I agree that we should be "in the world," but not the
world of movie directors in which the harsh truth of pain, guilt, sin,
judgment, and death are suspended, perverted, or ignored.
I want to begin with a few background assumptions. As Christians, we
should not think about movies in the way that the world thinks about
movies. We need to strive to have God’s perspective on this issue. I once
heard a sermon by Pastor Tim Keller on Christians and politics, and if my
memory serves me, he said, “I can’t tell you that if you become a
Christian your political beliefs will move to the right or to the left,
but I can tell you that your political beliefs will change because you are
a Christian.” I would apply this same truth to the area of movie-watching:
I cannot tell you what your practice should be, but I can tell you that it
will be different because you are a Christian. We should evaluate our
thinking about movies according to the words of the Bible and the leading
of the Holy Spirit. We should consider words of Scripture such as Romans 12, which says,
“do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of
your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what
is good and acceptable and perfect,” and Psalm 101:3, “I will set before
my eye no vile thing.” In addition to Scripture, I accept the idea put forward by many
Christians today that deciding what movies we should or should not watch
is a “wisdom issue”: an issue where we have some freedom as Christians to
decide personally what it would be okay to watch. As Romans 14:5 says,
“[e]ach one should be fully convinced in his own mind” that what we are
doing is right, because there are some “disputable matters” where opposing
actions can both be done in obedience to God. But as Paul writes
“‘Everything is permissible for me,’—but not everything is beneficial” (1
Cor. 6:12). Some of us are tempted by one thing, while others are tempted
by another. Additional circumstances such as age, gender, and time in life
will shape our choices about movies. I agree with this principle, but it begs the question: how do we get
this wisdom? Wisdom in the Christian life means not accepting our natural
impulses without question. Wisdom comes from God’s Spirit: “If any of you
lacks wisdom, let him ask God” (James 1:5). If we are going to base our
movie-watching decisions on individual choices of wisdom, we need to be
praying to God and asking him for this wisdom. But how often do we really
pray before watching a movie? Christians are called to step back and
reflect on the world around us, and to think differently about everything
in this world, including movies. I offer two pieces of advice that might
change the way we approach movie-watching. First Piece of Advice: Stay grounded in reality. One reason that many
Christians argue that we should watch movies is so that we can be a part
of our culture and interact with it in a meaningful way. In the common
phrase “we are to be in the world but not of it.” I agree that we should
be “in the world,” but I would stipulate that God is calling us to be in
the real world, not the world of movie directors in which the harsh truth
of pain, guilt, sin, judgment, and death are suspended, perverted, or
ignored. If we live too much in the world built on fiction, we can lose
our perspective and begin to believe in lies about sin and its
consequences. For this reason, I think that we should show moderation in
our movie-watching, and, rather than watching more movies to be “in the
world,” I think we should make a concerted effort to be actively involved
in the actual world. For example, I am often tempted to watch and revel in romantic
comedies, where casual sex and godless relationships are often glorified
and where things turn out right for lovers who behave in sinful and
unloving ways. I need to check my idealization of these relationships with
a good dose of reality: what about the people that I actually know who
have behaved immorally in some way? Are they untroubled or unaffected by
it? To know the answers to these questions, I have to know real people and
I have to know them intimately so that I can be aware of what is really
going on in their lives. If we are attracted to some kind of glamorous sin
depicted in movies, we should give ourselves a reality check. Go and be
among the people who actually engage in those things and get to know them.
