Christians in Cinema BLOG

In a recent post on his Change Revolution blog, Phil Cooke quotes from a review by William Lobdell in the LA Times. He refers to the film “Conversations with God,” which is not strictly a “Christian film,” but is in the faith-based category. Lobdell says he wants to ask God “When are the majority of movies with overtly spiritual themes going to rise to industry standards?”

We need to tip the sacred cow of message over art.

I want to know which industry standards he means. Are they the ones that produce raunchy films like “Superbad?” Or maybe “Waterworld?” Do a Google search for “worst films” and you’ll get a long list of Hollywood films that no one likes. Hollywood produces just as many stinkers as Christians do - they just don’t get the same attention.

We should do excellent work for God. But in a culture where every person who sings in the shower thinks they’re the next American Idol, some days it seems every person who has a camera thinks they are a filmmaker. Let’s get real.

There are also some sacred cows (pun intended) that must be tipped. When a filmmaker believes the message of his film must be pre-eminent, his art will suffer. His audience will see through it straight to his agenda. What if we focused on telling a really great story and let our beliefs and worldview come through in the story, without dialogue that had preaching and altar calls? What if we really believed what Jesus said: “You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden…let your light shine before men, that they may see your good works and praise your Father in heaven”? Maybe we’re scared that our windows are dirty, or the light isn’t very bright. It doesn’t take too much to bring light to absolute darkness.

Do we have enough courage to let our light shine through our work? Can we tip the cows of message in favor of making films that let the light of Jesus shine through? St. Francis of Assisi is credited with a saying we should all live by: “Preach the gospel. And if necessary, use words.”