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THE PARADOX OF CHRISTIAN FILM

Let me begin with a dose of appropriate humility, acknowledging right away that I am no aficionado when it comes to film. I am an artistic person, and for that reason I enjoy good films, but I cannot wax eloquently about what elements contribute to a good or classic movie. And let me also say right up front, that I am frontloading this post with a heavy dose of my sarcasm to make up the difference for where I am lacking, but this post will be deadly serious as you continue to listen on. 
Now, for the sarcastic bits. 

Like many, even though I am no expert on film, I believe that I know a good movie when I see it. And for most of my life, I think it is fair to say that, “Christian” and “good movie” were not in the same sentence… Let alone the same language. 

The reason of course is obvious to anyone who grew up in the 80’s and 90’s. Christian movies had lower budgets than most small churches; they had wholesome but unconvincing actors that clearly lacked the talent of their secular counterparts; with a plotline about as thick as the veneer on most office furniture. And since we are Christians, we sort of have to find the good in things, like an owner of a Chinese Crested pup. Yet, inside we all knew that Christan and good did not very accurately go together. 

Now, I feel like I need some qualifications here. I know they did their best. I know they were trying to make content that was Biblically faithful and also enjoyable. But, I also feel free to note that it did not have the same budget as Hollywood, nor the same level of acting, nor the same expertise in film-making and or story telling. We may like b-rated movies, but there is no sense pretending they are not b-rated, if you catch my drift. 

Assuming I did not lose you, something magical happened in 2004…Just when hope for a big budget, Christian blockbuster was surely lost, a serial drunk, cigar smoking, blasphemer named Mel Gibson infused a new passion into the dying genre - no pun intended - by producing the Passion Of The Christ. This project showcased that there was a market for Biblical movies, and if done well, they could legitimately compete and dominate on the big screen too. This led to some truly bizarre follow ups that fell just as flat as the heads of the rock monsters in Russell Crowe’s depiction of Noah. But, it also led to several excellent Christian films, as the newly resurrected genre - oops, I did it again - began to sputter, shake, and smoke like a rusted B52 ready to soar once more. 

This seemed to be a crucial juncture for the Christian movie industry, and became a critical crossroads for evangelicalism, who always enjoys appearing relevant to big-daddy world. 

In this, Christian filmmakers and producers learned that Christian movies did not have to wear the sacred badge of low budgets and poor production in order to be faithful to God. We learned that a Christian film could use nice cameras, have great lighting, telling a well written and compelling story, without necessarily sliding into the slimy cesspool that Hollywood swims in. And while faithful Christians have always drawn a very clear line on what can come into the worship service on Sunday mornings and what should stay in entertainment, it seems like, overall this was a win for Christian production.

That is, until the film, Redeeming Love… 

But before we go there, we need to develop a Biblical theology for Christian filmmaking, so that we at least have something to measure it by. 

THE PURPOSE OF CHRISTIAN FILM

As the title suggests, Christian entertainment exists to entertain people Christianly. That is about as base of a definition as I can provide. It’s purpose is to make movies people actually want to see, while also limiting its content to that which is Biblical. At the very least, a “Christian movie” should resist the temptation to promote anything the Bible forbids, or to forbid anything the Bible commands. That is a tough pill to swallow when you really scrutinize the things you watch. 

And while there are obvious and very real areas of Christian liberty where reasonable people can disagree on content, it is safe to say that obvious, outright sin, and moral debauchery would always be off limits for the Christian movie company, the Christian actor, and the Christian consumer of entertainment. AKA… We always avoid making, playing in, or staring at sin. 

With that, let’s draw out some very basic Christian theology and apply that to filmmaking. 

Paul says in Colossians 3:17: 

“Whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through Him to God the Father.

He also says in 1 Corinthians 10:31

“Whether, then, you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.”

Then, when we consider that the psalmist says in Psalm 103:3

“I will set no worthless thing before my eyes;” 

And that Paul says in Philippians 4:8, that he will only ever think about

“true, honorable, just, pure, lovely, commendable, superior, excellent, and godly content 

Well… when we consider that, it really does not take long to build a theology of Christian film making. Even with just four verses, although we could have used hundreds… 

As a Christian, whatever I put my hands to do, I am doing it in the name of Jesus. My work is saying something about the way I think of Him. My work is either giving glory to God, or robbing Him of the glory due His name. My work is either attesting to God’s Biblical vision of the world, or it is turning away to the spoiled fruit of the serpent.

