How theological should we get?
Let’s get to brass tacks- This one question weighs on the minds of all Christian filmmakers/musicians/writers. How theological should our material be? We don’t want to seem preachy. We don’t want to seem harsh. We don’t want to seem cold, standoffish, prideful, omniscient, or angry. But I just want you to notice a couple of things about these worries (about which I assume most of you ( and yes me too) related to.
First, it’s riddled with fear. Any good filmmaker will tell you that fear doesn’t make good films, risk does. And for a Christian that can translate to: “Fear of man doesn’t make good movies, faith in God does.” Corny? Kind of, but only because we’ve come to view it this way. Admittedly, though, this really is a fault, not of ours, but of those who have coined such “Christianese,” phrases, lymrcis, and sayings as these. The Bible bumper stickers, the WWJD bracelets, the youth pastor with the fashionable clothes, ya know, all the stuff you’d find in “Stuff Christians Like,” (http://www.jonacuff.com/stuffchristianslike/) by jona cuff. His point is the same as mine: we have turned true Christianianty into marketable, swalloable, and culture-“aware” peices. And we, as aspiring Christian filmmakers who care about our films want our works to be just the opposite: bold, clear, loving, unapologetic, faithful, powerful, convicting, and, probably above all else, real. Yet we fear by being these things we will become some corny Chrisitan hipster, but, how do you think all of those other cheesy marketers came to put out such fluffy, shallow, watery material? Yupp…..Fear. Same thing you’ve got at the back of your brain as your write your next “theological” script.
Secondly, this list of fear has one focus: ourselves. We have become so obsessed with self-image that even the well-intentioned, “pure,” artists are ego-driven narcissists. We fear those things because the outcome will be a tarnished image. Now, if you’ve read anything I have to say about anything, you’ll know that I hold the world’s reaction in high regard when it comes to Christian film, but, this does not mean I believe we should cater to their desire to see Christianity become a pragmatic, hyper-tolerant, easy to swallow, peaceable, quiet, and non-offensive “set of beliefs.” It means we need to be willing to be vulnerable and truthful about the emotional connection we share with all humans, believers or not. THIS is what will grab the attention properly, not the pragmatic, “tell the world what they want to hear” answer we usually get from these productions.
This leads into my last point which kind of ties these two ends together: we’ve become so fearful of our image both in the eyes of our church friends, family, and leadership, and in the eyes of the world, that we’ve started to cater to their idea of what we should be: quiet nod-alongs that just say, “whatever works for you.” This priority has stripped us of what Jesus says true theology actually is: a lifestyle.
We’ve turned theology into some mystical, dark, deep, acedemic, unnattainable magic scroll that only pastors are fit to unlock, when, in actuality, Jesus tells us that theology is lifestyle. We see it over and over again as he addresses both the Pharisees and His disciples alike: “Spirit of the law, spirit of the law, spirit of the law.” The point here isn’t to debate on how important the letter of the law is compared to the spirit of the law, the point is deeper: Jesus acknowledged that the letter of the law was a mere outward manifestation of hte true goal, a spirit of the law. A spirit that held the scripture so close to it’s heart that it’s outward lifestyle overflowed with theological manifestion, and that principle remains the same.
Theology isn’t about pulling out books that debate Wesley vs. Calvin, or CCM vs. traditional, or even apologetics, eschatology, ecclesiology, soteriology, or WHATEVER else that we’ve pinned the term to. Theology is a lifestyle. A lifestyle that has emotions, but emotions that our first born out of reaction to the truth.
This is where we differ from the world. We have an outside absolute truth that defines every other aspect of our lives while the world has their own inward subjective ideas of what the truth is, hence, a bookstore full of self-helps and philosophies that all claim to have the inside look on life’s great mysteries. We have 1 book. 1. It is abosolute. There are many books written about this one book, but the book stands on it’s own. True Christianity is a life not a decision (only). This isn’t a works based theology but it is true christianity that will show itself in works (as James tells us).
So, let’s call a spade a spade: we fear the world hating us and we want them to take our P’s and Q’s and swallow them down and like them without one word of rebuttal, ridicule, or rejection. But let me go ahead and clear up any confusion: This is simply……..stupid. You must come to understand that, while communication quality is of great importance, it will not ward off every objection you ever receive from a non-believer. They must see your life. A life that has theology centered inside and makes decisions based on that.
So when we make films with good theology, I don’t think we should be so obsessed with getting the “right amount of verses in” or the proper way to pray, or whatever. Good theology points people to Christ as the only legitamate answer to their life-long questions: why am I here and what does it mean in the end? Most people in the world, regardless of what they tell you, are scared poo-less of death. But we, though we may fear pain, loss, and sandess, do not fear what lies beyond those things. We know. It is our job to make films that allow the world to relate emotionally to the people on screen, to show them that we are all human, and that ultimately, we’re all running around like crazies trying to figure out what this world’s about, and that there is one answer and that one answer loves them DEEPLY.
But this still doesn’t answer the question, “How theological should our films get,?” In other words, “At what point have we gone too far? When do we get too preachy? etc…” The answer is to write from your heart. Sing from your heart. Direct from your heart. Act from your heart. Your heart that is rooted in God’s love, nature, and in his pure and holy plan for your life. This is good theology and anything spoken truthfully from this base, grounded in the Word of God, wether it be subtle, blatant, metaphoric, literal, or a mix of all, will be acceptable to God and will affect people. When people are presented with a clear picture of Jesus and his gospel, they are presented with an unavoidable, polarizing, and blatant choice: acceptance or rejection. This is there’s to decide.
I see movies like Amazing Grace and am moved theologically speaking. I believe that the overtones and themes of this film were overtly Christian and showed people time and again the truth of Jesus. Was the film about Jesus? Not really. Did it point to Jesus and the gospel? Absolutely. And it did it well because it was emotionally and intellectually relatable. It was real. It dealt with culture, everyday decisions, conflict, choice, and emotion and brought jesus to the center of it all.
Then you have Fireproof and Facing the Giants which, while they presented Jesus, they did so in a way that seemed almost “otherworldly” in a bad way. It dealt with “Christian” conflicts instead of “human conflicts.” The answer to both is Jesus and His word, but the world needs to see Jesus as the answer to their “human conflicts,” as they are not yet a Christian. They don’t understand not tithing, missing church, staying out of the Word, being an un-christ-like husband, wife, or Christian. They don’t understand bible version conflicts, short-lived or dead prayer lives, spiritual numbness or theological sterility. They DO understand broken homes, broken hearts, evil’s existance, justice, lost babies, failed businesses, family conflicts, failed marriages, and above all, they understand that humans are here for a reason. They don’t know what the reason is. They’ll spend a lifetime guessing, adopting each new system that seems to “work,” but they’ll be left on a life-long, fatal rabbit chase. But do you see the emotional connection between the two? The difference is, we must make the circumstances and people things they can relate to, not thigns we only can relate to as believers.
This is my thought on the matter. The Gospel is central…always. eating drinking, or whatever we’re doing (thank you Romans), we’re doing all for the glory of God. This includes the next word we write, note we sing, word we speak, or frame we shoot. All of it should be reaching desperately out to people and all of it should be quickliy, urgently, and fully pulling them closer and closer the the Lord Jesus Christ. This is real. This is truth. This is the Gospel.
Brennan
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