Entertainment

The Teeter-Totter Principle

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Al Menconi
President, Al Menconi Ministries
December 11, 2000

During a question-and-answer session after one of my seminars, a mother voiced a concern that seems to be on every parent's mind: "How can I talk to my son about his rock music without making him feel that I'm attacking him? He gets so defensive and he claims that his music doesn't affect him. How can I get him to see the impact this music is having on his life?" I could sense the pain in her voice. She knew she should do something, but her son had resisted everything she'd tried. She knew it was important to set entertainment guidelines, but she didn't want to destroy the communication she had with her child.

The best means I have found for doing this is to use a spiritual teeter-totter. It's a simple but effective model to show your children how music affects their lives. A teeter-totter (or see-saw) is a straight board balanced on a fulcrum. When the center of the board is placed on the fulcrum, it balances perfectly. When weight is placed on either side of the board, it will naturally tilt to the side with the most weight.

On a spiritual teeter-totter, the board is our spiritual life. The fulcrum is Colossians 2:8 which says, "Don't let others spoil your faith and joy with their philosophies, wrong and shallow answers based on men's thoughts and ideas, instead of on what Christ has said." This is the balancing point by which we can measure the weight/impact of entertainment in our Christian lives. Any weight placed on the board on either side of the balancing point means the board will tilt in one direction or the other.

Of course, nothing contradicts the teachings of Christ more than the philosophy of the Satanic Bible. People think the Satanic Bible teaches us to worship Satan through blood sacrifices and black masses. Actually the Satanic Bible say's the highest law is this: "Satan represents indulgence, rather than abstinence." In other words, do whatever you want to do, indulge yourself, if it feels good, do it! The ultimate rule of the Satanic philosophy is based on extreme selfishness. The next highest law says to deny Jesus and deny biblical values. This is the philosophy represented on the left side of the teeter-totter.

On the right side of the board is the philosophy of Jesus: "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me.' (Matthew 16:24). If we are going to live a Christian life full of strong faith and joy, we must learn how to deny ourselves and live for Him. In other words, the philosophy of Jesus is about giving and loving, not about taking and getting. Can you see how the philosophies of the Holy Bible and the Satanic Bible are total opposites?

The teeter-totter now becomes an effective tool to demonstrate the impact of entertainment on a Christian's life. Where does your child's music fit on the teeter-totter of their life? What is the philosophy of their favorite artist? Is it closer to the Satanic Bible or the Holy Bible? Does the lifestyle of the performer reflect a desire to live for Jesus or for self? Does this artist teeter towards Christ or totter toward Satan?

How the teeter-totter works
This simple illustration can help your children see the impact of music in their spiritual lives. It doesn't depend on rumors, ranting, raving, or a desperate argument to prove that a rock music is satanic. It takes the burden off the parent to be the judge. Scripture and your own child's evaluation will determine where the weight of their music falls. It will also help your children learn how to think for themselves about spiritual values, rather than waiting to be told what to think This is especially important when discussing music that doesn't seem obviously evil to them. Let me explain.

My wife and I set the guidelines for entertainment in our home. We do not allow any kind of music, television, videos or movies that are clearly against biblical values. These guidelines have been in effect since my daughters were born. There is no discussion about whether they can watch PG-l3 or R-rated movies (and it is getting harder to find PG movies that pass our guidelines). They don't argue to watch MTV or to buy an explicit album because those forms of entertainment are openly and blatantly against biblical values.

These guidelines were designed to steer my girls away from obvious extremes, but they still allowed a lot of freedom. It is merely a guide, they still have to make choices. As a father, I want to protect them from choices that are clearly on the extreme end of the teeter-totter, but I am willing to allow them to make decisions about entertainment that is closer to the middle. The extreme groups are easy to deal with—they simply don't belong in our home. The problem was how to encourage wise decisions on the relatively inoffensive ones.

On a teeter-totter, the heavier the weight and the closer to the end you set the weight, the easier it will tip. Any philosophy on the selfish side of our spiritual teeter-totter will make it lean toward the Satanic end. The more blatant the forms of sex and immorality, the heavier the weight on the board. For example, we could assign morally perverted groups like Marilyn Manson, Korn, or Eminem a value of fifty pounds of dead meat. Lightweight groups like Back Street Boys or Brittany Spears might only represent five pounds of negative spiritual weight. And, they would be placed closer to the fulcrum on the board.

Does that mean these groups are okay to listen to? That depends on whether you want to fill your mind, heart and soul with values that are slightly offensive instead of what is truly godly. A pound or two of negative material will not throw a spiritual life out of balance, if it is already weighted down with biblical values and the meat of God's Word. But what about a life where there is little or no weight given to Jesus and the values He teaches? Then any weight given to the satanic side, no matter how small, will tip the scales.

Another thing to consider is how much attention is given to the lightweight groups. An hour of Shania Twain or 'N Sync will probably not counteract hours of Rebecca St. James and the Newsboys, not to mention church, youth group and personal Bible study. But what about the young person who is obsessed with a certain secular group and listens to them hour upon hour?

Gradually, those little five-pound weights begin to add up. Each time they buy an album, put up a poster, or go to a concert, they add a little more weight to the impact of that group in their lives. Eventually, this may tip the scales away from God altogether, or contribute to a slide towards more obviously evil entertainment. The movement may be almost imperceptible at first, but over time it will become clear that their relationship with Christ is being affected.

I've seen this happen over and over again when I worked with youth. Young people often put a lot of time, money and effort into following their favorite groups. They dedicate a lot of emotional energy; enthusiasm and loyalty to their music. All this adds up, piece by piece, pound by pound. And what happens to the life of a young Christian when this weight builds up? Eventually it tips the scales in their Christian walk. This is why a believer should take inventory of his entertainment when he begins to struggle with his faith and joy

How about a balanced life?
Some people claim they have a balanced Christian life. Their teeter-totter isn't tilting in either direction. Their Christian activities are perfectly balanced with the negative philosophies they entertain themselves with. But let me point out that a level board on the spiritual teeter-totter is not a sign of a healthy Christian life. The goal is to have the scales tipping completely toward Christ. We do not reach the ideals of Matthew 16:24 by having equal parts of the world and Jesus in our lives.

This is a life that is neither hot nor cold. We can see what God thinks of this type of existence in Revelation 3:16. Christ says He desires us to be either hot or cold. He will spew us out of His mouth if we are lukewarm. The Greek word for "spew" in this passage is literally to regurgitate or vomit. In other words, lukewarm Christians make God want to throw-up. They make God sick!

The ideal Christian life is to completely lean on/toward Jesus. It means being sold out to Christ, demonstrating the faith and joy that only comes from a complete commitment to Him. This is the position of a proper Christian teeter-totter—an illustration of true Christian dedication. It should be the goal of everyone who claims to be a Christian.

Hopefully, you understand how the teeter-totter can be a marvelous tool for discussions about entertainment in your home. It can help your family see how entertainment affects their Christian walk. Even younger children can see the object lesson with this simple illustration. Use it to communicate with your children in a healthy balanced way in your home. Use it to help your children choose things that will help them grow close to Christ. Use it to teach your children how to make positive spiritual decisions for themselves based on biblical principles. Finally, use it to express your concern about your children's entertainment while still showing them love and acceptance. The teeter-totter is a valuable way to talk about today's music without attacking your children in the process.