Courageous, the newest Christian film

[jfschultz]

The thing that struck me about the movie is the deputy (those who have seen the movie should know who). For an Arminian Baptist production, I am sure it was unintentional, but it shows that a commitment out of emotion or peer pressure is worthless. Then the movie ends with such an appeal and "commitments."

 

[AThornquist]

WHITE HORSE INN has posted a (negative) review at

Courageous Christianity? - White Horse Inn Blog


The reviewer has been largely taken to task for his panning of the movie.

The comments below it are worth reading. As you say, the reviewer was taken to task.

I still haven't seen Courageous, but virtually everyone I've talked to highly suggests it.

---------- Post added at 10:46 AM ---------- Previous post was at 10:38 AM ----------

And I'll add that it's really annoying to me that certain groups wax on about how God can even use weak presentations of the Gospel to save sinners, and yet when this movie comes out and presents the Gospel, people from the same groups nit-pick and find every flaw rather than celebrating the fact that THERE IS A MOVIE IN THE THEATERS THAT PRESENTS THE GOSPEL. Considering the trend of our culture and its slouching towards Sodom, this is reason to praise God and ask that He would use it for His name's sake.

 

[LawrenceU]

I am going to wait until Luther, Bucer, Calvin, Knox, Rutherford, and Spurgeon collaborate on a movie project so that I will have nothing with which to disagree and everything with which to show all my unsaved sinner neighbours so that there will be no chance that any of them ever might misunderstand the Gospel in any fashion thereby leading to a Reformed Perfectionistic ethos at all times everywhere.

Oh, wait, even those great men couldn't make such a movie, they all disagree in certain areas. Ah well, I'll just continue to hope.

Goodness, it boggles my mind how I hear 'Reformed' people say that they can show people the Gospel clearly in U2 music, Harry Potter movies and books, Tolkien novels, and even AC/DC songs; yet they will attempt to blast a movie like this for not getting it right.

 

[SolaScriptura]

Goodness, it boggles my mind how I hear 'Reformed' people say that they can show people the Gospel clearly in U2 music, Harry Potter movies and books, Tolkien novels, and even AC/DC songs; yet they will attempt to blast a movie like this for not getting it right.

Well said!

 

[Jack K]

Goodness, it boggles my mind how I hear 'Reformed' people say that they can show people the Gospel clearly in U2 music, Harry Potter movies and books, Tolkien novels, and even AC/DC songs; yet they will attempt to blast a movie like this for not getting it right.

Yes... and I can agree with the spirit of that remark. There's a lot of godless stuff elevated by believers ahead of what is essentially godly.

But would you make a distinction between a secular film which may contain echoes of the gospel and a church-made film that's more straightforward and actually mentions Christ and the cross? Do they have different responsibilities to live up to?

I'm not one to say I see the gospel in Tolkien. If it doesn't have Jesus, it isn't the gospel. But there are some themes in Tolkien that fit and support the gospel, and that is admirable for what it is.

Now suppose there's a movie that does talk about Jesus and plainly claims faith in him as the key to salvation. But it describes that faith as mostly about trying harder to be a good person and using God to get a better life for yourself. Wouldn't that movie be less than admirable, because it failed in what it was claiming to be and failed to handle the gospel properly?

I haven't seen Courageous. I won't comment on whether or not reviews that say that particular film misrepresents the gospel are accurate. But when a movie claims to present the gospel, I do hold it to a higher standard in terms of getting it right.

 

[Tripel]

But when a movie claims to present the gospel, I do hold it to a higher standard in terms of getting it right.

This is a good point. Thank you, Jack.

I'm not against Courageous. I hope it does well and I would love it if people came to Christ as a result of it.

I found the review on WHI to be helpful, and I didn't get the impression that the reviewer was out to get the film. He expressed his concerns and dislikes, and they are valid. I think everyone would agree that the filmmakers have their hearts in the right place and are to be commended for making a family-friendly, gospel-oriented film.

I'm just not interested in the film myself. From what I can tell in what I have read, it has similarities to Facing the Giants...which is a movie I disliked. I generally don't like movies that shoot for reality yet miss the mark. I'd be much more interested if the movie showed that life isn't always peachy for the committed Christians.

 

[Semper Fidelis]

I guess when it comes to movies, we're stepping on people's toes when it comes to preferences. My wfie can't stand the movie No Country for Old Men and never lets me watch it. I don't think 99% of people that watch that movie would draw out of it what I saw but I saw a picture of "Life Under the Sun" from Ecclesiastes. There were no gimmicks. It was just a very well told story that immersed you in the plot so that it felt like you were dealing with real life.

Contrast that to Facing the Giants where the cheese factor was so high that I told Sonya: "That kid David is going to do something big" and "Hey, I'll bet his Dad is going to stand in the endzone." It was clean. It had a positive message. But it was just so corny and I got in a lot of trouble with some here on the PB when I pointed out how bad I thought the movie was. It was sort of like the 60's Marvel TV cartoons that spoke out thought bubbles (See here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d0IFPEcRh74).

The movies made by this Church are essentially extended parables and, as such, are extended metaphors. In that they're trying to get a message across that is generally positive I have to applaud their efforts. I've just never found any of their movies terribly compelling. They have a soap opera feel to them that's not for me. If they're for somebody else then I won't quibble over whether it works for them.

