I get these advertisements. They are driving me nuts.
These glossy publications are sent out under a partnership between movie studios and curriculum publishers.
They are targeted to Pastors as the next big thing to preach about.
“Seize this opportunity while everyone is talking about it. Tell your people to see this movie and discuss its implications for the faith.”
While I am at it – let me share one more thing that really bugs me.
From time to time I hear a Pastor reference a movie in a sermon (as an aside or an illustration, or a point of humor or for an illustrative purpose of comparison).
I always wonder…
Pastor, do you actually recommend that movie?
Are you sure you want to commend it to the thought and imagination of your people?
And, let’s grant that you watched it without sinning.
What about your calling not to cause any of the littler ones to stumble?
With that rant off my mind, let me share this snippet from a recent article by Carl Trueman who is in the midst of a similar rant.
I am also struck by how Christian talk of cultural engagement has coincided with a watering-down of Christian standards of behavior and, ironically, thought. I have lost count of how many times I have been told in recent years that Christians should be able to watch any movie, providing they do so with a critical, Christian eye. There are several obvious problems with that kind of statement. For a start, such a categorical, sweeping statement has little, if any, scriptural or exegetical foundation and indeed seems not to take any account of texts such as Mt. 5: 27-30, Eph. 5: 1-3, Phil. 4: 8, etc.
Frankly, there are films rated PG-13 today which my grandparents would have considered as porn. Is the standard of what is and is not obscene set by biblical truth or by cultural accommodation? Talk of `Christians can watch anything as long as they do it critically’ is as daft, unbiblical, soft-headed, ill-thought-out, and confused as anything one is likely to come across. In fact, I have a suspicion that for some it might simply function as a rationalization for watching whatever they like and not having to feel guilty about it, the Christian voyeur’s equivalent of the `I only do screen nudity and sex when the script demands it’ excuse of so many `serious’ actresses whose bank balances have been boosted by the occasional flash of on-screen flesh.