn't even humor that provokes laughter. Sometimes we laugh when something unexpected happens. But we do need to be very careful about the source of humor. For instance, the homosexual community uses humor and fun as a means of disarming societies negative view of their sin. We need to be on guard because humor has a way of distracting from the sober and serious elements of a subject.

 

[Sabertooth]

Are we supposed to feel convicted about certain kinds of humor and or laughing...? And are we to try and change it, if we are supposed to...?

I don't believe that it is question of whether we are supposed to feel one way or another. I think that spiritual maturity tempers one's sense of humor just like physiological maturity does. What had you rolling in the aisles at 5 or 12 (in school) probably doesn't seem as funny at 25, etc.

 

[royal priest]

We need to be on guard because humor has a way of distracting from the sober and serious elements of a subject.

Having said that, humor and cheerfulness when used according to biblical principle, are necessary gifts from God. Proverbs 15:15; Ecclesiastes 9:7

 

[Neogaia777]

I don't believe that it is question of whether we are supposed to feel one way or another. I think that spiritual maturity tempers one's sense of humor just like physiological maturity does. What had you rolling in the aisles at 5 or 12 (in school) probably doesn't seem as funny at 25, etc.

Some people's humor strikes me as evil or wicked sometimes, (now, didn't always) is that wrong...?

God Bless!

 

[Sabertooth]

Some people's humor strikes me as evil or wicked sometimes, (now, didn't always) is that wrong...?

Even when it didn't strike you as such, it was probably still evil. God just extended grace when He hadn't dealt with that yet. That process is called sanctification.

 

[LoricaLady]

So, here is an but of an uncommon question.

I know Christians are not supposed to delight in evil. But imagine, in something fictional like a movie, or a book, someone did something I found humorous, though the action itself was be morally wrong. Could I laugh? Would it be permissible? Would taking amusement in something like that, even if it was only in a made up story, be harmful to the soul?

What do you guys think?

Since you asked, I will be very frank. The problem doesn't start with you laughing, which your conscience is telling you is not right. The problem starts with that you are watching that kind of stuff at all. Almost all secular "entertainment" laughs at and mocks, or at least leads away from, Biblical values. We are all so used to seeing everyone engaged in watching it that it seems okay. It's not.

I felt led years ago to give up T.V. and though it took some prayers, I did, and have not missed it a bit. You can get your news online or on your smart phone through reading or watching non t.v. sites. You can get entertainment by listening to wonderful audio books online, or watching Biblical moves and such. As this culture, mho, keeps veering more and more deeply into anti Christian values as time goes by, I have found that fiction and movies are more likely to promote, or at least not conflict with, Biblical values the more back in time they are.

 

[Anna Therese]

So, here is an but of an uncommon question.

I know Christians are not supposed to delight in evil. But imagine, in something fictional like a movie, or a book, someone did something I found humorous, though the action itself was be morally wrong. Could I laugh? Would it be permissible? Would taking amusement in something like that, even if it was only in a made up story, be harmful to the soul?

What do you guys think?

It is a sin to delight in evil. Many sins are committed by the reading of immoral books and immoral television shows and movies. A person who takes delight in immorality of any kind is himself immoral.

 

[Dave-W]

So, here is an but of an uncommon question.

I know Christians are not supposed to delight in evil. But imagine, in something fictional like a movie, or a book, someone did something I found humorous, though the action itself was be morally wrong. Could I laugh? Would it be permissible? Would taking amusement in something like that, even if it was only in a made up story, be harmful to the soul?

What do you guys think?

I would say it is NOT wrong unless you sense God convicting you to change it. And to understand that; you need to realize there is a HUGE difference between God's conviction and condemnation which comes from either our own warped conscience or the devil or from others trying to impose some legalistic standard on us.

 

[RestoreTheJoy]

So, here is an but of an uncommon question.

I know Christians are not supposed to delight in evil. But imagine, in something fictional like a movie, or a book, someone did something I found humorous, though the action itself was be morally wrong. Could I laugh? Would it be permissible? Would taking amusement in something like that, even if it was only in a made up story, be harmful to the soul?

What do you guys think?

I think guarding your mind - your "eye gates and ear gates" if you will, is important, as these allow access to the enemy to gain entry to your thoughts. If you wouldn't be proud of it, proud to announce it to the church on Sunday morning or to grandma and grandpa, don't do it, I say, as a general rule.

God's not waiting to strike you if you laugh at stuff. It isn't that. It's about your level of relationship and your ongoing commitment to keep yourself pure (even if you fall from time to time) and we are all growing in this every single day.

 

[Daniel Marsh]

So, here is an but of an uncommon question.

I know Christians are not supposed to delight in evil. But imagine, in something fictional like a movie, or a book, someone did something I found humorous, though the action itself was be morally wrong. Could I laugh? Would it be permissible? Would taking amusement in something like that, even if it was only in a made up story, be harmful to the soul?

What do you guys think?

Mark 14:52
but he ran away naked, leaving the cloth behind.

2 Maccabees 4:38 Antiochus became so angry that he tore off Andronicus' royal robe, stripped him naked, and marched him around the city to the very spot where Onias had been murdered. Then Antiochus had this bloodthirsty murderer put to death. This was how the Lord gave him the punishment he deserved.

enjoy a good laugh

 

[2PhiloVoid]

So, here is an but of an uncommon question.

I know Christians are not supposed to delight in evil. But imagine, in something fictional like a movie, or a book, someone did something I found humorous, though the action itself was be morally wrong. Could I laugh? Would it be permissible? Would taking amusement in something like that, even if it was only in a made up story, be harmful to the soul?

What do you guys think?

For me, it depends on what exactly the core message and value set is. For instance, I very much enjoyed watching Nicholas Cage's two Ghost Rider movies, and I found a lot in them that, even though they make for terrible theology and are fairly dark and kind of gritty and edgy in their outlook, provides me some interesting hermeneutical and ironic spiritual motifs over which to ponder.

However, I've also seen the two Deadpool movies, and the central core messages of those films seem to reflect a much more negatively charged, even forlorn sense of existentialism and a questionable ethics which just doesn't sit well with me when fully analyzed---despite the humor therein.

So, again, I'd say: "It depends."

 

[Daniel Marsh]

from I cor 13:6 "rejoiceth with the truth"
I take the evil part to be false doctrine or false teachings.

 

[Neogaia777]

So, here is an but of an uncommon question.

I know Christians are not supposed to delight in evil. But imagine, in something fictional like a movie, or a book, someone did something I found humorous, though the action itself was be morally wrong. Could I laugh? Would it be permissible? Would taking amusement in something like that, even if it was only in a made up story, be harmful to the soul?

What do you guys think?

Sarah laughed... She was doubting God, and God may have took it as mockery of him...

God Bless!

 

[EzekielsWheels]

I go with the old adage that you are what you eat. Same thing with consumption of media of all types. It's sad because there are certain comedians like Mitch Herbert and some of their material doesn't need to be blasphemous to be funny, it's just observational humor. I tried to watch it but the blasphemy and cursing chafed me.