Interesting title enough for you? In light of the recent article God vs. Good Art I wanted to write something else…something I think is important. UNITY. One of the greatest enemies to a Christian today unfortunately is another Christian. Religion overtakes Jesus, legalism builds walls between those who could be beneficial to each other, and chaos ensues. How does this apply to the Christian filmmaking world?
If there’s one thing I’ve learned in the past few years, it’s that people have very differing opinions on what kind of filmmaking Christians should be involved in. I’ve heard that it’s wrong to work in Hollywood from some, while others consider it a mission field. I’ve heard that “Christian film” is worthless and dying since it doesn’t seem to target the lost and instead targets churches, while others view it as the perfect mission field saying that now-a-days there seems to be more and more sick people IN the church. I’ve heard that movies should be made with more of a Christian “worldview” than anything else, while others hold a torch for the Gospel. Then there’s debate on what the Gospel is in a film, and how it should be communicated (parable vs. outright gospel presentation). I’ve heard people arguing about movies not being for preaching while others see it as the perfect opportunity to preach. Surely we can all agree on one thing though, that there are lost people out there that need a Savior? I would hope that amongst all this fighting with each other, we can see a common goal. We might disagree on how people reach that goal, and whether or not they’re as effective as they should be, or even whether they’re effective at all…but at the end of the day that is our goal right?
Even if your goal is to attract those to the church or christianity who otherwise would never have anything to do with it, it’s just another degree of separation from the goal. Some don’t like that and they want the Gospel in every film, while others think their film should be more of a billboard for church or Christianity in worldview, and consider it the churches responsibility to do the “preaching.”
I’ve seen some very heated arguments on forums and in articles like this one. Christian yelling back and forth, telling each other off, saying why they’re right and why the other is wrong. When was the last time a film was made? Shouldn’t we be working towards the goal instead of spending all our time arguing over how to actually go and do it? We spend so much time amongst each other debating how to do things and at the end of the day when our head hits the pillow we accomplish nothing. There seems to be so many talking about how to do things and nowhere near as many giving it a try.
We all have our own viewpoints on how things should be done, and understanding that point alone should douse some of the fires that we all start. We’re not all going to agree. I try and keep that fact firmly in mind.
To all who have varying viewpoints on how to go and make their films I would simply advise them to ask the Lord what HIS WILL is in that situation, story, job, market, etc. and where they fit into it. I’m speaking to myself here as well, because it’s easy to look at things from the outside and say “they should be done like this,” when I know that in the past I’ve been 100% certain that I was in the right and God quickly and swiftly knocked me off my high horse. We need to be acknowledging him in all things, and he will direct the way we should go.
The bickering won’t cease, as I know that some simply don’t have the will power…but I hope to see a bit more unity of spirit in this industry we’re all trying to break our way into. If we can’t break down some of these walls and pop a few of these bubbles we’ve put ourselves into because of our disagreements, you’ll see this market die out in time. There needs to be a support of one another, a willingness to listen to others comments and viewpoints or critiques, an understand of where people are coming from, and most of all a heart for the Lord and a focus on what His Will may be in each of our lives/futures. If everyone in this industry that is a Christian (I don’t care whether you say you make Christian films or your a Christian who makes films) would simply humble themselves and truly seek His face in their work, you would see an explosion of God honoring, and EXCELLENT art flood this world again. Is that what you REALLY want? Then do something about it. 
