Can a Christian be in Show Biz?  
What Does the Bible Say?

by Frederick Hoehn, copyright 2014, all rights reserved.  

Chapter 1

From the Holy Bible, Hoehn Version--
1 John chapter 2:15--17
"Don't love the world, nor the things that are in the world.  If any man loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.  For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.  And the world passes away and its lust, but he that does the will of God lives forever."   

Matthew chapter 4:8--10  
Again, the devil took him up into a very high mountain, and showed him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them,  And said to him, "I will give you all these things, if you'll fall down and worship me."  Then Jesus said to him, "Get away from here, Satan, for it is written, You shall worship the Lord your God, and you shall serve only him."

James 1:27
"Pure religion and undefiled before God the Father is this, to visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world."  

The above passage in First John tells us not to love the world, nor the things that are in the world.  Show biz is very attractive to some people.  

If you can be a big star, you can be rich in a very short period of time, theoretically.  Show biz is among the "things of the world."  

But you might have to pretty much sell your soul to be big in show biz.  

Elvis Presley came from a rather poor family.  But when he became a popular singer, he became rich.  But I don't think he made it to heaven, even though he liked gospel music and recorded a gospel music record album.   

More on Elvis a little later.   

Jesus said, "What shall it profit a man if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul, or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?" (Matt 16:26)  The richest man in the world can't buy his way out of hell.   

The passage in Matthew shows where Satan tempted Jesus with the kingdoms of the world and their glory.  Jesus answered with scripture, "You shall worship the Lord your God, and you shall serve only Him."  

And Jesus wasn't going to sell his soul even for the kingdoms of the world and the glory of them.  He got that anyway by being faithful to God, for Jesus is King of Kings, and Lord of Lords.    

The passage in James tells us to keep ourselves unspotted from the world.  

If you have a nice clean pair of pants but you sit on a dirty bench, you're likely to pick up spots on your nice clean pants.  

To keep yourself unspotted, you have to stay away from the dirty things.  

1 Cor 5:9--11
"I wrote to you in a letter not to keep company with people who commit sexual sins,  Yet not entirely with the fornicators of this world, or with the covetous, or extortionists, or with idolaters, for then you'd have to go out of the world.  But now I've written to you not to keep company, if any man that is called a brother is a fornicator, or covetous, or an idolater, or a railer, or a drunkard, or an extortionist, with him don't eat."

This above passage in 1 Cor says we can't completely avoid some of the bad people, or we'd have to go out of the world.  But we can avoid eating with bad people.  

The title of this book is, "Can a Christian be in Show Biz?"  

I would VERY STRONGLY recommend against Christians going into show business.  

I'm not saying it's impossible for you to remain a Christian in show biz.  But the odds are rather strong against you, and you're likely to be eating with some bad people, and getting yourself spotted.   

Jesus said, "He that finds his life shall lose it, and he that loses his life for my sake shall find it." (Matt 10:39)  

Now, if you were to go into Engineering, that's certainly a legitimate profession.  I've done some Engineering myself.  

Or, you could go into accounting.  But if you were an accountant, someone might sooner or later ask you to falsify some accounting records.  

I heard of a customer who told the vendor, "I want two sets of books."  What she wanted was legitimate records, and also falsified records, for tax purposes, so that she wouldn't have to pay the proper taxes.  

But there are no doubt some honest Accountants and Bookkeepers.  

The nation of Greece is having financial problems, and other European nations are trying to help Greece stay afloat.  I believe one of the problems in Greece is that they're not doing a very good job of collecting the lawful sales taxes.  

A traveler to Greece made a purchase.  Then the traveler asked for a receipt.  The merchant then said, "Oh, well if you want a receipt, then I'll have to charge you the higher price that includes the tax."  

So then, with Greek merchants willing to cheat the government out of the sales tax, no wonder Greece is having financial problems.  That, together with the fact that Grecian government employees want to work a short work week, and still receive full pay.  

Plumbing is legitimate work.

Carpentry is legitimate work.  

Electricians do legitimate work.  

There are some honest Managers.  

There are some honest store owners.  

If you're a Christian, ask the Lord to show you what vocation to be in.  And keep seeking the Lord about it until you're pretty sure you know his will about that.  

But show biz puts a lot of pressures on those trying to pursue a career in show biz.  It's almost like show biz people are married to show biz.  

I needed to do a transaction at the state Department of Motor Vehicles.  As I was waiting in line, I got to talking with the man waiting in line in front of me.  

He was at the Dept. of Motor Vehicles because he was going through a divorce, and his attorney advised him to sell his truck.  

