A Question of Neutrality

I was talking with a group of friends last night, and as we discussed the biblical acceptability of certain media items such as specific books and music, the conversation turned toward the topic of “neutral” pleasures in entertainment. Now, it may be argued that there is no such thing as a neutral pleasure, one that is neither good nor bad in terms of moral content, but I believe that there are indeed such neutral pleasures in the world. The better argument may ask whether certain pleasures, though neutral in content, are in fact bad simply because of their neutrality. You are now thinking: “Well if something is bad because of its neutrality, then really it’s bad, and not neutral.” And this is precisely the question I will now seek to answer and explain.

The first point we must establish is that God has created us to be joyful creatures. To help us see this point, we shall consult the great Christian hedonist himself, John Piper. As he writes in When I Don’t Desire God: How to Fight for Joy,

“Oh, how easy it is to think we are what we ought to be when the emotions are made peripheral. Mere thoughts and mere deeds are manageable by the carnal religious mind. But the emotions—they are the weathercock of the heart. Nothing shows the direction of the deep winds of the soul like the demand for radical, sin-destroying, Christ-exalting joy in God.”

Joy is not limited to spiritual experiences, though. It is impossible to deny the connection between our emotions and our physical experiences. We may find joy in seeing the beauty of a sunrise. We may find joy in hearing a talented musician play in a concert. We may find joy in the smell of our favorite food. You get the idea. The question then becomes: Is joy derived from physical experience Christ-exalting joy?

To answer this, we must see that there is an unbreakable connection between our spiritual selves and our physical selves. God has created us as beings that are part spirit and part flesh. Paul writes, “It is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body. So also it is written, "The first man, Adam, BECAME A LIVING SOUL" The last Adam became a life-giving spirit. However, the spiritual is not first, but the natural; then the spiritual. The first man is from the earth, earthy; the second man is from heaven” (1 Cor. 15:44-47). As we see this connection, we must deduce that emotions which we experience in the flesh, such as joy, have some effect on emotions in the spirit. John Piper quotes C.S. Lewis as comparing this relationship of physical to spiritual as that between a piano and an orchestra.

“The spiritual life of emotion is higher and richer than the material life of physical sensation in the way a symphony orchestra is richer than a piano… As physical people with souls, we always experience spiritual emotions at both levels: the orchestra and the piano.”

Upon analyzing this illustration, John Piper concludes that “we use the physical world, including our own bodies, so that, according to the laws of God’s creation, joy in Christ will be more intense and more constant… there are some legitimate steps we can take at the physical, sensory level in order to properly increase our joy in God.” The answer to our first question is therefore yes, that joy derived from physical experience can be Christ-exalting joy.

Before we get into the argument of neutral pleasures, we must understand that there are steps involved in physical joy being transposed into spiritual joy in Christ. In Paul’s letter to Timothy we read that “everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with gratitude; for it is sanctified by means of the word of God and prayer” (1 Tim. 4:4-5). The first step is gratitude. We must cultivate a heart of gratefulness toward God for whatever pleasures we enjoy. The second step is to sanctify the pleasure through the Word of God and prayer. To sanctify pleasure by the Word of God is to adhere to all that God’s Word may say about a specific pleasure. For example: to sanctify pleasure in food and eating, we must not fall into gluttony, or overindulgence. And then, to sanctify pleasure by prayer, we must ask that God would open our eyes to see how He can receive glory through our pleasure. We must ask that God would instill in us joy in Him through His gifts.

It may now seem like I have gotten completely off topic, but everything I just have said is pivotal to understanding whether or not we can reconcile pleasure found in neutral entertainment. Let’s quickly define this neutrality, so that there is no room for misconception. From here on, I will use the example of music, but the same concept may be applied to movies, books, art, or any similar form of entertainment. I define a neutral song as any composition by a musician (regardless of whether the artist professes Christianity or not) which has no wording or implication that is morally unacceptable (according to biblical standard), and yet has no lyrical content that is directly edifying or Christian-themed. This is how I would define neutrality. For the sake of example, let’s say that this neutral song is really fun to listen to. Maybe it has a catchy tune, or clever wordplay. If I experience physical joy when I listen to this song, but that joy has no foundation in the actual content of the words of the song, is it then Christ-exalting joy, or is it simply a joy of the world?

I propose that the answer is dependent upon the individual. Remember Paul said that through gratitude, the Word of God, and prayer, anything may be sanctified. We have already decided that our example lyrics do not contradict or challenge the Word of God, so we’re okay there. Gratitude and prayer are in the hands of the individual experiencing the pleasure. If all these criteria are met, I believe that Christians can indeed experience true, Christ-exalting joy through pleasure found in neutral entertainment.

Here’s the problem: it is sadly uncommon to find Christians who actively critique their lives in regards to how they are balancing enjoyment versus idolatry in the neutral pleasures of life. I say idolatry because if we do not take the proper steps to sanctify our joy and recognize Christ as the source of our joy, then indeed we are finding joy in something entirely apart from Christ and therefore committing idolatry. The challenge we face is to be constantly and actively analytical about our enjoyment in neutral pleasures. This is not to say that we cannot relax our minds and simply enjoy the experience, but to say that we must first analyze and sanctify. Then, and only then, can we experience Christ-exalting joy through neutral pleasures.