Film Deo Gloria
April 22, 2008 4:33 pm Blogs
One of the best ways to understand the culture we live in is to watch it’s movies. You can watch movies and find pleasure through the entertainment they provide, but there is also a step beyond that in watching a movie critically. Saint Augustine believed all things (including literature, film, music, art, etc.) should be enjoyed, as well as “used” to bring us closer to God, the true object of “enjoyment.”
In his chapter of the book Think Biblically, titled “Glorifying God in Literary and Artistic Culture” Grant Horner says it is both easy and common for Christians to look at the area of life called the humanities: art, culture, literature, philosophy, and point to the human achievements accomplished through them as the source of much of the evil in the world. On the other hand they represent reflections of the basic nature of humans. As my friend Justin Bragg (who helped co-found The Resolved Church) once said, “These reflections should be interpreted by a standard that is biblically based and not culturally determined… Culture’s reference point is relative and ever-changing, while God’s standard is absolute and immutable.”
The people of The Resolved Church like movies. We love to laugh and cry, to agree and disagree, to appreciate film as a work of art, and a critical commentary of our society. It is impossible for a film to lack a worldview and a message. We watch these movies, not mindlessly and numbly, but with active minds and hearts, and with the Word of God at our side as the authority to which the film is held.
Rather than to dismiss films because of an “R” rating or because there may be sex, violence, language, or drugs in the film we believe that what we need to learn is how to properly respond when we encounter such things. The Bible is filled with all of these things and in a very real way is “R” rated. Because of redemption we believe that it is possible to see all things in the world in relationship to God’s glory.
My challenge to all of you is that you take that next step when you watch a movie or a show on TV. Stop and think and discuss it with your wife and/or kids or friends. What did it say about God, humans, life, truth, reality, meaning, purpose? What was the worldview presented and what do you think about it? How does that compare with what the Bible says and what the gospel has to offer?
Personally I love watching movies. They are enjoyable but that joy is severely tempered when it is not connected with the glory of God. We gotta take that step because all movies have something to say, there is inescapably an authorial intent, even in the horrors of porn, the director still has a point and a goal. I’m not saying you should ever watch porn, even if you’re married, that’s still adultery…I’m just making a point. So my challenge to all of you is to watch films for the glory of God, “Whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him (Colossians 3:17).”
-Pastor Duane
HERE ARE SOME GOOD REFERENCES & RESOURCES:
+ A chapter titled: “Glorifying God in Literary and Artistic Culture” by Grant Horner in the book Think Biblically! Recovering a Christian Worldview, Edited by John MacArthur.
+ A book titled: Hollywood Worldviews: Watching Films with Wisdom and Discernment by Brian Godawa.
+ An article titled: “Wrong, Right, and “R” Rated: Three Parts (Nudity, Language, Violence)” by Jeffery Overstreet.
www.lookingcloser.org/nakedtruths.htm
www.lookingcloser.org/whogivesa.htm
www.lookingcloser.org/violence.htm