- Apr 6, 2002
- 5,400
- 48
- 45
- Faith
- Baptist
- Marital Status
- Married
- Politics
- US-Libertarian
IT'S NEVER 'JUST A MOVIE'
by Chris M. Leland, Ph.D.
Senior Fellow Christian Worldview Studies
Focus on the Family Institute When I fly, God puts me next to people who want to talk. The conversation usually stays on small talk until they ask the inevitable question; So, what do you do for a living? I know that my answer is going to elicit one of two responses; either a pronounced look of disapproval and disagreement or (more often) a glazed and confused face. When I say that I teach Christian Worldview Studies for the Focus on the Family Institute, they either bristle at their luck of being placed next to a religious fanatic, or they have no earthly idea what I do.
On a flight last year, the latter was the case. A woman in her mid 50s who had been visiting her new grandbaby asked what I did. There it was; the glazed, empty, and perplexed look. Then something caught her attention and she shared that she was a Christian, but she said it under her breath, leaning in toward me, like it was some secret password and that at any moment we would be discovered and thrown out of the plane at 30,000 feet. A fellow believer hey, this flight wouldnt be too bad. At least I wasnt going to play Paul to an Athenian this trip.
She wasnt done though. She wanted to know more about this idea called worldview. Ah, here comes the flight-long discussion. I briefly talked about how our lives as Christians must be lived with every part of who we are being directed by our Christian perspective. There it was again; that glazed look that shouted Huh?
So I tried a new approach. Whats that book youre reading? She gave me the name of one of the latest best sellers. Whos the author? She flipped to the inside of the back book jacket and showed me his handsome picture and the brief description of who he was and his accomplishments. Do you like his writing? Yes, very much.
Why do you like his writing?
Silence.
It didnt last forever, of course. She finally let me know that his stories were not only entertaining and easy to read, but they spoke to her and her lifes circumstance. Now, here comes the clincher: Do the author and story have a perspective or lesson we are supposed to learn about life? Oh, yes. Were supposed to love one another and our families must be cared for, even when it was hard.
Good. But then I continued probing: Where does the author come from on these issues? Whats his perspective on life? More silence. Then she said the words I hear so often. Its just a book!
No its not. When it comes to the things we read or see or use to entertain us, its never just a book or just a song or just a movie or just a TV show. Its always got something to say about how we think and feel, good or bad. And if we keep reading or watching or listening, its liable to affect how we think and feel, good or bad.
For years Ive taught communication students and now that I teach worldview issues, I see the significance of entertainment more than ever. What has concerned me more and more in recent years is that I am hearing this from otherwise discerning Christians. Theyre people of faith who struggle over most decisions in their lives as it relates to their Christianity and wanting to make wise choices, but when it comes to the media, they look just like everyone else on the planet.
This isnt an accident. Many of us make our media choices precisely because we want to be like everyone else or at least like a certain group of people we know. I have a Christian friend who will whisper to me that he is a closet Sex in the City watcher. Hes in the closet around fellow Christians, that is. When pushed on why he watches it, he admits that its the main conversation piece on certain days of the week at his office and he doesnt want to be excluded from the conversation.
Even when were not trying to join the crowd, we may end up becoming like them simply by default. Frequently we use media simply for a diversion. How often do you sit down in front of the tube and say, You know, I want to find something on that is mindless and I can just veg out to? We think its harmless enough. Yet research shows that this is the state of mind that makes us the most vulnerable to ideas we dont usually agree with. Why do you think advertisers have so much impact on our culture? They hit you when you think youre not paying attention and arent impacted by their message.
As C.S. Lewis sarcastically wrote,
The Christian community must do a better job of showing people how to ask the questions that make a person media literate. If we are indeed the royal priesthood that we are described as, then our job description includes the command of Ezekiel 44:23, They are to teach my people the difference between the holy and the common and show them how to distinguish between the unclean and the clean. We must live not as passive sponges but as mindful agents.
As Bill Romanowski (author and Calvin College professor) says, Theres some good stuff out there and lots of bad stuff and, if people are going to live as mature Christians, theyre going to have to learn to tell the difference.
Every book has a perspective. Every TV show was written, directed and produced by people with perspectives and worldviews. Every article of every magazine that sits on the shelves of our local bookstore or airport gift shop has a perspective. And yes, every movie that hits the silver screen has a worldview driving it.
