The Marketplace of Ideas:
I believe that being a Christian is the only way of making sense of the world around me. I don’t mean this merely in the philosophical sense, this also applies to everything in my life. Especially including the life of the mind. In our world, we are surrounded by worldviews. Have you ever thought of this? If you haven’t, really sit down and think about it. Virtually every talk show, series, movie, everything you watch or read is presenting a worldview. More often than not, we are witnessing more indoctrination than presentation, but that is a different discussion entirely.
Engaging The World Around Me
I’ve been witnessing God work a profound change in both my heart and mind. Here is something that s particularly impressive. I’ve been reading all sorts of theological articles and books. I’ve been fascinated by exploring Church history and attempting to understand the Bible better. What seemed so cold and dead to me has come brilliantly alive to me in recent weeks. But, before you start to think I’ve donned a collar and suddenly joined some cloister somewhere, let me correct you. Just the opposite in fact. As it turns out, the more God works on me, the more I want to engage the world around me.
I read now more than ever. Theology yes, but also various thrillers, sci-fi, all sorts of genres. I’m watching ‘Reacher’ on Amazon. (Big fan of Lee Child) But I don’t read or watch anything mindlessly. I look at everything differently. I enjoy reading everything from Dean Koontz to Jerry Jenkins. I read John Piper and Max Lucado. I read, listen, pray and think.
Without Truth, Our Stories Are Empty
As surprising as it may seem, I believe that Christians should be at the forefront of writing fiction. Call me crazy, but let me expound on this a little. If all of the stories we tell today are in fact presenting worldviews, then surely we can agree that on this basis, it is Christians who should be writing and telling the stories that are shaping our word today. I don’t mean that we should necessarily be creating endless clones of ‘Left Behind’, we have enough of those already. I also think we have way too many fantasy tales than are shameless rip offs from ‘Lord of The Rings’. (Yes of course I love Tolkien, that’s exactly why I want you all to stop imitating him)
What brought all of this on was that I saw an interesting statement from George Lucas who commented on how ‘unoriginal’ films had become. (not that I disagree with him) With a handful of exceptions (such as the reinvented ‘Dune’ series), I think Lucas actually raises a pretty good point. There is a serious lack of any sort of moral, spiritual or philosophical depth. While you certainly could definitely blame this on the greed of corporations, I think there is actually a deeper issue going on here. I think the larger issue here is a spiritual apathy/complacency. This is resulting in watered down, cheap and meaningless stories.
Representing God in Art
As I continue to become more passionate in my faith, I am becoming more interested in representing and glorifying God through fiction. Rather than be a way of making money, this is actually an expression of my faith. I truly believe that one of the most underrated fields of evangelism and ministry is through media. I believe that through stories, we can engage with peoples minds and hearts in a way that handing out a gospel tract just never will.