You can better believe I do not always get that right, but that is my task. That is our shared task. To glorify God in everything we do, even in what we put in front of our own eyes. 

We do not get the freedom to dishonor Jesus, glorify sin, and violate clear Biblical teaching in our entertainment and still call it Christian. Or still think it is morally neutral. It isn’t

At the bare minimum, the themes presented in any movie I write, produce, star in, or watch, must not be tainted by obvious sin and must - in some way or another - lead us toward God-glorifying worship. That is our purpose, to love God with all of us and to love others in the process (Mt. 22:37-39)

Let me spell this out even more thoroughly. If I were a filmmaker, I would need to be deliberate and careful not to produce, facilitate, or depict any sin in sinful ways. Every filmmaker depicts some form of sin with some form of a savior to provide a redemptive solution. Without that, there is no story. But to depict sin in sinful ways, in ways that are gratuitous, irredeemable, crude, or whatever is in fact, sinful itself. 

Furthermore, as a filmmaker, I would also need to be responsible not to lead any of the cast members into participating in sin, both individually and upon one another.  And finally, I would need to ensure that I do not willingly or ignorantly create environments where the audience will easily sin by simply watching my film. 

As you can see, the filmmaker, the actor, and the consumer of the entertainment all have a responsibility before God concerning the things they produce, participate in, and consume. As Christians we will be held accountable by God for the things we do in the body (1 Cor. 6:19-20). And, we will be held accountable for how our actions affect others (Luke 17:2; Romans 14). 

Now lets ask some questions… 

Can or should a Christian movie dramatize violence or murder? Some say yes, others will say no, and still others will come to the conclusion that the context may at times warrant it. For instance, the Passion of the Christ was rated R for depicting the awful violence of first century crucifixions. In that movie, the violence not only seemed necessary, but in some ways still muted. This is not true of every film, which means, again, wisdom is needed. 

What about racism and slavery that was common in the early America’s and Europe? Could we make a graphic movie depicting that horror? What about the kinds of human rights abuses perpetrated by modern day planned parenthood or the genocides acted about by Hitler, Mao, and Stalin? What about that? Could that movie be made? Well, in those cases, it seems to me that sins are being reenacted in a way that is external to the actors. Everyone knows that a historical drama is being undertaken and that the events portrayed are participated in by pure imitation. Now, far be it from me to say that this could not be sinful, but it least there is a cognitive dissonance 

But what about male and female affection? Is it a sin for a man and woman, who are faithfully and covenantally married to other people, to kiss one another on set, while their spouses wait for them at home? If you can say yes, think about it like this, would you appreciate your wife or husband spending intimate, romantic, physical time, locking lips and trading saliva with another person until they got the scene just right? Would you want your husband attempting to mimic the affection God reserved for only you on another attractive women? The same question applies for the husband. 

Now, let’s zoom out of the human dynamic for just a second and examine the point from God’s perspective. The goal here is not to be legalistic, but to just ask very Biblical and common sense questions. We all value entertainment. We all have watched movies with some level of affection, intimacy, and romance, and we all will be accountable before God on what we put before our eyes. My only goal in this part, is to ask questions that I also will have the courage to answer. 

Do we think God is glorified and proud of a script where a married man spends intimate and physical time with a woman who is not his wife? How do we honestly think God views that? How do we think God approaches two single people pretending to be married, arousing each other’s bodies through an illicit fantasy, and then sharing the fruit of their labors with millions of people who pay good money to consume it?? Does God look down from heaven and beam with joy over how we have decided to use our energies to make, play in, or consume that? Do we imagine God approves of the secret lusts, the comparisons to our spouse, or to ourselves since we do not look like the people on screens? 

Again, I am asking to get us thinking and I am only asking us to think about it from God’s perspective. And as we do that, I want to bring up a relevant example that is happening right now in the world of Christian films. The example I cited earlier, which is a film called “Redeeming Love”.

