I grew up in a very sheltered world. I have no regrets for my upbringing because I was sheltered from a host of experiences which many others face at an age no child or young adult should be expected to. I'm very grateful for the parents God gave me.
Some Christians avoid things which may not be harmful but as we think non-believers enjoy it too much it must therefore be something to avoid. I will be the first to admit I've done this before. I despise jumping on a band-wagon merely for the sake of using my leg muscles. I look back at some of the things I've run from and gone, "Boy, I didn't need to run from that." Take Harry Potter as an example (gasp!). As a Christian I thought the books, and by extension the movies, to be evil, wrong, and something non-believers enjoyed too much. Therefore I'm going to stick my head in the sand and ignore them. I can't imagine the conversation starters I missed or the opportunities to share my faith based on the topics which were raised by the series. Or, even worse, the fun I could have had in discussing the series with non-believers and believers alike. As a Christian I have to understand not all culture is wrong, bad or evil. The very mention of culture will not corrupt my soul and I have to believe God loves beautiful and creative things. Whatever you think of the series you must admit it was creative. I can't wall myself away from culture and then expect God to use me to change the direction our culture is going (if that is what you believe).
As I've come to this realization regarding my view of culture I've realized the first look may be deceiving. As an example of current culture, take my perception of The Hunger Games series when it first came out. I was repulsed! Granted, I think you need to read the books before writing off the series, but if you were to tell me you reacted that way before reading them, I'd understand. Dig a little deeper and read the books. The movies will make more sense.
In general, Christians need to stop being ostriches who stick their heads in the sand at the first sight of something. Engage it with an eye for redemptive value and keep on going.
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