I made a good decision this weekend, but it took me a bit too long to make it. I decided to stop watching a show I used to love.

Several years ago, I went through a real intense growth period in my Christian life. I was learning a lot from the Lord and learning it fast. One of the decisions I made during that time was that I didn’t want to be entertained by things like sexual jokes, adultery, cursing, vulgarity and cruelty. I knew that God had called me to live with purpose and for Him, and I didn’t want anything coming in my way.

Then my friends started telling me how funny this show is. I stayed away from it for a while, but I finally gave in last month. Man did I love that show! I even finished 28 episodes (2 seasons) in less than a month.

Then recently, in passing, I heard someone mention that they don’t watch the show because of all the garbage in it. At first, I was ready to defend it as a “clean” show–there’s nothing vulgar, it’s not that bad. But then I thought about all the stuff I had been entertained by:

• Adultery is completely accepted as normal
• Jokes about sex and body parts happen every few minutes
• A sprinkling of cursing
• Lots of drinking

I realized that all the things I didn’t want to be a part of were now a regular part of my life. So I turned it off and I’m not going back.

As a leader in the body of Christ, living above reproach is not an option to me. I know that the foundation of my ministry isn’t “strategy” or smooth words, but the lifestyle I live.

The Lord commands us to “Be holy, because I am holy” (Lev. 19:2, 1 Peter 1:16), although I still can’t say I understand this completely considering we are saved by grace. But Paul also says that “among you there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity, or of greed, because these are improper for God’s holy people” (Eph. 5:3). Sometimes choices like this are hard for me to make, but they are important to make.

In youth ministry, I think these hard decisions are even more important. Every student I know watches me like a hawk. They probably know a lot more about me than I realize, and no matter what I tell them, my lowest standard somehow always turns into their highest standard. I’ve never seen “Do what I say, not what I do” work with teens.

So I often ask myself several questions: Are there standards in my life that I’ve let slip? I try ti picture the jokes I laugh at on TV, in movies and at home. Would I be comfortable sharing them in front of students or my pastor? Why or why not?

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