Howard Hallmark
When Mel Gibson’s “The Passion”
came out, we preached for six weeks on the cross and we urged Sunday School
classes and Reach Groups (our small group ministry) to invite friends to see
the movie. Many did, including one non Christian for whom the movie and the
church discussion became a pivotal turning point in his life. Within a few
months he was baptized.
We are taking the same approach with
Narnia. Two months ago we started encouraging Sunday School classes to host
class outings to the movie when it opened, and to invite friends. Harold Shank
and I are preaching a three week series using Luke’s Gospel and images
raised in Narnia. Several classes took friends to the opening weekend of the
film. Many parents have commented that the film and the preaching have
provided an opportunity to talk to their children about Jesus and spiritual
issues. Last Sunday (12/11), after preaching about Narnia and Luke’s
birth narrative, I sat down next to my eight year old daughter. She said, “Dad,
are you finished with your sermon?” “Yes,” I said. “Why?”
“Well,” she said. “I was hoping you’d keep going.”
It was the first time I ever heard her say she wanted to hear more of my
preaching. Perhaps it is an indication of the impact this material is having
on young people and the doors it will open up for parents and their children.
Chris Altrock
I have not seen the picture and from the selected
title, it did not entice me to go see it. I am not familiar with (the)
writings so I did not get the connection with Christmas etc, However, from the commentary I have read regarding
it I cannot percieve it of being an Christian value. If
the comments had quoted scriptural references it would have made it easier to
want to go see it.
Bill Manby
I was raised in the Church of Christ and was a
devoted believer until I reached the age of 20, and then I left the
Lord and stayed away from Him for 40 years. In the past 5 years since
my return, I have been amazed at the many changes I have seen in our
corporate worship. I won't burden you with the list, but Narnia is the
epitome of a change that I think is not what the Lord wants.
#1--The
movie is produced by Walt Disney who also produced Pretty Woman, a
story about a prostitute who specializes in oral sex. It is also one
of the first major companies to give health benefits, etc. to same sex
marriage partners. Disney also owns Touchstone Pictures, Buena Vista
Films, Hollywood Pictures, Miramax, Dimension Films, Mammoth Records,
Lyric Street Records, to name a few ---some of which do not produce
what we might call "family films." In my early days in the Church,
I was not allowed to attend movies, but now our congregation had
posters of Narnia displayed at several locations in the building--all
advertising for Walt Disney, and in essence encouraging our members to
spend their money to see this movie. I have a serious question:
Should Christians voluntarily and eagerly support
a company such as this--and should we advertise for it within our
church premises? Lest I start a storm of protest, yes, I know that
many companies with whom Christians do business are far less than
desirable, but most of them are necessary for our subsistence, e.g. Kraft Foods, Target, etc., etc.
#2--I
have viewed the movie (yes, I too contributed, but for research
reasons) and I see nothing in it of redemptive value as a tool for
evangelism, and I think those who wish to parallel the story with the
story of Christ do our Lord and Savior a tremendous disservice, to say
the least. Just why do we feel that the Gospel needs embellishment and
modern technology anyway? Is it possibly because we have lost our
ability to determine what sin really is, and what the wages of sin are,
and therefore, since there is actually , in our minds, very little sin
(outside of capital crimes), we need to use witches and lions to get
the concept across?
#3--In the article in CHRISTIAN CHRONICLE
, page 6, it states "Christian moviegoers were credited with helping to
ring up $67 million in ticket sales during the opening
weekend." Missionary friends of mine tell me that it takes $36,000 per
year to keep a missionary family in the field and about $10,000 to put
them there. If my math is correct, 1456 new missionary families could
have been sent for one year to take the gospel to those who have not
heard it, for the amount of money that "Christians" spent on these
movie tickets the first weekend!
If the average ticket price was $8, then 8,375,000 Christians attended
the movie. I wonder how many converts were made by this mass, compared
with what the 1456 missionary families would accomplish?
I
personally think the better evangelistic effort would be with the
missionaries. Missionaries are certainly not the only way (and maybe
not the most important way) to evangelize, but in my view the majority
of us would prefer to sit and talk aout evangelism rather than actually
go out and call upon some of our neighbors and try to actually
evangelize.
Respectfully, and yours in the Lord,
John P. Brown
Two nights ago my wife and I took a two day trip to
Atlanta and that evening attended the "Chronicles of Narnia" in a nearby town.
Our grandson, a Senior at Faulkner University where I teach Bible, had
recommended it and I had read several reviews of it.
