Every Christmas we review a popular Christmas film as a church, and this Sunday 18th December we’ll be watching Home Alone 1. Do join us at 4.15pm. In this blog post I want to give the rationale for why we do this. I have two basic points, with three applications.
(1) Films are like sermons
Every film, advert and trailer we watch is a sermon, in that it has a message and a worldview (a set of assumptions about the world – things we believe but take for granted). Films have a message; like a sermon they’re trying to teach you or persuade you. Films are trying to make you believe something and desire something and live in accordance with those beliefs and desires. They are telling you “this is how you find true meaning, joy, hope, power etc.”
So when we’re watching a film, we’re not standing on neutral territory. It’s a spiritual exercise, in that the film is trying to teach us something. So if we’re not careful we can imbibe the message of the film without thinking about it, and can start to adopt the attitude, lifestyle, beliefs and hopes that the film portrays. Take an obvious one: most films portray the message that to be happy you need to find ‘true love’ in a life-partner. So we can start to believe that an essential ingredient to happiness is to have a life-partner. However, Jesus and Paul didn’t have spouses and they were both fulfilled, joyful and hopeful people.
Therefore, secondly we must…
(2) Watch films ‘through the lens’ of scripture
That is, as Christians we need to sift the message and themes of the film to see what fits the message and worldview of the Bible and what contradicts it. If we are not careful what we believe about the world can be shaped more by Hollywood and popular culture (which changes every year!), rather than the unchanging truths of the Bible. So we must watch films through the lens, through the worldview, of the Bible – to make our hearts and our mind align with the Bible, not Hollywood and popular culture which is so transitory.
If you do watch a film through the lens of scripture you’ll find:
(a) Films reveal our hearts because they reveal our dreams
The reason films are so powerful is that for around two hours we can forget reality, be consumed by another story, another worldview (where true romance is always found, things end happily ever after, good triumphs over evil, etc), and we live in the world we dream was true.
If you want to understand your own heart and what is important to you, examine how you react to the various storylines and characters in the films you watch. Your reaction (whether of disgust or ‘if only’) reveals your heart.
(b) Films reveal culture
If every film, advert and trailer we watch is a sermon…a message… it’s a message that resonates with our culture. Not only does it reveal our hearts – it reveals the CORPORATE HEART of our culture in general – it reveals what our culture thinks is important to be happy, joyful, hopeful, confident, valuable, etc.
If we’re going to be the light of the world as Jesus called us to be… to be a alternate city within the city of Dublin reflecting his values, his standards, his beauty, his purity, his love, his truth to the world, we had better understand what our culture thinks and whether we need to affirm it or ensure we don’t get entangled in it.
And, maybe surprisingly…
(c) Films reveal Christ
As (I think) C.S. Lewis put it, “Every great story contains the gospel story.” That is, there will be themes of sacrificial love, forgiveness, justice – issues that are central to the gospel. However, every film will also be tainted by sin and will therefore reveal themes of selfishness, insecurity, malice, cheating, violence, hurt and pain. So films help us understand the gospel – how wretched we are in our sin… and yet how beautiful we are, made in the image of God. But nearly every film has a hero, a champion, a defender, a martyr, a saviour… someone we can cheer for, someone we want to win, someone who wins our hearts by their sacrifice and courage, their loyalty and their love… and in that we see Jesus.
For more on why we watch films and how we can learn from them do read why Christians should watch films from my personal blog.
To whet the appetite for Sunday, here is a summary of the plot from the IMDB website:
It is Christmas time and the McCallister family is preparing for a vacation in Paris, France. But the youngest in the family named Kevin got into a scuffle with his older brother Buzz and was sent to his room which is on the third floor of his house. Then, the next morning, while the rest of the family was in a rush to make it to the airport on time, they completely forgot about Kevin who now has the house all to himself. Being home alone was fun for Kevin, having a pizza all to himself, jumping on his parents’ bed, and making a mess. Then, Kevin discovers about two burglars, Harry and Marv, about to rob his house on Christmas Eve. Kevin acts quickly by wiring his own house with makeshift booby traps to stop the burglars and to bring them to justice.
See you Sunday at 4.15pm.