How I justify my shady actions...

I have commented before on the huge impact that the media has on society today. It seems to be becoming increasingly difficult for this generation to see how profoundly the medias messages shape their views and values, particularly regarding sexuality. Now, I realize I am included in this and I have sought to fight some of this influence personally by cutting out certain forms of music, TV shows, magazines and the like. *Let me pat myself on the back now.* So, considering my vast improvements, when I let that one song stay on the radio, or don't flip that show on TV, or I choose to rent that movie... it's not really a big deal, right???
"I just like the beat! I'm not paying attention to the lyrics!" and...
"I know that this show is not depicting sexuality accurately and they are just joking around... lets not get too legalistic about all of this," and my personal favorite argument...
"It's research. I have to know what the kids are watching and listening to these days!"
Riiight.
Well, that was what I was telling myself when the show Will & Grace came up with a friend of mine a few weeks ago. Now, part of me knew it was not a good, wholesome show. "But they are joking, and I know they are joking, so its all okay, right?" I said, trying to justify my own lame argument. My friend pulled out her journal and read for me a quote from Joshua Harris's book Not Even a Hint...
"Jesus Christ died to rescue me from darkness and sin. How can I winningly immerse myself in that darkness for the sake of entertainment? What a tragedy it is that I've sat idly by during movies and television shows and watched the very sin for which Christ had to die being laughed about, even celebrated."
Okay, I'll stop patting myself on the back now. As Joshua says, "Instead of saying, 'God I want to honor You. I don't want to put something before my eyes that celebrates sin,' I was saying with my actions, 'Sin isn't that big of a deal. I can take it in small doses.'"God does not call us to just cut back on the sin and impurity in our lives. No. He continues saying, "God calls us to the daunting standard of not even a hint." Often in my lukewarmness I realize that I do not want to eliminate all of these areas of sin and impurity from my life because, honestly, I feel like I won't have any fun and life will be tragic without it. But God gives us these rules because He wants something so much better than we even want for ourselves! As John Piper says in Future Grace, "We must fight it with the massive promise of superior happiness."
I believe what it truly takes is a change of heart. I must no longer view things with the mentality of discerning where it falls on the sin scale, but question if it is something that will lead me closer to God. So next time I wonder whether turning off that television show will really bring me greater freedom and joy in life, I will remember that God desires for us to be happy. Christ died to free us from sin (even that one being joked about in that song) because He is so in love with us and desires for us to live in true joy with Him. Who better to trust with guidelines for your life than the one who gave His life for you?