"God at the Movies" (July,
2003)
“I give up God! I
surrender my life to you and want your will for my life!”
Perhaps you can guess where
this line was recently heard. An altar call Sunday morning at the close of the
worship service? A counseling session following a Billy Graham crusade
meeting? Someone praying in the privacy of his or her home?
The above words have certainly
been repeated in such venues, but the latest place these words have been heard
is on the Big Screen. Jim Carey, in the popular summer movie, Bruce Almighty,
utters these (approximate) words after his character, Bruce Nolan, finally
realizes his inherent selfishness and the destruction and heartache that it is
causing in the lives of others.
The summer of 2003 may go down
as the year in which Hollywood got serious about religion, again. Movies
dealing with religious themes were popular decades ago. Now the trend appears
to be coming around again, albeit 21st century style. Angels were
popular on both the television screen and the Big Screen in the 1990s, but
serious discussion of religion and God at the movies rose to prominence with the
popular 1999 movie, The Matrix, in which themes of creation, free will,
faith, redemption, resurrection and salvation were integral to the story of a
futuristic society controlled by computers who victimized unsuspecting humans.
The Lord of the Rings movie trilogy debuted in 2002 to large crowds,
bringing J. R. R. Tolkien’s epic story of good and evil to a new generation.
The first big movie of this summer, The Matrix Reloaded, expanded even
further on the themes of the original Matrix, delving deeper into the
realm of faith, free will, redemption and salvation. On the heels of The
Matrix Reloaded came Bruce Almighty, a lighthearted look at the
subject of faith and free will, a counter to the serious and futuristically dark
Matrix movies.
It is certainly refreshing to
see Hollywood turning to religious faith. It is even more encouraging to see
Hollywood treating religious faith in a positive manner. In both the Matrix
trilogy (the third installment will be in theatres in November) and Bruce
Almighty there are numerous references to biblical characters and stories
that many viewers are doubtlessly unfamiliar with, not having read the Bible.
Perhaps the movie industry feels that viewers need to know more about the
Bible? Or perhaps some producers realize that many people today, outwardly
religious or not, are asking questions which ultimately must be framed in terms
of God and faith?
Many Baptists have long been
suspicious, if not downright hostile, towards the Big Screen and the
“worldliness” it represents. Yet it may be time for Baptists to pay attention
to the movies 21st century American and world citizens are plunking
down their money to see.
If this summer’s Box Office is
any indication, the world is concerned about matters of ultimate reality.
People are asking tough questions for which pat answers no longer suffice. They
are searching for God in the midst of the chaos, clutter and disillusionment of
the 21st century.
Yet Baptists are sending a
mixed signal to a world desperately searching for God.
Some Baptist leaders don’t
like people asking questions. Al Mohler wants a Bible he can control, while
Jerry Falwell pretends to be God’s spokesperson. Jerry Rankin is forcing
missionaries to adopt his creed, while Richard Land preaches blind faith in the
Republican Party. Some seminaries indoctrinate, while much Sunday School
literature offers packaged answers. Questioning the dictates of certain Baptist
leaders is subversive, while disagreeing with their theology is heretical.
On the other hand, many
Baptist clergy and laity throughout the world posses a much deeper and more
genuine faith than do those who discourage and even prohibit the asking of
questions. These good folk have the weight of history on their side: the pages
of the Bible and the chapters of world and church history are full of people of
great faith – and of little faith – who asked tough questions in the face of
life’s difficulties. They realize that asking questions and trusting God can go
hand in hand.
In the summer of 2003, God on
the Big Screen encourages Jim Carey’s character to ask questions, while in the
real world some Baptist leaders are thundering, “Don’t ask questions, just do
what we say or get out of our way!” It is a sad commentary of our times that
one searching for God this summer would probably be better off buying a movie
ticket than sitting in a Sunday School class which offers only shallow, packaged
answers to questions rarely asked.