Are you not entertained?

In the movie Gladiator, Russell Crowe plays Maximus Meridius who is sold into slavery as a gladiator.

After a brutal fight to the death, Maximus raises his voice to the baying crowd and exclaims sardonically: ‘Are you not entertained?’ Yes, we are entertained. The Romans were entertained by the vulgar carnival of the gladiators. And we go and see the movie to be entertained.

Entertainment invades every corner of our lives, from our mobile phones to the sports field, to an endless array of leisure pursuits. Often, the Christian response is to view ‘worthless’ entertainment as a diversion from the real and fruitful life. And that we need to try harder to live more productive, less diverted lives.

But I wonder: is entertainment a reflection of our human weakness? Or is it, in fact, a mirror towards God? Are we, in fact, created for entertainment?

At first glance this may sound strange, but entertainment encompasses the many and varied ways that we find enjoyment in life. And it seems hardwired within us. Writer Doug McManaman makes the interesting point that the Latin word ‘humus’ is both the root word for ‘human’ and for ‘humour’. To be human, is to be humorous.

And humour seems like one of our most primal instincts, beginning with our first smiles and giggles when we are tickled as babies. In every culture, children make toys from the simplest objects, and we accept that playing is fundamental to their development.

But when we become adults, playtime is suddenly labelled as a diversion that gives us a rest from the real purpose of our lives—which is, of course, work. Yet perhaps God didn’t intend for us to make that distinction. Perhaps play and work are equally part of God’s purpose for us.

We don’t go to the movies to learn; we go to the movies for the sheer enjoyment of it—and that, perhaps, is its power. God largely reveals himself to us in the Bible through stories. Even sports has been described as a type of narrative unfolding. Stories bypass cold, hard facts to wind their way into our hearts.

Stories and sports results also hold surprises—when we find out how a story or a game of sport ends, it spoils the experience for many of us. A sunset is made all the more beautiful when we turn the corner and are suddenly faced with its breathtaking panorama. Perhaps that speaks of how God loves to surprise us. God’s playfulness is one of his most astonishing characteristics. God intends for us to enjoy life. He calls us to find respite from work and pain, and to rest and laugh with him.

I think we love to be entertained because it helps us express the playfulness that God has created us for.

Our Christian tradition has tended to create a ‘hierarchy of worthiness’: at the top are spiritual pursuits like reading the Bible and praying, then there is work—preferably hard work, there’s family and friends, and at the very bottom is rest, relaxation and recreation.

The problem with this is that we can easily fall into the belief that time watching TV, for example, is time away from God. In reality, God infiltrates every aspect of life. He loves to spend purposeful quality time with us, as we do with our dearest friends. But he is a

Also present in our interactions with our family, in our work and in our rest time. To compartmentalise our lives into the ‘spiritual’ and the ‘secular’ is a false distinction.

This provides both a wonderful freedom and a challenge: how do we spend our entertainment time in a way that invites God’s presence?

So, would God watch Shortland Street? Well, it’s not as simple as: God approves of watching documentaries, but doesn’t approve of binge-watching Shortland Street. A better way to think of our entertainment time is to ask questions about how it fits in with God’s wider purposes of freedom, holiness and rest for us.

Jesus clearly taught that we should guard ourselves against evil: ‘The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are healthy, your whole body will be full of light,’ he says in Matthew 6:22. This is found in a passage where Jesus also talks about storing up treasures in heaven. The basic principle here is that what we allow into our lives will affect us spiritually. We can either choose light and life, or we can choose darkness.

As Gladiator powerfully portrays, entertainment can become ugly and hellish if we don’t guard ourselves. But when we invite Jesus into our entertainment, it has the potential to become a taste of heaven and a lamp of light.

By Ingrid Barratt