The great god Entertainment

A.W. Tozer, 1955

(You will find it helpful to LISTEN to the Audio, as you READ the text below.)

The great god Entertainment is ardently worshiped by many. For there are millions who cannot live without amusement; life without some form of entertainment, for them is simply intolerable; they look forward to the blessed relief afforded by professional entertainers and other forms of psychological narcotics, as a dope addict looks to his daily shot of heroin.

No one with common human feeling will object to the simple pleasures of life, nor to such harmless forms of entertainment as may help to relax the nerves, and refresh the mind exhausted by toil. Such things, if used with discretion, may be a blessing along the way. However, the all-out devotion to entertainment as a major activity for which and by which men live, is definitely something else.

The abuse of a harmless thing, is the essence of sin. The growth of the amusement phase of human life to such fantastic proportions is a portent, a threat to the souls of modern men. It has been built into a multi-million dollar racket, with greater power over human minds and human character than any other educational influence on earth.

And the ominous thing is that its power is almost exclusively evil, rotting the inner life, crowding out eternal thoughts which would fill the souls of men, if they were but worthy to entertain them. The whole thing has grown into a veritable religion, which holds its devotees with a strange fascination; and a religion, incidentally, against which it is now dangerous to speak. For centuries the Church stood solidly against every form of worldly entertainment, recognizing it for what it was--a device for wasting time, a refuge from the disturbing voice of conscience, a scheme to divert attention from moral accountability.

For this, the church got herself abused by the sons of this world. But of late she has become tired of the abuse, and has given up the struggle. She appears to have decided that if she cannot conquer the great god Entertainment, then she may as well join forces with him and make what use she can of his powers.

So, today we have the astonishing spectacle of millions of dollars being poured into the unholy job of providing earthly entertainment for so-called Christians. Religious entertainment is in many churches rapidly crowding out the serious things of God.

Many churches these days have become little more than theaters where fifth-rate "producers" peddle their shoddy wares with the full approval of ministers who can even quote a holy text in defense of their amusements. And hardly a man dares raise his voice against it!

The great god Entertainment amuses his devotees mainly by telling them stories. The love of stories, which is a characteristic of childhood, has taken fast hold of the minds of the retarded saints of our day, so much so that not a few persons manage to make a comfortable living by spinning yarns, and serving them up in various disguises to church people.

What is natural and beautiful in a child, becomes shocking when it persists into adulthood, and more so when it appears in the sanctuary and seeks to pass for true religion.

Is it not a strange thing, that the professed followers of the Lord should be giving themselves up to religious amusements? It is simply astonishing that vast numbers of church-goers should revert to spiritual childhood and clamor for religious toys!