Confession of a Bad Christian Mum
Here are five things I did which will most likely put me on the blacklist of many Christians:
(5) We had a no-school week this week. Okay, this is not so bad because as homeschoolers we don’t have to follow the school schedule. Still, I thought it best to let you know.
(4) We decided to go to the movies. Again, not too bad, but I know some Christians who would not go near a cinema. Too many negative influences, you know. Still, I had these gift cards for the cinema as a birthday present and I decided to use them.
(3) We watched Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2. Okay, I am guessing this confession will pretty much put me in the ‘Naughty’ list
(2) I let ALL my children watch it. Their ages range from 14 down to 4. Yes, I know the movie has an “M” rating. Yes, it is dark and there is violence. (I’ve also let my children watch The Lord of the Rings.) I’m pretty sure this will definitely put me in the “Very Bad Mother” category.
(1) I don’t feel bad and would probably do it again. “Not a True Christian”
********************
For those of you who pay attention to these sorts of things, you would have noticed that I listed five things up there but the title of my post says ‘Confession’ (singular) and not ‘Confessions’ (plural). Was this a typographical error? Have I forgotten how to count? Have I become lax with my grammar as I clearly have with my morals? No, no, and no.
There was a time when I would have been the one passing judgment on someone who read the Harry Potter books and/or watched the movies.
So, the reason for this post is not to confess that I let my children read and watch Harry Potter, but to confess to once being a condescending, judgmental, holier-than-thou Christian and to ask for your forgiveness.
Posted on Friday, August 5th, 2011, in Christian Living and tagged Harry Potter. Bookmark the permalink. 20 Comments.
A Yewnique Life 
in response to number 4. I have never met a christian who doesnt watch movies. Lol
LikeLike
Hi, Jeyna, thanks for reading and leaving a comment. I know Christians who might watch movies at home (on DVD), but who would never go to the cinema lest it cause a weaker brother to stumble. Also, they want to avoid the trailers for the other movies.
LikeLike
I and my family have no problem going to the cinema and home schoolers working to a flexible schedule. What’s important is what does God think, not who is holier than though or not. So if I take my family to watch a film at the cinema or just a DVD at home, it’s the content that is important to God. TV goes in the same category. 90% of what’s on TV in my opinion is not fit or healthy for our christian spirit. Whether Harry Potter is on TV at home or at the Cinema along with many other films, I and my family will not watch it. Just to highlight a point, would any of you let your daughters work as a receptionist at a brothel? I think not. Then why would we expose our children to the den of fire where all sorts of possible influences could take place. Once they are adults, then they will make their own decisions. But as parents, God has given us a very special ministry to bring up our children in the ways of God. God commanded us to be a light in the world, but not to be of the world. That’s my 2 cents worth.
LikeLike
Thanks for reading and leaving a comment, Bob. I appreciate your input. I think your example of allowing our daughters to work as a receptionist at a brothel is a poor example.
You are right when you say that once our children are adults, then they will make their own decisions.
I once thought that being a Godly parent had to look a certain way. And if other parents veered from that ‘way’, then those parents were being bad parents, displeasing to God.
I think you are missing the point of my post. The point of my post is not about Harry Potter, but about once being condescending, judgmental, holier-than-thou person.
(FWIW, we watch almost no TV. As in, if we watch half an hour of TV in a week, that’s a busy week!)
LikeLike
I understand what you are saying. Perhaps I could have used a better example but at the end of the day, do 2 wrongs make a right? In other words, because if we think we are condescending or have spiritual pride to something bad, does that mean we should then expose our children and family to those bad influences? Are we trying to prove something to the world or even to our hearts that we don’t have to have such an attitude? True, God doesn’t like us to have spiritual pride which is what the pharisees had. But at the same time when Jesus went to the den of fire, ie: the traders in front of the synagogue or to have dinner with the tax collectors, or to talk to a prostitute, did he join them in their sins? No! He brought them out of the den into salvation or just turned the tables of the traders at the synagogue. It is HIS example we must follow. And as parents, we have a high responsibility to our children to reflect and teach that example and to not be entertained by the dark side. Different story, if you went there specifically to evangelise to people. But the point you make at the end of the day may hold up in man’s judgement, but not God’s. My only concern is His standards, not my human wisdom which is nothing compared to His.
LikeLike
My condescending attitude was not limited to Harry Potter. It transcended into other areas. I only mentioned HP because the HP cinema experience happened this week.
I really couldn’t evangelise at the cinema because it was a Thursday afternoon and there was hardly anyone there!
Oh, wait a minute! I remember a great teaching experience my children had! When we got there, there was NO ONE there to check our tickets. Really, we could have just walked into the cinema and no one would have known. It cost us $72 (less the Gift Cards) – and to think we could have gotten in for nothing! Don’t worry – I told the children that that would not have been an honest thing to do.
Once again, I re-iterate, I once thought that being godly looked a certain way and I imposed those ‘godly’ standards on others. And now, I am saying that I am sorry I did that.