THE POINT OF THIS CHRISTIAN FILM

Now, again with the honesty, I have not seen this movie. I have not seen the trailer. And I will not be watching any of it. But from the reports that I have read a modern day rendition of the book of Hosea has come out, where the lead female and male actors participate in on screen nudity… A new low for Christian filmmaking. 

If you remember the story of Hosea, the prophet is called by God to marry a harlot, who keeps leaving him to participate in her whoring. This lived out parable was to demonstrate the spiritual condition of Israel, who kept leaving God to play the whore with idols. The point of the book is to show that God’s love for Israel has been overwhelmingly faithful, even when Israel has been overwhelmingly faithless. 

Given the nature of those themes, extreme care and wisdom would be needed before converting a book like this into a visual format. The overwhelming God-centric point of Hosea would need to overwhelmingly shine through, all the while keeping the crew, the cast, and the audience from overplaying or devolving into the sexual sins of gomer. We must remember, the Bible does not describe the events in ways that glorify the sin, or even dwell upon it. The Bible tells the story in such a way that only God can get the glory, which is what a film would have to accomplish to be faithful to this test. 

That is unfortunately and exactly what this movie Redeeming Love did not do. It went beyond the pale of reasonable - and even sane - and plasters sanctified soft core pornography onto the screen, with a Christian lable slapped on it. The whole thing is an unbelievable example of moral ineptitude and confusion. 

THE PROBLEM WITH THIS “CHRISTIAN FILM”

Of course there will be some who say, in order to showcase the beautiful God-like love of Hosea, the intimate sexual parts of the story were necessary to be shown. But that is pure foolishness. It forgets that a real woman, and a real man - someone’s wife, daughter, and mother, along with someones husband, son, and father - disrobed one another other, sinned with one another, and did it so that others could join in. The lunacy is that this movie is about the redeeming love of God, told through the lens of an irredeemable setting. The perfect and purifying love of Yahweh was acted out by two people participating in impurity. Do we see the irony?

Others may say, how did they sin? They did not actually have sex with one another, did they? Don’t they have ways of only making it appear as though something is happening? But again, that is pure foolishness! That assumes that sex only legitimately occurs with penetration and it assumes that convenient camera angles and well placed tape will excuse two unmarried people from fornicating in the name of Christ. 

Paul says it well in Romans 6:1 

“What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin so that grace may increase?”May it never be! How shall we who died to sin still live in it?

Paul is being very clear that intentional sin for the purpose of expounding God’s grace is totally forbidden. How can we, who have been freed from sin, continue living in it? How can we, who are called to look after our brothers and sisters, continue throwing stumbling blocks in front of their feet like this? 

CONCLUSION

In my opinion, which I have demonstrated from Holy Scripture, the film Redeeming Love is Irredeemably flawed and I pray that no one who loves God will watch it. I pray that the director, the cast, the crew, and all who have seen it will repent, apologize, and take it off the shelves and all streaming platforms. I pray those who purchased it will delete it and physically impede anyone from viewing it. 

If you have seen it, this is not a time to shame yourself, or to explain yourself, but a time to think about what was mentioned and compare it to Scripture. If I am overstepping here, and if God is pleased by this, then tell me. Show me where God sanctions fornication and sin to magnify His purity and I will gladly relent. But if you see what the Scripture says, and you have been convicted by the truth of it, use this time to pray, read the Scriptures, and repent before your God. 

If you have not seen the movie, the point of this post remains. We will be held accountable to the things we watch. All of us, living in a media saturated culture, we have often become lazy and slothful in what we allow before our eyes. We watch men and women participate in and make jokes about adultery, we watch wives mock their husbands, children disobey their parents, men act like toddlers, mobsters kill families, monsters eat flesh, and a million other things that God is not pleased for us to consume. It is my prayer, that the Lord will convict us all, and that we would diligently guard the things we put before our eyes. 

We are not diligent in this area to feel smug in how righteous we are. We revel in how beautiful, good, and righteous our God is, and we want like nothing else to please Him. We obey Him because we love Him. We do not obey Him so that He will love us. In Christ, He already demonstrated His love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. His love, truly purified us! And His love calls us to live holy lives, after our Father who is truly holy. 

May the Lord bless you and keep you as you wrestle with these things.