"At the Movies" The New Evangelical Trend / Churches Look to Hollywood as "Source of Biblical Truth"

Here is a story I saw online Saddleback Church founded by Rick Warren is running a promotion on Facebook there is a picture so they have a group of church members all dressed up in Super Mario Brothers costumes and other

Hollywood movie themes and the caption reads this is officially put out by Saddleback Church founded by Rick Warren the caption reads join us for our at the movie series beginning

July 22nd at Saddleback Church they say unpack stories of inspiration and biblical truths from Hollywood blockbuster films hold on wait a minute did

I read that correctly unpack stories of inspiration and biblical truths from Hollywood movies ok let me just calm down here and collect my thoughts okay when

I saw this I just got to thinking churches went from preaching against Hollywood movies to now allowing

Hollywood movies to come and entertain the church there's a lot of churches doing this they're having at the movies right at the movie series so they will dress up as movie characters sometimes the pastor will dress up as a movie character the sermon will be about the new

Barbie film or Mission Impossible or Super Mario Brothers and it's like really and just that statement that we're gonna we're gonna get biblical truths from Hollywood blockbuster films really now on the one hand

I do have to say that all truth is God's truth so if you look hard enough

I mean I guess you could always find some tie -in to something right to make a biblical point but if you are going to say that Hollywood movies are communicating some sort of biblical truth or some message of truth

I mean that's going to be a stretch ok so in one generation everything has changed if you ask the preachers of yesteryear right the pastors from the 1950s 1960s think of your pastor some of you older folks your pastor from the 1970s what would he say about this yeah

I think you know what he would say bringing in Hollywood movies into the church building showing them and saying hey there's biblical truth in these movies now

I suspect some of those old -school pastors from the 50s and 60s and 70s they would probably say that no

Hollywood is not communicating biblical truth they would probably say Hollywood is communicating the devil's message right of course they're still pastors who will say that and you know don't get me wrong

I don't I don't preach against going to the movies I guess it would depend on the movie right

I guess it would depend on the details but most of you are probably aware that pastors in previous generations they used to do that they say no

Christian should ever go to a movie theater I mean that was a common thing back in the 1970s a lot of churches if not most

Bible -believing churches back then they used to preach that kind of a thing Christian shouldn't go to the movies they shouldn't watch

Hollywood films Christian shouldn't dance etc etc most people today would call that legalism

I'm not really sure what it has to do with the law of Moses so it doesn't make sense to me that seems like not the right term but you say well that's just it's not a command in scripture so you shouldn't be preaching as if it is a command but you know there are some movies that Christians shouldn't watch

I mean you would say the Christians shouldn't watch x -rated films right so what about an r -rated film that has some x -rated content okay so but most people you know they'll say well that's just legalism so movies are fine let's bring in the

Hollywood movies and hey instead of a sermon let's just watch Super Mario Brothers on Saturday night or Sunday morning so that's the way a lot of churches were they preach against movies they would preach against secular music that let's face it a lot of secular music it's about fornication and getting drunk and doing this and doing that right but now that's all changed this type of thing is brought into the church and it's celebrated

I think there has to be some middle ground there's been a few stories about there's one church they open their

Easter service by playing AC DC highway to hell instead of opening the service with amazing grace or how great thou art they opened up with AC DC yes that really happened

Andy Stanley opened up one of his Sunday services with Led Zeppelin and no they did not change the words it was just a

Led Zeppelin concert so obviously times have changed churches used to preach against this stuff back in the 70s now it's being brought into the church and pastors are saying and Saddleback Church is saying hey there's biblical truth communicated in these films okay what is this my friends this is a sign of the times that's about the nicest thing

I can say about it it is a sign of the times Hollywood movies being shown in church now listen what you do if you go out to the movies tonight like again don't misunderstand what

I'm saying that's between you and God obviously there are some movies Christians shouldn't watch but that's between you and God what

I'm talking about is bringing movies into the Lord's assembly so Hollywood movies are being shown in church many usually it's the megachurches but then you know how that goes small local churches they they basically copy the megachurches so the sermons are based on secular films

I have a YouTube video up right now about a pastor who did a sermon on the

Barbie film if you can believe that so Hollywood it went from being preached against to now it's being preached and pushed and promoted now when you compare the 1950s 1960s to the craziness of things happening right now again those churches in the 1970s that said no

Christian should ever go to the movies and then movies being brought into the church that there has to be a happy medium because on the one hand it's hard if not impossible to prove that going to a movie theater is sin

I don't know how you would prove that but again on the other hand there are definitely some movies that Christians should not watch

I would say to some extent this is a Christian Liberty issue because there's no explicit command in the

New Testament don't go see Hollywood movies I remember there's one story I've heard this from several people so apparently pastors used to say this back in the 60s 1970s pastors would preach that if Jesus comes back at the rapture and he finds you in a movie theater you're gonna get left behind now it's kind of hard to imagine somebody saying that today but you say well that wasn't that's not right that's not biblical well but is bringing these films into the church and saying that they're communicating biblical truth is that biblical no so I would say both are unbiblical and again there has to be a happy medium so I would say do as your conscience dictates now you have to be as a believer as Christians the