Instead of watching Pretty Woman, consider doing ministry with actual
prostitutes and see what they say about their lives. This suggestion may
sound silly, but it gives one a sense of what I mean when I say “be
involved in the real world.” I know movies are fun and they give us stuff
to talk about with our friends, but if we surround ourselves mainly with
these stories, we will start to live with the expectations they set
up—whether we realize it or not. It is like spending too much time in a
zero-gravity chamber: if we try to step out in the world where people
actually live—the place where the rules of gravity really apply—we will be
in for some major disorientation and shock, and the expectations we set up
will be dashed completely to the ground. Second Suggestion: Ask each other directly about this topic. This
suggestion is very practical: if you are in the movie store and picking
out a movie with a bunch of friends, particularly if they are Christian,
take a moment before you finally decide on a movie to say “Does anyone
have any misgivings about this movie, or does anyone think it would be a
bad movie to watch?” I think it is very important that we make it clear
that it would be better that nobody watched a movie rather than that one
person stumble because she watched something that she felt she should not
watch. Paul’s words in Romans 14:13-15 apply to this situation: Therefore let us stop passing judgment on one another. Instead,
make up your mind not to put any stumbling block or obstacle in your
brother’s way. As one who is in the Lord Jesus, I am fully convinced that
no food is unclean in itself. But if anyone regards something as unclean,
then for him it is unclean. If your brother is distressed because of what
you eat, you are no longer acting in love. Do not by your eating destroy
your brother for whom Christ died. None of us should be so focused on watching a movie that we would not
be able to give it up for the sake of a brother or sister. And although
there may not be one law in regards to movie-watching, there is only one
Spirit that is guiding us into wisdom. The fact that this is a wisdom
issue does not mean that we have to forfeit the right to call our brothers
and sisters to seriously consider what they are watching. The difficulty
with me being the only judge of my own strengths and weaknesses in regards
to movie-watching is that my areas of weakness are areas in which I am
WEAK. I need help. I need someone else to say to me “Anna, are you sure
that you should be watching this?” because it is more difficult to
suppress an audible voice then the voice of my conscience. Why do we have such difficulty admitting that we don’t want to watch
something? For one thing, it is embarrassing to admit our weaknesses. It
is embarrassing to imply that if I watch a movie with a sex scene in it
that I will be tempted by that scene. In our culture, we all like to act
cool and remain cool. We view those who are overly affected by violence or
horror or sex or nudity as people who are weak. Fine. As Christians we can
accept that label with humility and joy. Paul declares “Who is weak, and I
do not feel weak? Who is led into sin, and I do not inwardly burn? If I
must boast, I will boast of the things that show my weakness” (2 Cor.
11:29,30). As Christian brothers and sisters, we are called to be open and
vulnerable with one another. Dietrich Bonhoeffer writes in his book Life
Together that the reason we do not have true Christian fellowship with one
another is that: …though [Christians] have fellowship with one another as believers
and as devout people, they do not have fellowship as the undevout, as
sinners. The pious fellowship permits no one to be a sinner. So everybody
must conceal his sin from himself and from the fellowship. We dare not be
sinners. (110) Bonhoeffer then calls us to be a fellowship of sinners relying on God’s
grace, rather than a fellowship of those resting on a projection of
goodness or righteousness. Operating on this understanding, we should not
be ashamed to show our weaknesses to others. If you are tempted or
disturbed by some part of a movie, close your eyes, hide your head,
fast-forward the tape, walk out of the movie, or turn off the TV! Do not
go on sinning and struggling because you are embarrassed of what other
people will think. We need true humility that will admit when we are weak
and that will allow others to see that we are struggling so that they can
help us. One final thought. The Christian mindset is not generally in sync with
the world’s views and if we are in agreement with the culture around us,
we at least need to take a second glance at the premise of our actions.
Paul wrote to the Corinthians, “I beg you that when I come I may not have
to be as bold as I expect to be toward some people who think that we live
by the standards of this world” (2 Cor. 10:2). I say this because I think
it is too easy for us to justify our movie-watching habits when they don’t
feel wrong to us. Unfortunately, this ease of conscience is probably due
to the times in which we live rather than the Spirit of God. Many
Christians of ages past would be horror-stricken if they knew what
Christians today were watching in movies. I do not say this as a
condemnation; I say it because it is a warning and exhortation to examine
our own secure righteousness about this topic. “Let us examine our ways
and test them” (Lam. 3:40), and let us be open to how the Lord may change
our lives and our thinking in this crucial area of our culture. Anna
Megill, Princeton '06, is a history major from western Pennsylvania.
Movies are everywhere in our culture and as Christians, we are forced to
consider how we should react to their presence and influence. We can
abandon movies entirely, we can watch any and every movie possible, or we
can steer a middle course between these two extremes. In this article, I
don’t have a list of rules that I want to offer for what sorts of movies
Christians should or should not be watching; instead, I want to offer a
general assumption about our attitude toward movies and then two possible
ways to apply this principle.