A lot of sins are not verbatim when looking at the Bible, although we still know they are wrong. (Ei. Doing drugs, looking at pornography, and smoking are all sins that are not word for word in the scriptures, but we can use certain passages to reason that they are not good for our spiritual state.) This question is obviously a newer problem, because when the scriptures were written, technology wasn’t as advanced as it is now. We now have iPhones, smartwatches, and computers. So, using our wonderful brains that the good Lord gave us, we get to study His word and determine if what we are doing is right or wrong.
The first thing to realize is that, even though you are able to purposely not listen to certain music or watch certain shows, it doesn’t mean you will always be able to avoid them. You may be in a mall or at a friend’s house, and randomly on the speakers a nasty song comes out. To absolutely never be around this stuff, you’d have to live in isolation! In 1 Corinthians 5:9-10, Paul writes to the members of the church in Corinth that to actually get away from the sinners/sin, you’d have to leave planet earth!
1 Corinthians 5:9-10 NKJV
(9) I wrote to you in my epistle not to keep company with sexually immoral people.
(10) Yet I certainly did not mean with the sexually immoral people of this world, or with the covetous, or extortioners, or idolaters, since then you would need to go out of the world.
Paul understood that if you are living here, there are some things you just cannot avoid. Now, saying this does not mean to sin or be okay with willingly surrounding yourself with sinful things, because you can put yourself in better situations. Things you are around become a part of you. Have you ever started hanging around someone and a word that they used became a part of your vocabulary, such as “like” or “bruh”? Well, the same thing happens when you watch or listen to certain things: you either become tolerant to it or start doing it yourself. So, just because you can’t always stay away from it doesn’t mean you shouldn’t try your best to stay afar. 1 John 2:15-17 helps us conclude that this is a sin, because it is of the world and the bad music or TV shows include lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes, and pride of life.
1 John 2:15 NKJV
(15) Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.
(16) For all that is in the world - the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life - is not of the Father but is of the world.
(17) And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever.
Since it is a sin, we need to try to get away from it, if it be possible. Matthew 5:29 states, “If your right eye causes you to sin, pluck it out and cast it from you; for it is more profitable for you that one of your members perish, than for your whole body to be cast into hell.” So, if you find yourself using the cuss words you heard in a song or the actions you see in a movie, you need to remove that from your life. I know it will be hard, because it’s something I’ve had to step back and do. I’ve made myself a better person by making sure I know the content of a movie before watching it, and other ways.
Next time you pull out a book to read or shuffle your playlist, ask yourself, “Would I let my parents know about this? Would I share this with all my Christian friends? Would I want God to see me having this?”