“If boycotts worked—what are missionaries doing? The fact is, we change a culture by engaging in a culture. What do missionaries do? They win their trust and they understand how they think. That’s the way we impact Hollywood. We’ve got to start by making better products."
Plenty of musical artists have transcended the market and begun actually making an impact, so why can't the same be said for Hollywood? I'm tired of lumping Christian movies in with all the awful products found in any Christian bookstore that crank up the cheese-factor with changing the titles of popular brands, video games or movies into corny Christian messages. It doesn't succeed in doing anything beyond making Christians into a huge joke. I'll leave you with some examples that speaks for themselves, in terms of what's wrong with Christian culture right now:
Agree/Disagree.... anything! I'd love to hear some feedback on this topic. And on that note.... I'm gonna pay attention in class now.
7 comments:
"It doesn't succeed in doing anything beyond making Christians into a huge joke"
You got it! The rest of the world looks at Christians sees a cheesy, suburban, outdated, and phony Jesus. Instead of seeing the radical, loving, graceful, counter-cultural figure that Jesus is. We are supposed to engage the world not become a watered down version of it. Well put Jake. You'll love this graphic!
http://asbojesus.files.wordpress.com/2008/12/godstv.jpg?w=580&h=240&h=232
I agree and disagree. A lot of people are fans of the Sherwood movies (Flywheel, Facing the Giants, Fireproof) and other people can't get over the bad acting. While I admit it wasn't always A + the movies would have 500 K budgets and make 28-35 million...the percentage is HUGE though not considered a "hit" at the box office. Besides that, I have seen fireproof literally change and save marriages of people in my church...because the message got there. It may have been "corny" to some but Jesus did miracles through it.
I have one picture that says Jesus and the S in the middle is the superman symbol which I do not find corny at all and I think it fits to be honest. He is the Savior of the world!
I think we, as Christians, spend more time idolizing the world and the movie "stars" of the world, and miss the message. Most people won't come to church because they feel it's not good enough or cool enough but if a movie star was the Pastor...they would. We have to get past that to the message of Christ.
Do we need to put out quality products? Absolutely. Do we need to have people who are NOT believers, but good actors be in our movies to get the message across? Perhaps...
But ultimately what is our motivation? Are we trying to make money, and be taken seriously in the eyes of the world...or make an Impact for Christ?
Just my thoughts!
Agree. The issue is that the Christian sub-culture tries to mimic the pop-culture instead of create their own culture. Instead of making quality products that shine light they make cheap rip offs to make a buck.
all excellent points! Rob nailed what I was going for. Brian, you're right.. I'm more referring to *if* this is going to be a source of impact (via movies, music, products, etc)... it should be much more well-thought-out, completely focused on being genuine and Christ-centered, and involving the huuuge amount of people God has gifted with artistic & creative talents. obviously it's not THE main way that Christians need to be reaching out, but simply one of many that can make a much bigger impact on the world around us. I don't doubt that some of what's out there now is reaching lives in the church... I just know we can do so much better with what God has gifted his people with. Half-hearted, copycat, cheesy attempts that I'm seeing... it just all screams "settling for less & not trying our hardest" to me
really great post and i agree whole heartily with the lack of quality effort in "christian" stuff (movies, music, advertising, etc). have you heard of/watched the movie I AM? it's the first Christian movie that i've watched and not cringed at because of the horrible acting. check it out at iamthemovie.com
as a pastor and a movie lover, God can do great things with just about anything. that being said, for me it's pretty hard watching poor quality movies, regardless of whether they are christian or not. If we are doing something is His name, shouldn't it be nothing short of the best effort and quality possible?
No I understand. I agree with Rob though...he is right..I heard it said once when I was in communications that it is important that we create our OWN content...
Creativity is one of many gifts from God and perhaps we are stifling the God given creativity by just tweeking others...I understand
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