He was getting divorced from a Ballerina.  He said, "Don't ever marry a ballerina, they live in their own little world."  

I believe that's right that ballerinas live in their own little world.  And I believe parents of young girls are making a mistake if they send their daughters to ballet school.  

You could ruin your daughter's life by sending her to ballet school.  And then she gets indoctrinated with the ways of ballet, and hopes one day she might be an important Ballerina, and can't have a normal life because she becomes married to ballet.  

Similarly, probably most of the people in show biz are married to show biz.  And if you're thinking of marrying someone in show biz, remember that they're already married to someone else--to show biz.  

And that will most likely make trouble for your marriage, if you marry someone in show biz.  

The Bible says, above, "Don't love the world, nor the things that are in the world..."   

But in show biz, they just automatically love the world and the things that are in the world.  Pretty much, the only solution to that problem is to get out of show biz.  

And that passage of scripture says if you love the world, the love of God the Father is not in you.  You'd better get the love of God in you rather than the love of the world, if you want to go to heaven when you leave this earth.  

And Jesus taught that everyone goes either to heaven or hell.  

Jesus said that in hell, their worms don't die, and the fire is never quenched, where there's crying and gnashing of teeth.  

What could show biz possibly have to offer that would be worth your spending the rest of eternity in hell?  

The glory, the fame, the riches?  None of that will do you any good if you go to hell.  

You would be trading fleeting, short-term benefits for unending long-term torments.  

I don't read the tabloid newspapers, but a manager where I rented an apartment did read about the lives of the rich and famous.  I didn't really want to spend a lot of time with the guy, but also, I preferred not to alienate him.  

He talked about a popular singer who was very much into adultery.  

But even without the tabloid newspapers, you see it on the news about show biz people involved in adultery, involved in the use of illegal drugs, and alcoholism.  Many of the show biz people have died from overdosing on illegal drugs.    

Is that really the crowd you want to associate with?  

Rodney Dangerfield made a name for himself as a stand-up comedian, and as a actor.  But it was reported that he openly used illegal drugs.  That's how he wanted to party.  

It is not wisdom to do so.  And he will probably spend the rest of eternity in hell.  

You can have a party with your friends without breaking the law.  

Rock Hudson starred in a lot of movies, including several with Doris Day.  But he was a homosexual that they said died of HIV AIDS.  

That's the kind of people you meet in show biz.  

And if you're a Christian in show biz, you will very likely be discriminated against by the majority of show biz people who have no use for God.  

Comedian Flip Wilson had his own weekly TV show for a while.  One week, he had as guests on his show the Pat Boone family.  

Pat Boone had a reputation for being a Christian.  I hope he makes it to heaven.  Judgment Day will come, and we'll find out whether Pat Boone made it to heaven.  

But when the Pat Boone family came on stage on the Flip Wilson show, Wilson said something like, "Are we all Christians?"  

It believe that he was mocking the Pat Boone family, and Christians.  Isn't that rather bad manners to invite people to be on your TV show, and then make fun of them?  

But it's pretty certain that Flip Wilson was not a Christian.  One of his regular characters that he portrayed was "Geraldine."  He would dress like a woman, and try to speak like a woman.  

No doubt many people thought that was funny, but the Bible says that a man may not wear a woman's clothing.  

Someone might say, but what do I care what the Bible says?  Well, you see, Judgment Day is coming.  And on Judgment Day, we will be judged as to whether or not we did what God said to do in the Bible.  

If you were a God-fearing person, and tried to do what the Bible said, you'll be much better off on Judgment Day, than if you scorned God and scoffed at his word.  

But beside good behavior in this life, Jesus said you must be born again (John chapt 3).  To get born again, you obey Romans 10:9,10--
"That if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus, and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you're saved.  For with the heart man believes for righteousness, and with the mouth, confession is made for salvation."  

Another Comedian from years ago who thought it was cute to wear a woman's clothing was Milton Berle.  And I thought Milton Berle was Jewish.  So then, how come he didn't know that the Law of Moses said that a man can't wear a woman's clothing?  

I expect that Milton Berle is now tormented in the fires of hell.  

I happened to catch a little of the music on the radio today.  Elvis Presley sang, "I Can't Help Falling in Love With You."  

Those words are unscriptural.  

In Proverbs 4:23, God says, "Keep your heart with all diligence, for out of it are the issues of life."  

God is not going to tell us to keep our hearts with all diligence if that can't be done.  

Therefore, we can keep our hearts with all diligence, and we can keep from "falling in love" with someone.