If I had a list of my favorite films, only a few of the films listed here would be on it–some, in fact, would be way down on my “favorites” list. But these films stood out because I believe they have themes or content that merit discussion from a believer’s point of view and might be considered for individual or group viewing and discussion. In some cases, it is unlikely that their producers even intended to produce a film that would go on such a list.

Content of Modern Movies

Well, not quite “modern.” I gave up on the genre years ago, which is why the list looks quite old. I believe that streaming has killed the qualiity film market. Not only are the big movie budgets gone, but also the theatres. There once were a dozen movie houses where I liove, and now there is only one, and that one is miles away. So you may have to work to get access to many of these titles.

I guess I’m fairly lucky, as I can savor an occasional bowl of hot chili. But chili is not for everybody. You need just a bit of a cast-iron stomach or you can fall victim to the misery of heartburn.

The same can be said for the movies. For believers, movies can be enjoyable diversions or threats to faith–depending on one’s “stomach.” Films are said to be the “new literature.” I guess that means that more and more people will seek out a two-hour viewing experience, while less and less devote the hours that it takes to read a book. Whether that is true or not, the question remains: Do believers have any business at the movies?

Certainly, for many, the answer is “No.” Children should not go. And many find that the ethical gap between the silver screen and the Christian Life too great to bear: the violence, the language, the nakedness, and–especially–the outright attacks on people of faith. I would not want to persuade such folks to consider the movies. They do not have the “stomach” for them. But a case can be made for the rest of us.

Applying theology to films is not simply an academic exercise. It gives us a chance to practice the application of real theology to real situations that affect our lives with the Christian community where it meets the world.

Christian Bashing

Many movies contain outright attacks against Christians, and it sharpens our skills to engage those challenges on and point out where they fail. Such attacks demand a response from the church and boycotting movies is tantamount to admitting that we’d rather shun those challenges than confront them. The strong polemics that so many movies tell their audience that our faith is ignorant, intolerant, and worthy of the harshest form of ridicule. But those adjectives belong to the world. They have completely different meanings in biblical Christianity, which equates worldly “wisdom” with foolishness and “tolerance” of ungodly behavior as the sin of Jezebel (Rev. 2:20).

In fact, I recommended some movies to Christians as necessary medicine–even movies that I don’t like. Four Weddings and a Funeral is one such film. Golly I hated that movie! But every believer should see it. Few works of comedy so dramatize the whirlwind that we reap as a result of sowing the notion that “church” is a place where the non-believing public can go to have a wedding or a funeral. We have sowed that whirlwind, and we have allowed the name of our Lord to be associated with non-believing weddings and funerals by having them use our churches rather than the town halls, courtrooms, or brothels where such godless rites belong. Sadly, it took Hollywood to point out our error, and we need to listen with sober ears, reclaim the church from the culture, and return it to its biblical roots.

So the impressions I offer on movies are for those who can handle the vicious attacks, the senseless violence, the language, the gratuitous nudity, and all the rest. If you are one of those people, welcome aboard to this section of Home-Church.org.