I know that, at the end of the day, even my talking this whole thing out and letting people know what I think will be so much: "You Reformed guys are so negative." Hey, it's an opinion. You don't have to agree with me. You don't have to agree with the reviewer. I'm telling you why I, Rich, don't care for these movies. As the extended analogies go, the main point isn't completely bad but the presentation of it makes it hard for me to see it as real life and so it comes across as a caricature that I would never find myself within. Maybe I'm a bit too cynical after being a Marine for 21 years .

Having already sunk myself in the estimation of many who might read this, I do agree with something I read out of David Tripp's Instruments in the Redeemer's Hands. He spends some time in Chapter 2 talking about the fact that psychological methods tend to group people into categories, systems, and helps but that the Christian message offers real hope because it reaches people where they really are. He goes on to caution against using Scripture in a formulaic way and turning it into just another system that can fix the presenting problems of life. I think he's right and I think these movies tend to use Scripture in a fashion that might speak to a presenting problem but then leaves the watcher thinking that the Scriptures are primarily an encyclopedia of human problems with the corresponding solutions to the catalog of human issues.

 

[Rufus]

Instead of making "Christian" art, we need Christians making art. We need people making art, be it music, movies, painting, literature, etc., with a Christian influence, instead of simply trying to take a sermon point and fitting a movie plot around it.

I point to C.S. Lewis on this matter. Lewis wrote stories that were good because they were good stories. Yes, there is certainly Christian influence on the stories, but Lewis' primary point was not to hit the reader over the head with a sermon and then throw little plotlines here and there into the books. What he did was first craft a good story, and then weave nuanced theology into the work. Big difference between the two.

To be honest, entertainment is a poor venue for straight theology, simply because entertainment is not meant to engage the mind in a meaningful way. At best, it engages the emotions and elicits temporary responses. At worst, it loses the message in the tumult of the medium. With all due respect to people who make movies like Courageous, Fireproof, and Facing the Giants, wrapping theology in a thin packaging of entertainment only brings about a mediocre product which garners an audience of people who already know the intended message, while the world simply scoffs as us, and does so for the wrong reasons.

We need Miltons. We need Lewises. We need Christians who create art for the sake of art, who enhance that art with good theology, rather than turn out terrible art because they're so concerned with the theology that they sacrifice the artistic vehicle in which that point is delivered. If you're going to communicate Christianity through art, you need to place importance on the art; otherwise you lose a good message in a shoddy product.

Johnny Cash said that we wasn't a Christian musician but a Christian that was a musician. Some of the songs released later in his life are very very deep spiritually speaking and are great songs in terms of musical talent, etc.

[video=youtube;W08MS3ndUX0]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W08MS3ndUX0[/video]
[video=youtube;k9IfHDi-2EA]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k9IfHDi-2EA[/video]

Goodness, it boggles my mind how I hear 'Reformed' people say that they can show people the Gospel clearly in U2 music, Harry Potter movies and books, Tolkien novels, and even AC/DC songs; yet they will attempt to blast a movie like this for not getting it right.

I'd watch a movie produced by Lutherans, Arminians, or anybody else really if it was decent.

 

[LawrenceU]

Rich,
I appreciate what you are saying and in some ways agree with you. I am not a fan of sappy movies. I just am boggled when I see people attribute righteous qualities to overtly pagan or subtly pagan media. I think there is often more there than meets the eye.

Jack, I understand the point at which you are driving; and to a point agree. Yes, if one is openly attempting to share the Gospel one should attempt to get it right. That is not my beef in my comments. My point is the inconsistency in the consideration of authorial intent and the incongruity of analysis.

 

[Relztrah]

My wfie can't stand the movie No Country for Old Men and never lets me watch it.

I rented the DVD and waited until my wife went to bed to watch it. It's a great film although I can understand how a woman wouldn't enjoy it.

 

[Rufus]

How about Davey and Goliath? The theme song is eerily familiar.
[video=youtube;6Sy8IaJIbkU]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Sy8IaJIbkU[/video]

 

[Andres]

I guess when it comes to movies, we're stepping on people's toes when it comes to preferences. My wfie can't stand the movie No Country for Old Men and never lets me watch it. I don't think 99% of people that watch that movie would draw out of it what I saw but I saw a picture of "Life Under the Sun" from Ecclesiastes. There were no gimmicks. It was just a very well told story that immersed you in the plot so that it felt like you were dealing with real life.

No Country for Old Men is probably my all-time favorite movie. I would even go so far as to say it's nearly a flawless film. Love, love, love it.

 

[MarieP]

WHITE HORSE INN has posted a (negative) review at

Courageous Christianity? - White Horse Inn Blog


The reviewer has been largely taken to task for his panning of the movie.

Seems to me the reviewer has issues concerning the Law-Gospel distinction. He appears to be more Lutheran than Reformed. It's one thing to rightly demand that indicatives precede imperatives. It's another to separate them as though they were mortal enemies. Apparently he had the same problem with Sherwood's other movies, which I saw and thought were great!

I haven't seen the movie yet, but I plan to soon!

 

[fredtgreco]

Goodness, it boggles my mind how I hear 'Reformed' people say that they can show people the Gospel clearly in U2 music, Harry Potter movies and books, Tolkien novels, and even AC/DC songs; yet they will attempt to blast a movie like this for not getting it right.

Well said!

Amen, Lawrence! I'm beyond tired of hearing about how great Bono is, and how wonderful Harry Potter is.

It is nice to be able have a movie to take my kids to and not wince all the time.