Bible says we have the mind of Christ so be informed by the

Word of God follow the leading of the Holy Spirit and follow your conscience because sometimes the

Holy Spirit or whether it's our conscience or the Holy Spirit telling us hey you shouldn't be watching this this is not glorifying to God I know that I've watched

TV shows and in movies and I've had that thought like this is not glorifying to God I shouldn't be watching this and we should listen to that voice by the way there's those worldly people so don't worry about it what's the big deal you should listen to your conscience because again we know and I want to stress this point we know as believers there are some things we should not partake in somebody invited me actually to an

ACDC concert and I said no I'm not going to that you know I'm not gonna stand in judgment for other people for going but no

I am NOT going to be involved in that so there's some things that your conscience would dictate you should not you should not do this and then there are other things where it's just clear you should not do that you should not watch this every pastor would agree that it's wrong to watch pornography even though there is no explicit verse that says thou shalt not watch pornography but the scripture and what it teaches that's just a clear thing because and it would be wrong because it causes lust

I mean that's the whole purpose but then you kind of have to take that take that principle that everyone agrees on and then say well what about an r -rated movie with graphic nudity and sex scenes

I remember back when I was in high school kids I forget what year it was but basic instinct was like the movie everyone was talking about because basically it had x -rated content but it was an r -rated movie and people were going to it and yeah is that well it's not it's it's only rated

R yeah well some r -rated movies probably should be rated X and today

PG -13 is like the new R and PG is like the new PG third so everything is kind of slid in the wrong direction but again everyone would recognize there are some films that would be totally wrong to watch but what about an r -rated movie that has the same type of content what you just have to ask some of these questions what about those movies that glorify violence it used to be that yeah and there is violence in the

Bible right but there are films this used to be the case where there would be somebody who yes commits acts of violence but in the end he kind of gets his right the bad guy is killed or arrested there is some redeeming quality to the film but there's many films that they just glorify violence they're filled with nudity and the thing that should bother a

Christian I think those things probably should write but certainly blasphemy doesn't that bother a believer who has the

Holy Spirit within them when they hear the name of Jesus being uttered with all sorts of four letter words mixed in so the point is there are reasons why

Christians need to be discerning when it comes to this topic don't listen to the guy just as the person who says it's a sin to go to the movies you say okay it's it's probably not a sin but we need to use wisdom maybe you don't listen to that guy but don't listen to the person who just all legalism you're being a

Pharisee legalistic blah blah blah like they know there are some things that we need to obey the leading of the

Spirit follow our conscience I mean every even like the Marvel movies and some of those films they say are there's nothing too bad in these things well they all have the

LGBT agenda you know the there's programming and all of these films trying to teach people to do and to affirm ungodly things it's everywhere you can't avoid it so what's this article what's this story what's this segment all about bringing these

Hollywood films into the church hey in your personal life it's between you and God you know most pastors are not even addressing this subject we might say it's between you and God but to bring

I want to focus on what's really clear to bring some of these films into the church service and to preach sermons about Hollywood movies communicating a biblical message or biblical truth to preach a sermon about the

Barbie movie hey listen if there's somebody listening listening right now you went and saw the Barbie movie

I'm not it's not about judging people who went and saw this or so the point is you're really gonna preach a sermon about that in church really would what would the

Apostle Paul say about with with the Apostle Paul support that I don't think he would what did

Paul tell Timothy he said preach the word that's a pastor's job to preach the word not to exegete blockbuster films

Paul told Timothy to convince rebuke exhort to teach doctrine

I have no doubt if the Apostle Paul were alive today he would be rebuking these churches like Saddleback for bringing in Hollywood movies and preaching sermons about them

I doubt Paul would even view these as legitimate churches honestly but there's somebody thinking yeah

I bet Paul probably would say that but Jesus wouldn't because Jesus is so understanding well if you read the first few chapters of the book of Revelation Jesus when he sees right this letters to the seven churches when

Jesus sees local churches in Asia Minor straying from the Word of God what does

Jesus do he warns them he warns them that he will remove their candlestick he will remove their lampstand that the glorious light of the gospel will no longer go out from you the spirit will be departing you will no longer be considered a legitimate

New Testament church that's what Jesus is saying in one instance in Revelation he says repent or else

I will come to you quickly and will fight against you with the sword of my mouth he who has an ear let him hear what the

Spirit says to the churches those are the words of Jesus not the Apostle Paul it wouldn't matter anyways because Paul is writing under inspiration of the

Holy Spirit but people like to pit Jesus and Paul against each other so I think

Jesus point is I think Jesus would have something similar to say today there are churches that are not preaching the gospel they have embraced worldliness they have brought the world into the church on Sunday morning this is at the very least just flat -out weird imagine going to church and the pastors preaching about or Super Mario I mean that's just bizarre

I think we can say this Hollywood in the Christian Church that's like oil and water they don't mix so any church that would try to blend the two this is not good bringing