David Condolora

The local cinema is not a pulpit.

“Go and make disciples of all nations…” – Jesus

We would be foolish to assume that mass media can do the job of sharing the Gospel.

Let me back up.

The Great Commission is likely the most difficult and critical mission ever entrusted to human beings. It’s a matter of the gravest importance, one of eternal consequence—and one to which little time is devoted by the majority of Christians (myself included).

Instead of going out into the world, we spend our time placing blame. We blame the media, we blame politicians, we blame schools, and of course, we blame Hollywood. We look on dissapprovingly, engage in rousing debates, and generally make ourselves known by what we hate, rather than Who we love.

We need to stop.

Sin is pervasive. Sin is evil. Evil must be fought. Yes, yes, and yes. But what about making disciples? What if the best way to fight evil and sin was to change hearts rather than change laws? What if, by following Jesus’ final command, we could redeem the culture?

It’s not too big an exaggeration to say that mass media is today’s greatest driver of cultural change. It’s an excellent tool, one that many Christians want to embrace so that we can fix things. But we would be foolish to assume that mass media can do the job of sharing the Gospel. Jesus didn’t ask us to beam His message into people’s living rooms; He told us to go. There’s a big difference.

That being said, I do think mass media can help plant seeds.

Here’s where we start talking about movies.

Movies aren’t great at getting people to actually do things, but they are good at starting discussions, and Christians rightly see an opportunity to use filmmaking for imparting hope. The problem is that we’re usually so focused on the message that we forget to actually do a good job sharing it.

I once wrote a couple of lengthy articles on what’s wrong with Christian cinema. They were full of statistics, analyses, and were too long. All of us know what’s wrong with Christian films: they’re badly made. And we all know the problem with Hollywood films: they’re full of garbage. Those are both oversimplifications, but you know what I mean.

But what if in the midst of the detritus lay the key to improving Christian films? Here’s the truth: most Hollywood films do not send bad messages intentionally. I know that’s hard to believe, but it’s true. Hollywood is, in some ways, a conservative community; they can’t push the envelope too far, because they need you and I to go to the local cinema and part with our money. There are exceptions, but generally they aren’t consciously pushing an agenda.

The messages in mainstream movies come from the hearts of their filmmakers. And that’s the big difference between us and them.

Now don’t get me wrong, we are definitely in earnest when we use our films to preach; we believe people need to hear the message. But while the message is from the heart, the story is not. Do you see the difference?

Messages need to come out of stories organically (for lack of a less cliché term). People can sense a “message movie” right away, and will turn on multiple filters of skepticism and (increasingly) snark to combat it. The message devours the medium, and that’s why those kinds of movies don’t work. They’re not honest.

Jesus used stories to illuminate truth, not to manipulate people into following Him. Like in everything else, we would do well to follow His example.

I believe that if we are going to use cinema to help redeem the culture, we need to tell stories from the heart. And to do that effectively, we need to be great screenwriters.

Screenplays are the foundation for every movie. They give order to the story, voice to the characters, and map out the emotional journey. If we’re serious about filmmaking, this is where to begin. And just like any profession, if we want people to pay attention, we need to be good at what we do. Writing a screenplay isn’t enough; we need to write a GREAT screenplay. We need to devour books on screenwriting (like this, this, and this), attend lectures, read great screenplays. We need to write, rewrite, and rewrite some more (something I’m just now finding the courage to do).

Along the way, we need to do it all from a place of honesty. Our stories need to be populated with real people facing real questions. They need to come from our hearts, not forced from a desire to make sure that at the end of the film every person in the audience knows what they must do to be saved (for the record, here it is). That honesty will glorify God far more than a cinematic tract.

That’s because the most crucial part of all of this comes after the lights come up. After all, the most we can expect our cinematic masterpiece to do is plant a seed, raise a question in the viewers mind. After that begins the real work of sharing the Gospel. It’s time to play Philip to the audience’s Ethiopian.

900 words in, here’s what I’m really trying to say. Creating impactful art always has the same two rules: do it from the heart, and do it well. What makes Christian art different is that our hearts are different. We don’t need to try to send a message; our art will plant seeds because that is who we are.

God will take care of the rest.