21st Century Stories

• $26 billion is spent world-wide on movies
• 24,000 movie rental stores operate in America
• Less than 46% of Americans read a book last year
• 95% of all Americans saw a movie
• Average American sees 46 movies a year
• Pollster George Barna in his book Revolution says that 20% of all adults use culture, media, and the arts as their primary spiritual resource. Than number is projected to increase to 35% by the year 2025 and will then equal the number who will look to the Church as their primary spiritual resource.

Film has become the storytelling medium of the 21st century. Gone are the days of widespread familiarity with literature. Consider for a moment how many of the following movies you and everyone reading this piece have seen: Schindler's List, Finding Nemo, Titanic, Beauty and the Beast, and Toy Story. Now, try to imagine five books that each of us would have commonly read. You see my point.

The church has dealt with film primarily through avoidance (the whole thing is corrupt and will corrupt us if we touch it) or caution (only films that directly promote biblical values or the gospel message are worth of our attention). If we limit ourselves to only those two, we miss the opportunity for potent third option: dialogue. Film provides a cultural touch-point with virtually every person we meet and it does Christians well to familiarize themselves with warp and woof of the film in our cultural tapestry. I'm not saying that every film is good or that there are not those we should avoid. There are bad films just as there is bad music, or art, or literature and there are some stories and images that have no redeeming value whatsoever. But, film is so pervasive that if we hope to engage the current culture and participate in forging a new one that can accommodate renewal and revival, we must learn to dialogue with film.

Every story, including film, presents a worldview - or at minimum, a critique of a worldview. Remember that a worldview consists of our view of what is really real and determines our beliefs about life, our values, and ultimately, how we live our lives. It might be explicit in the story, or it might be expressed by one or more characters. There may be multiple or even competing worldviews in a single film.

Francis Schaeffer referred to discussion on the worldview level as pre-evangelism - a true prerequisite to discussions about the gospel. He believed that if my biblical worldview - what I hold to be really real - is different than my neighbor's, until we come to terms on each other's position, the gospel will be unintelligible to to my neighbor. Film provides readily available and fertile ground for worldview dialogue and scattering of the gospel seed.

A cup of coffee or bite to eat after a film with friend provides a great opportunity for worldview dialogue that can start in few other ways. Think about it - over the fence with your neighbor are you more likely to strike up a profitable conversation about why he needs Jesus, or why the main character in the movie The Shawshank Redemption would display such hope (if all that exists is the material world)? Film presents us with door to the 21st century mind and heart. We ought to open it.