#afronation sacredvssecular

[etiennedatiwa]

Sacred/Secular part 2

Wasssup! It’s been ages since I last updated my blog. But I thought: why not now? Today I wanted to speak about the recent uproar regarding Afronation and whether Christians ought to attend such an event and music festivals in general. Let me first just bluntly state my view from the get-go. I’m not really bothered whether or not Christians go to music festivals or not. As long as they stay safe, are responsible, and their conscience is clear, they can do whatever. It’s not my business to comment on what other people do in their private lives, especially if I have no form of relationship with them.

HOWEVER, I need to acknowledge a very important point which is embodied in 1 Corinthians 6:12: ‘You say, “I am allowed to do anything”—but not everything is good for you. And even though “I am allowed to do anything,” I must not become a slave to anything.’ This verse is such an important verse to live by. Anything in excess can become very problematic. If we live by every single impulse that comes to mind, then we enslave ourselves and walk into a path of self-sabotage and destruction. When it comes to engaging in various forms of entertainment, you have to be very honest with yourself. God already knows your motives. Ask yourself “why do I want to engage in this activity?” If we did this more regularly, we’d avoid so much heartache.

Moment of transparency: I have to do this constantly when it comes to the type of TV and anime I watch. If you didn’t know, fanservice is extremely common in anime. Fanservice is basically content any form of sexual content, made to arouse. It includes innuendos, random cleavage shots, underwear shots and so on. It’s annoying as hell for me. It’s normally geared towards male viewers and it’s hard to avoid it unless you watch anime strictly meant for kids, or you’ll have to search hard to find anime without it. I tried making a commitment to avoid all anime that has fanservice in this, but this wasn’t realistic at all. All the anime genres that I like, specifically shonen, isekai, fantasy, drama etc all have fanservice of a certain degree. I can’t change the fact that these are my favourite genres of anime. However, there are specific types of anime that I have decided to cut out completely. These include harem, ecchi etc. The main purpose of these genres is to basically titillate the audience. Every time I’ve tried to watch these types of anime, I would play myself. I know full well the reason I was watching these shows. I still struggle to avoid them from time to time but God is working on me.

Proverbs 4:23 says we ought to guard our hearts. What we let into our minds can deeply affect us. One thing that you should never do is lie to yourself. It’s one thing to lie to others, but to lie to yourself?? Bruh. Don’t do that.

But then…. what about the other side of the argument? If we say no to music festivals, shouldn’t we apply this same logic to football matches where the chants can be very…. bawdy to say the least. What about movies, TV shows, pop culture festivals and weddings where a lot of the same songs played at music festivals will be played when you get married? We all know that you won’t be playing “Everything na double double” at your honeymoon, lez be honest. *Nigerian accent* And as someone has already stated; if we say Christians shouldn’t participate in these activities, then what are the alternatives? What should Christians do for fun? Do I stop reading YA fantasy just because the content is more mature than middle grade fantasy? I think we’re great at telling others what not to do without offering alternatives. Too many Christians form the basis of their faith walk on the opinions of other believers who think their word is “gospel.” That’s dangerous. It’ll leave people anxiety riddled and constantly obsessing over sin. Guard your heart, yes. But don’t let it lead you into legalism.

Listen, I’m a pop culture lover. I am a gamer and a bookworm and otaku. These things are part of what makes me who I am. My identity is in Jesus, but Jesus has also given me a personality with interests and hobbies and I don’t think it gives him any glory when I try to erase parts of who he made me to be just to appear more “righteous.” My righteous is in him alone. Dassit. I hope this post has been encouraging for you. Have a lovely day.