Gospel.com Blog

How do you react to movies whose messages are contrary to Christianity?

I got to thinking about this after watching a recent video clip from Marc Driscoll in which he says that Avatar is the most Satanic movie he’s ever seen (Driscoll’s video is below). His main point is that Avatar‘s worldview is diametrically opposed to the Christian worldview:

James Cameron (the writer and director of Avatar) was clearly trying to make a pantheistic point about our own world. The closest thing to Christianity Avatar exhibits is a sort of messiah-figure in the main character, Jake.

I’d rather not debate the merits of Avatar, but it does provide a good starting point for a discussion of anti-Christian philosophies and worldviews in movies. Like it or not, Avatar isn’t the only movie that stands in opposition to the basic tenants of Christianity. In fact, the majority motion pictures—even the one’s without trashy content like nudity, crude humor or excessive violence—produced these days contain elements or messages that are decidedly unChristian.

What about you? Do you see a spiritual problem with watching movies that contradict Christian beliefs?

Last year I moved and had to find a new church. During the search process, I found that the members of each congregation I visited were eager to share the foibles and history of their church. A simple question like “What’s the history of this church?” could easily lead to the full backstory of the building, pastoral staff, and denominational issues.

I’ve learned that every church split and denominational difference has a unique and sometimes complicated history behind it. When viewed from an outsider’s perspective, the reasons behind a particular distinction might seem trite or overinflated, but at the time there was a clear doctrinal or theological difference whose only solution seemed to be a new church or denomination.

The existence of different denominations within the global Christian church poses an obvious problem for a faith that values fellowship and unity. A denomination provides structure for believers who hold to similar doctrines to worship together. However, as this article at gotquestions.org observes, true Christian denominations never compromise on the basic doctrines of our faith:

As believers, there are certain basic doctrines that we must believe, but beyond that there is latitude on how we can serve and worship; it is this latitude that is the only good reason for denominations. This is diversity and not disunity. The first allows us to be individuals in Christ, the latter divides and destroys.

In the past six years I’ve been a regular attender at five different churches from five different denominations. Despite differences in style and practice, each of them has been fully committed to the Gospel. There are many minor issues that can separate members of the Church universal, but it is the core of our faith that binds us together, not our personal tastes.

Do you think there should be fewer or more denominations? Do you think they’re useful or harmful?

Share your thoughts!

On Good Friday, my church held a joint worship service with several other local churches. Combining services seemed more appropriate than leaving each individual church to host a separate—and sparsely attended—service.

I do think that an important aspect of being part of a church is regular weekly attendance, but sometimes we have to miss a service or two (or more) throughout the year. Maybe there’s no service that day, or maybe you’re just on vacation; whatever the reason, we all find ourselves away from our home church for some reason throughout the year.

Do you attend multiple churches throughout the year? Why? How do you choose those churches that you visit?

Share your thoughts!

Several years ago I visited a local megachurch that was hosting a sermon series on Love. They opened their worship set by showing a music video for “All You Need is Love” by the Beatles. This was the first time I’d ever seen a church bring in something so decidedly “secular” into a worship service.

The church I attend now sings a few songs that are amalgamations of popular songs and worship songs. For example, this past week we interspersed the chorus from Bob Marley’s “No Woman No Cry” (“Everything’s gonna be alright” x8) into one of the worship songs. It’s interesting how those simple lines take on an entirely different meaning when put in the context of a Christian worship service.

Does your church ever use “secular” songs during worship?

Share your thoughts!

I’m amazed at the variety of ways communion is celebrated across Christianity. Even within my own denomination there is great diversity of practice; some churches celebrate communion quarterly, others do so every single week, and many of the details differ. You could visit a different church each week and never come across the exact same communion service twice.

A church’s implementation of communion tells us something important about its theology of the practice. What does a communion service look like in your church, and why is it done that way?

These questions might help:

How often does your church celebrate communion? Weekly, monthly, quarterly?

Is communion at your church open to all, including visitors? Is communion restricted to members of your church? Members of any Christian church? What about children?

What other elements of the worship service (liturgy, Scripture reading, singing) accompany communion?

How are the “body” and “blood” shared? Are they passed through the pews on trays? Are full loaves of bread and pitchers of wine handed from person to person? Does the pastor personally distribute them?

Why does your church choose to practice communion the way it does?

[Image by Gregory Neal and used under a Creative Commons Attribution ShareAlike 3.0 license]

A few weeks back, the Gospel Coalition posted a short list of four things that make God happy:

1. Giving “stuff” away
2. Creating something
3. Connecting people
4. Doing something new

The original post has explanations of each of the points along with scriptural support.

One thing that I noticed was each item on the list is intimately wrapped up in relationships with other people. When we give stuff away, we provide for others. When we create or when we do something new, we bring joy or ease the suffering of others. When we connect people, we provide them opportunities to become friends.

Is there anything you’d add to this list? Are you good at any of them? Any that you need to work on?

Share your thoughts!

I stumbled across a thread on Reddit.com last week in which someone had asked the question, “What in your life is awesome right now?” To my surprise, there were quite a few thoughtful and meaningful responses like “celebrating 6 months of sobriety” and “my daughter was born today.”

We’re inundated with bad news every day, whether it be economic, societal, political or personal. It can sometimes be an overwhelming task just to get through the day, let alone find something to be thankful for. However, despite our earthly woes, we all have quite a bit to be thankful for in this life.

So what about you? What’s great about your life right now?

Share your thoughts!

One of the foundational lessons the United States’ founders drew from European history was that secular government and the sacred church do not mix well. While the shapes of government and the Christian church are vastly different than they were hundreds of years ago, the principle of separation of church and state remains in the U.S. and many other countries.

In the U.S., one of the primary ways in which this separation is manifested is economic: churches can claim tax-exempt organization status, but in turn, those churches agree to refrain from direct involvement in political campaigns. Here’s a brief explanation of the rules by which tax-exempt organizations must abide.

Since it’s tax day, it seems like an appropriate time to ask: does this tax arrangement make sense today? Here are a few different angles from which to approach this question:

Do you think that submission to government taxes puts a church too much under the control of government? Or is that an outdated idea?

Is the no-politics rule for tax-exempt churches fair (to both the church and the government)? Can you think of any alternative rules that work better?

Have you ever been part of a church that decided to forgo tax-exempt status in order to get involved in politics? Was that a good idea?

Share your thoughts!

Technology choices seem limitless these days. I get a little embarrassed when I realize how many gadgets I have laying about and how many social networks I belong to. Granted, they’re all designed to enhance my life and work… but sometimes it can get overwhelming. Is this friend on Facebook or Twitter? Can I text them or should I call? Do I need an iPad, or just want one?

As more and more devices and technologies compete for our attention and free time, I think we need to be more discerning about which ones we do and don’t participate in.

What technologies have you decided not to use because of your faith? Have you given up anything because you found it was interfering with your relationship with God?

Yesterday, churches around the world held special services to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

The worship service I attended was one of the most energizing I’ve ever participated in. After the sermon, the congregation read the Apostle’s Creed aloud together, then shared communion and ended the service with over 20 baptisms. Each person emerged from the baptismal water to the sound of clapping and singing, and found hands reaching out to embrace and pray for them.

It was just the sort of triumphant celebration that I imagine the early church held in recognition of Christ’s return.

What was your Easter service like?