It was a pleasant evening that created no desire to
walk out in the middle as we have on 3 movies of recent
vintage.
As to its value for "creating conversation" I have
serious doubts. A person would have to know something in depth of the Christian
faith and Bible to grasp the underlying religious principles. As a tool for
evangelism it would be drastically inadequate. As a curiosity, so that a
Christian could from it advance biblical thoughts, might well make it a
handicap rather than an aid.
Jesus used figures of speech known as "parables" (a
word which in English hardly conveys the meaning of the original term); they
were meant to emphasize the nature of His kingdom and, in my judgment,
to keep that teaching imbedded in the hearer's mind. This may be a key
reason that He did not use them in His initial teaching. They were plain
stories from everyday life. Even a simple-minded Christian can grasp the
spiritual intent of the parables, but to an unbeliever and those ignorant of the
Bible, such parables would be nearly useless.
After achieving His goal or goals with these
somewhat mysterious accounts, He announced that He would no longer use
"dark sayings" (Psalm 78:2, quoted by Jesus in Matt. 13:33-35). They had been
used, in part, to keep the truth about His Kingdom from those with hardened
hearts. Parables were therefore, used temporarily both to reveal and to
conceal (Matt. 13:10-16).
The "Chronicles of Narnia" are beyond parables;
they may be extended allegory which are at best a very feeble method of teaching
the Gospel. Jesus said to "preach the gospel" (Mark 16:15) with no hint of
veiling the message in obstruse prose. This the apostles did as the Book of Acts
demonstrates. Even the figure of a New Birth was dropped in their teaching
because it too was a "parable" of conversion which could be referred to later (1
Peter 1:22-23), but not used in primary announcements of the conditions of
obedience to the Gospel; that message was to be presented clearly and plainly.
Therefore, it is my belief from Scripture and
experience that the best method to convert the lost is to invite persons of
interest to simply study the Bible with us; through that method they become our
friends as they see we are just trying to get across to them the real message of
Christ without the subterfuge of a sideways or backdoor evangelistic method. Our
failure is in not asking enough people for that opportunity and following up on
it rather than in developing a new diversion.
We enjoyed the movie, but felt it to be something
Christ would never have used as a method to convert the Nation of Israel to
become His followers. Dramatic acting is in itself somewhat of a deception--the
reader or viewer must "suspend his disblief" for a time to think something of
truth is involved in the narrative. How Jesus could have used the term
"hypocrite" in condemning the Pharisees, which had the primary meaning of "a
play actor", and then to endorse it as a method of proclaiming His message would
be a mystery to me.
Martel Pace
C.S.
Lewis has been one of my favorite authors growing up. I remember reading The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe when
I was in seventh grade. Lewis was a captivating author to me at such a young
age with The Chronicles of Narnia that
when I became a youth minister I started reading more of his religious books.
He does a magnificent job using symbolism between characters from The Chronicles of Narnia and Christianity.
Although it is closely related to Christianity it is not the best evangelism
tactic. For kids it would be a great way to introduce characters in the Bible,
but this may be more suitable for nightly devotionals with parents. To be able
to use this as an evangelical tool there needs to be a good solid Bible
knowledge to fully understand the symbolism in The
Chronicles of Narnia. Although it wouldn’t be best to
start teaching this in classes it would probably be a really good starter for
kids learning the Bible.
Matthew McBrayer
I think that Narnia has a lion who dies and is resurrected,
amazingly similar to that of Christ's death and resurrection. This is,
of course, blasphemy. How low can we sink? We should repent and pray,
and God will forgive us. I am sure that Jesus is hurting because we
don't have more appreciation for what he has done for us. Think about
the suffering and agony on the cross. Then perhaps we will have more
understand and appreciation for what he has done for us. We should
never be so superficial as to allow a lion or anything else to "remind"
us of what Christ has done for us.
Derward E. Culp
During our recent 6-week Bible
class about the Armor of God, I took the opportunity to read a book
to our second through sixth graders. The obvious choice was The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe.
It is, above all, a story about the battle of Good versus Evil and the
sacrifice a loving King makes for his beloved subjects. It has
afforded us the opportunity to discuss how difficult life's choices can
be and the power Satan can have over us. The children have thoroughly
enjoyed the story merely because it's a great story. They also have
identified with Edmund's terrible choices and the fact that he (and we)
must live with sin's consequences, even though we are forgiven! We
have learned from its symbolism and appreciated our Savior for his
selfless gift to us. I think we should take this opportunity to use
the focus of attention and teach the real story--the story of Jesus!
Mary Burkett
