The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.” They are corrupt,
their deeds are vile; there is no one who does good.
– Psalm 14:1 (NIV)
Some recent Hollywood cinema attractions have been aimed
at the Christian audience. God Is Not Dead and Noah are two box office blockbusters that have been gaining a lot of ground in Christian circles. One is anything but a biblical based account of one of the most well known biblical characters of the Old Testament next to David, Moses and Abraham, while the other is definitely geared towards Christians and seekers alike.
We have been here before.
The Passion of Christ swept us all up into a frenzy a few years back. It went so far as to even go authentic with language and use English subtitles in order to maintain the integrity of the New Testament’s usage of the Greek language. It caused a media frenzy. It caused an uproar among atheists. It caused much discussion on the depth of sacrifice that Jesus endured for our salvation. It hit right at the core of the soul’s dichotomy between humanity and holiness, total assurance and total depravity. It hit us all with shock value and made us look once again at the life and times of Jesus as well as His sacrificial work on the cross on Calvary.
We saw a similar stir to a lesser degree with Kirk Cameron in Fireproof (2008) and Courageous (2011). Unlike Noah and The Passion, these were made by Christians and presented in a manner that was not offensive but undoubtedly had Christian values and principles oozing out of scene after scene. Outreach Magazine hosted movie discussions in theaters and churches all across the country with its church and para-church partners. Other faith-based groups hosted viewing nights as well. We got caught up in these movies and they offered us an opportunity to share the Good News in an environment where people could talk about Christianity without someone jumping on the defense on either side.
Noah is nothing short of artistic license at best. It makes Noah into a totally different man than the one that many of us came to know through Sunday School lessons. Sadly, it has been publicly shared that the intent of the movie was not to portray the biblical account of Noah but a very secular interpretation of him. (SMH in the name of Jesus and everything holy!)
God is Not Dead, on the other hand, is the type of movie that allows us to walk along with those who dwell in logic and philosophy with our Bibles and history books open at the same time. It offers us an opportunity to have an open dialogue about what can be done and how much we can explore beyond what we have heard from the pulpit or in Sunday School to truly defend the Gospel.
We are under attack as Christians. If you did not know that, just go to your local movie theater. It’s right there on the big screen before your eyes.