Read this article on the Edge magazine (an Aussie Adventist youth mag), about whether Adventists should watch movies. It can be found here - Feature #2, entitled Celluloid Culture.
This is my response:
Should Adventists be watching movies? The influence in which celluloid culture has on individuals is seen to be highly damaging, especially for Seventh-day Adventist Christians. Movies, like many different elements of popular culture, are seen to be poisoning our minds, and to take an extreme view, would ultimately draw us away from God. As such, many believe we need to be different from everybody else, and not partake in the normal activities of people in the world.
As Andy Chee reminded us, “To be Adventist is to be very special, very different, called higher than any other calling on Earth…we are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a peculiar people…”
When we made the decision to follow Christ, the changes made manifest in our beliefs, behaviour and principles are so obvious that anybody who comes into contact with us know that there is something different about us. The resolve not to drink, the decision not to go out on Friday evenings and most importantly, the peace that now resides in our hearts, stands out amongst our non-Adventist friends.
Andy suggests that these actions “of being legalistic, peculiar and alienated from society is something in which we as Adventists should be proud of.”
Unfortunately, it is precisely because of this pride, that we as Adventists have lost touch with the rest of the world.
When God said we are to be a peculiar people, did he really mean for us to be set utterly apart from the rest of world? Did He really envision us congregating within our own little Adventist community, patting our backs for not participating in certain activities, while frowning upon the “fornication of secular people”?
We have become such experts at being peculiar that we have been truly alienated from the rest of the world. We are so proud of being special, of being the remnant group with “the truth”, that we no longer remember the commission God gave us.
We are told to “be ready at all times to answer anyone who asks you to explain that hope you have in you, but do it with gentleness and respect” (1 Peter 3:15), but we are so focused on our rules that we no longer exude the hope and love of God.
Instead, Adventists are merely seen as the group of folks who do not watch movies, eat meat or do anything on a Saturday. Nobody is going to ask us to explain any hope we have in us, because what kind of hope is made manifest in our not knowing that hobbits have hairy feet?
We have most certainly succeeded in “beaming with the character of God so bright that sin hurts the watching sinner”. So much so that nobody wants to have anything to do with us anymore. Light of the world? We are so irrelevant to modern popular culture that even if we were bright neon billboard signs, people would still pass us by without so much as a glance.
It may be true that celluloid culture can have a bad influence, but it is a depiction of modern society. Art imitates life, or life imitates art? The answer is ultimately up to you, but it does not deny the fact that a lot of what we see on the small or big screen is about the world as we live in today. More often than not, it reflects the values, the opinions, and the viewpoint of people whom God has called us to share the Good News with.
I am not advocating that Adventists should swarm en masse to the cinemas upon reading this, devouring whatever movie that may be showing that evening. That is the reason why we were given the faculty for reasoning. But what I am suggesting is that maybe we should start to understand the world in which we live in a little better.
We need to know what other people live for, what they hope for, what they dream for and what they stand for. We were not only called to be light of the world, but salt of the earth. And the only way in which salt is effective, is if it were taken with the food in which it was mixed with – it requires mingling.
I love movies. I have been an avid moviegoer for as long as I can remember, and this interest of mine has not dampened my love for God. Friends know I am a Christian, and in fact, most have commented on the strengthening of relationship I have had with my God through the years. Has watching movies torn me away from God? Does the fact that I sit in the cinema with my non-Christian friends prove that I am somehow or other going to sway in where I stand with God?
Not every non-Christian is able to understand the going-ons of the Christian world. Tell them about sanctification, justification and my personal favourite, legalism, and they would either roll their eyes at you or look at you blankly and go, “sanc…what?”. Tell them why you choose not to go out on a Friday evening and at best, they would simply say, “Well, that’s your choice.” But all these are not relevant to them!
On the other hand, every Christian is equipped with the ability to understand the non-Christian world, since it is the very world in which we live in. The message of God’s grace is best shared in an environment in which the non-Christian is comfortable in. And that is where movies come in.
Movies are not just tools of entertainment, they are the most important instruments people use to make statements. It is through these statements that I have been able to understand how the world works and what people ache for. And it is through understanding the condition of the world that we are able to better relate and be more relevant to the very people we want to reach out to.
The Matrix Trilogies, Phonebooth, The Green Mile and countless other movies possesses a wealth of Christian undertones which when analysed, reflects the search all filmmakers make for God, perhaps on a subconscious level. And it is not simply movies with religious overtones that are helpful. Movies like Bowling for Columbine, The Thin Red Line and American History X make strong statements on society that can be actively discussed with friends who have absolutely no religious inclination.
Movies are part of pop culture. And pop culture reaches a great majority of people that evangelism never ever will. It brings us to the people. If Christians are able to better understand pop culture, it will equip us to reach out to more people than telling them the reason why we do not go out on a Friday night. Christianity is about building bridges, not walls.
Do not misunderstand me. I believe Ellen White had good reason to discourage us from going to the theatres. Taking her writing into context, theatres during her time were dens of iniquity. Cigarette smoke was rife, the environment was dubious and the content of most movies were unsuitable for a majority of audiences. I would not want to be anywhere near theatres if I were living in her time either.
I will also not dispute the fact that films can have a negative influence on us, and for young impressionable minds, that is extremely dangerous. And that is why God gave us wisdom. Wisdom to choose carefully what movies to watch, because there are good movies out there. And ultimately, if something has an ability to have a negative influence, it can just as well be used to have a positive one. If we had people who are able to review movies from a Christian point of view, imagine the kind of impact we could make.
When we know where we stand with God. When we know what thoughts and actions are pleasing to God. When we know what our principles are, choosing to watch movies is not going to take us any further away from God than if we chose not to speak with Him. God wants us to enjoy ourselves. And if we did so knowing full well that we are at peace with God, knowing what is right and wrong in the eyes of God, going to the cinemas will not dim the light He has placed in us. In fact, it may even make us saltier.
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