Our call is not to abandon the media, but to make ourselves priests of the culture and help our brothers and sisters in Christ understand that, Its never just a movie."
So, what are your opinions?
Zach
by Chris M. Leland, Ph.D.
Senior Fellow Christian Worldview Studies
Focus on the Family Institute When I fly, God puts me next to people who want to talk. The conversation usually stays on small talk until they ask the inevitable question; So, what do you do for a living? I know that my answer is going to elicit one of two responses; either a pronounced look of disapproval and disagreement or (more often) a glazed and confused face. When I say that I teach Christian Worldview Studies for the Focus on the Family Institute, they either bristle at their luck of being placed next to a religious fanatic, or they have no earthly idea what I do.
On a flight last year, the latter was the case. A woman in her mid 50s who had been visiting her new grandbaby asked what I did. There it was; the glazed, empty, and perplexed look. Then something caught her attention and she shared that she was a Christian, but she said it under her breath, leaning in toward me, like it was some secret password and that at any moment we would be discovered and thrown out of the plane at 30,000 feet. A fellow believer hey, this flight wouldnt be too bad. At least I wasnt going to play Paul to an Athenian this trip.
She wasnt done though. She wanted to know more about this idea called worldview. Ah, here comes the flight-long discussion. I briefly talked about how our lives as Christians must be lived with every part of who we are being directed by our Christian perspective. There it was again; that glazed look that shouted Huh?
So I tried a new approach. Whats that book youre reading? She gave me the name of one of the latest best sellers. Whos the author? She flipped to the inside of the back book jacket and showed me his handsome picture and the brief description of who he was and his accomplishments. Do you like his writing? Yes, very much.
Why do you like his writing?
Silence.
It didnt last forever, of course. She finally let me know that his stories were not only entertaining and easy to read, but they spoke to her and her lifes circumstance. Now, here comes the clincher: Do the author and story have a perspective or lesson we are supposed to learn about life? Oh, yes. Were supposed to love one another and our families must be cared for, even when it was hard.
Good. But then I continued probing: Where does the author come from on these issues? Whats his perspective on life? More silence. Then she said the words I hear so often. Its just a book!
No its not. When it comes to the things we read or see or use to entertain us, its never just a book or just a song or just a movie or just a TV show. Its always got something to say about how we think and feel, good or bad. And if we keep reading or watching or listening, its liable to affect how we think and feel, good or bad.
For years Ive taught communication students and now that I teach worldview issues, I see the significance of entertainment more than ever. What has concerned me more and more in recent years is that I am hearing this from otherwise discerning Christians. Theyre people of faith who struggle over most decisions in their lives as it relates to their Christianity and wanting to make wise choices, but when it comes to the media, they look just like everyone else on the planet.
This isnt an accident. Many of us make our media choices precisely because we want to be like everyone else or at least like a certain group of people we know. I have a Christian friend who will whisper to me that he is a closet Sex in the City watcher. Hes in the closet around fellow Christians, that is. When pushed on why he watches it, he admits that its the main conversation piece on certain days of the week at his office and he doesnt want to be excluded from the conversation.
Even when were not trying to join the crowd, we may end up becoming like them simply by default. Frequently we use media simply for a diversion. How often do you sit down in front of the tube and say, You know, I want to find something on that is mindless and I can just veg out to? We think its harmless enough. Yet research shows that this is the state of mind that makes us the most vulnerable to ideas we dont usually agree with. Why do you think advertisers have so much impact on our culture? They hit you when you think youre not paying attention and arent impacted by their message.
As C.S. Lewis sarcastically wrote,
The Christian community must do a better job of showing people how to ask the questions that make a person media literate. If we are indeed the royal priesthood that we are described as, then our job description includes the command of Ezekiel 44:23, They are to teach my people the difference between the holy and the common and show them how to distinguish between the unclean and the clean. We must live not as passive sponges but as mindful agents.
As Bill Romanowski (author and Calvin College professor) says, Theres some good stuff out there and lots of bad stuff and, if people are going to live as mature Christians, theyre going to have to learn to tell the difference.
Every book has a perspective. Every TV show was written, directed and produced by people with perspectives and worldviews. Every article of every magazine that sits on the shelves of our local bookstore or airport gift shop has a perspective. And yes, every movie that hits the silver screen has a worldview driving it.
Our call is not to abandon the media, but to make ourselves priests of the culture and help our brothers and sisters in Christ understand that, Its never just a movie."
So, what are your opinions?
Zach