I came across a great quote once. I can’t remember it word for word. I will try to look it up, but in the meantime, the gist of it is: Do not make a personal conviction a universal standard.
LikeLike
$72 dollars is outrageous. Highway robbery. The is the first thing I have read in this post that upset me.
LikeLike
1 Adult @ $18.00
4 Children @ $13.50 each = $54.00
Total = $72.00
Less Gift Cards – $60.00
I paid $12.00
But, yeah, highway robbery! We seldom go to the movies and you can see why. I was stunned, too. I thought the Gift Cards alone would be enough to get us all tickets and maybe even some left over to buy snacks. Obviously, I am not with it.
Later, I found out that prices are cheaper on Tuesdays $11.00 for everybody.
Thanks for reading and leaving a comment!
LikeLike
Lat reply. I think the bigger point here is the question that as parents, we all need to ask. Forget all the other stuff for a moment. Knowing God and His word, do you think He would say it would be OK to expose our children to certain things? If the answer is no, then why would we expose our children at the risk of increasing the chances they may not walk in God’s ways when they are old enough. The condescending attitudes etc shouldn’t come into this discussion. That is in fact the minor point, albeit, God does not like it when we have that attitude. My 5 year old daughter has seen Memo at the cinema and she watches “I love Lucy”. At the end of the day, the only good advice I can give you is to refer back to the only authority which is not me but God’s word, the Bible and see what He says. I would suggest that He would say No to spiritual pride and condescending attitudes and NO to exposing our children to things that are not right or appropriate. But please don’t believe me, just check His word.
LikeLike
For me, as grossly imperfect as I am, God and Hid word is my guiding standard, not the world.
LikeLike
Are you implying that I have not checked His Word, or prayed about it, or talked to other Christians? Because it sounds very much like you’re saying IF I had done all that, then I would have come to the same conclusion as you.
In case you missed it, except for my 4yo, all my children are older than yours. And my 4yo is a mature 4yo; it is a combination of her natural personality as well as being the last-born and having much-older siblings.
What is ‘right’ and/or ‘appropriate’ will vary from family to family and also from child to child within a family. It will also vary from age to age for a particular child.
I respect the decisions you have made for your family. I only hope that you will respect mine.
Haven’t heard of Memo. What is it about?
LikeLike
We each have our own responsibilities toward God. That’s between each of us and Him. Let’s leave it at that.
LikeLike
I’m just saddened by this.
LikeLike
What exactly are you saddened by, Bob?
And I still want to know what Memo is about.
LikeLike
The quote I was thinking of is: Never make a principle out of your experience; let God be as original with other people as He is with you. ~ Oswald Chambers.
LikeLike
I meant “Finding Nemo”. Right now, there is no point elaborating why I’m saddened. The contents of the discussion will give some clues, I’m sure.
LikeLike
Was there a special screening of “Finding Nemo” at the cinema? Because that movie came out in 2003, which would be before your daughter was born.
LikeLike
Elise was born later as she’s now 5. But every so often during Christmas holidays etc., there is often times a special showing for the kids.
LikeLike
OK, thanks for that. I wasn’t aware of that.
LikeLike
Thanks for sharing Bob, I think you raise some very important points. Only a few of our children have ever been to a cinema, and that was only because it was a film we were confident was suitable. We don’t watch free-to-air TV, mainly because there is very little worth watching, but also because we don’t want to expose our children to all the advertising. We limit our TV viewing to DVDs, and even then Marion and I pre-watch them, since we have found we can’t trust the ratings system. As parents we have a responsibility to protect our children from the influences of the world around them until they are of an age to make decisions for themselves; this is one of the reasons we choose to home school. I don’t want my children being sent out into a situation where they are bombarded with anti-Christian and/or humanist concepts before they are well-grounded in a biblical world-view.
As for Harry Potter, I’ve read four of the books and didn’t really have a problem with most of it – they are pure fantasy and a lot of fun, and the “witchcraft” they depict bears very little (if any) resemblance to the real thing. Nonetheless, I am greatly distressed when I walk through the children’s section of our local library and see how many books have been published in the genre by authors trying to get on the HP bandwagon. Unfortunately, most of these books are NOT pure fantasy, and depict witchcraft and horror stories in all their true detail. Sadly, HP turned out to be an innocent-looking tool that the enemy has used to invade young minds. For this reason, we have discussed HP in our family, but we have not read it or watched it. Fortunately there are many other wonderful books and movies available that are equally entertaining and uplifting.
As for being judgemental, it is very difficult not to be seen as judgemental when you make these types of choices. Once you make a choice in an obvious way because of what you believe to be biblical principles, others become defensive and will even accuse you of preaching at them, even if you’ve not said a word. We have experienced this on many occasions.
If my life preaches a message so be it; if others feel judged by my actions, I can rest in the knowledge that it is God and his Word that judges them, not me.
LikeLike