O.K., the title to this post may not be fair. But, if you love the movie industry, you must agree that a vast majority (95%-99%) of Christian films stink.
Now, I’m not talking about the big budget Hollywood extravaganzas, such as The Ten Commandments or Passion of the Christ. I’m talking about the movies made in the past two decades produced specifically for the “church going” market. Duds like “Time Changers” and “Facing the Giants.”
Those are all well-intended flicks, but they’re awful because they are not relevant and in order to appeal to what they feel is their target market, they use dialogue that only Ned Flanders could appreciate!
I once heard the president of a huge Bible College say something: “We don’t need more Christian movies, because only Christians watch them. We need more Christians making movies.”
Truer words were never spoken.
If, as Christians, our charge is to spread the word to the unchurched, then why don’t we try to do it using relevant language? If you want to reach someone who loves rock music and action movies, why in the world would you take them to a movie where the adults say “gosh” and “dang”, and quote verses from the King James?
I’m not saying we need to be vulgar and drop the “f” bomb to be relevant…but we do need to update our language, our message and our entertainment from the 50’s tent revival period.
And, if Hollywood was smart, they would look at why “Passion of the Christ” was popular, and spread that market, instead of putting out the films they think the Christians will like. In fact, they totally missed that whole point!
“Passion” was so popular for two reasons. 1) They used genious marketing techniques, and 2) Mel Gibson treated his audience like mature adults, not naive children.
So, Hollywood…treat me like an adult Christian. One who understands the world, and has been there. Don’t protect me…challenge me.
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