Editor's Note: Since it first debuted in 2006, the TV series Dexter has been nominated for 19 Primetime Emmy Awards, five Writers Guild of America Awards, and seven Golden Globes. According to one critic, "This show draws in literally millions of devoted fans on a weekly basis, and for good reason." In his book Why Holiness Matters, Tyler Braun shares how he became aware of sin's subtle power in his life when he started watching Dexter on a regular basis.

Many of my Christian friends had raved about the show and it had been nominated for many awards. It seemed that the show was destined to become a favorite of mine …. For those who have never watched the show, it follows Dexter Morgan through his life as a forensics expert in the Miami Police Department. He lives a modest life and through most of the episodes I had watched, he had a girlfriend with two children. His life did, however, have an extremely dark side—he operated as a serial killer who went after people who had not been caught by the law.

The amount of sexuality and violence in the show was overwhelming at times, despite the plot of the show being incredibly captivating. My wife and I quit watching the show because it was affecting our thought processes. Even subtle but perverse thoughts about sexuality and violence were more common. Over the few months we watched the first couple seasons I had more of an urge to be deviant in my attitude and to look at other women in a way that my wife would never want to know about.

My inclination toward the lifestyle of Dexter Morgan wasn't something that showed up the instant I started watching the show. But after spending many hours of watching the killing, the sex, and the promiscuous lifestyle, something inside of me desired (even a little) the same things. Sin was slowly creeping in, slowly trying to take control of a few key areas of my thinking and decision making.