Sinwar and the Heart

“Keep your heart with all vigilance,
    for from it flow the springs of life.” - Proverbs 4:23

I was struck today when I came across a viral video of Yahya Sinwar, the de-facto leader of Hamas, in the last moments of his life. He is seen sitting in a chair in a bombed out room, covered in dust. Though alive, there were pieces of him missing and in a final act of defiance, he hurled a scrap of rubble at the drone that was videoing his final moments. I am an old Millennial, about to hit 41 this November. My first exposure to shocking media was as a senior in high school when I came across a video of the execution of journalist Daniel Pearl in Karachi, Pakistan, months after the Towers were hit. I am not a child of the internet age, but grew up into it. Maybe that’s why it’s often shocking to me the things we can see online.

There can be within us a macabre tug towards images of violence and death. A morbid curiosity that we know isn’t rooted in the same soil as the fruit of the Spirit. Indeed, I believe there are significant parallels between a desire to watch violence and death and the desire to watch pornography. From the same sinful nature comes a delight in the destruction of the body and its degradation through illicit sex. And so, the thesis of this very short reflection is that viewing violent media can be as sinful and voyeuristic as pornography and ought to be avoided with as much resolve.

There will be no easy escape, friends. Toxic media, whether real or fiction, has flooded the mainstream. Access seems only to be widening. But we must understand what’s at stake. The conscience, under constant assault, will eventually give way to a debased mind. Once the conscience is seared and calloused by violent images, we will grow numb to them. We will no longer draw back from them. We might even approve of them. Eventually delight in them. But it is the one who look away from what God hates, and who turns to Him who will persevere to the end.

I love what David wrote in Psalm 119:37: “Turn my eyes from looking at worthless things; and give me life in your ways.” The Psalm is about God’s Word. It’s not enough to look away from the mind-numbing violence that’s on tap all around us. We must look to the Word of God to fill us with every good thing. Friend, is there any delight within you when scenes of violence or death come up on your screen or your feed? Turn your eyes away! We’re not made to absorb so much darkness. We are children of light. May God give us the grace of restraint, that we would turn our eyes away from violence and scenes of death, that our hearts may be kept. May we instead know God and His ways.