My daughter is more excited about seeing Narnia than she was about The Lord of the Rings or Harry Potter. Nothing has made my heart leap more than to see her read C.S. Lewis. The pastor at the last church I served is encouraging folks to see the movie as well. What could be more encouraging!
Yet our denomination seems somewhat discouraging about the movie. Or maybe it's encouraging. Actually, I'm really not sure what the message is; it's like reading a letter from the Council of Bishops. It seems that the Women's Division of the General Board of Global Ministries has learned to speak Bishopspeak as well. The whole statement can be read here.
Shane Raynor at Wesley Blog said that he couldn't have written a parody that would have been as outrageous as this press release. I tend to agree.
A quote: "We want our members to see the movie. Talk about it with your kids. Talk about the message of the resurrection and the lessons it shares from our faith... But then, we need to help people understand that by commercializing the message, the marketers are destroying the example of sacrifice."
I wonder if the United Methodist Women approve of the Igniting Ministry commercials. Don't commercials necessarily commericialize?
Sometimes, I think our church leaders would do well to heed the lesson of Xenocrates: "I have often regretted my speech, never my silence." Better yet, the words of the preacher in Ecclesiastes: "There is a time to keep silence."
Having said that... maybe I ought to shut up, too.
Pax,
Sky+
1 comment:
Br. Sky,
My wife expressed her concern about a movie that came out over a year ago called "The Passion of the Christ". It is not that she was against the movie. She resented Mel Gibson selling his soul on the altar of mass market consumerism. You could not walk into a book store, super store, grocery store, or convience store without seeing bracelets, key chains, candy, toys, necklaces, books, magazines all "officially licsensed products" of "The Passion of the Christ".
I believe the Women's Division is saying if your intentions are so noble (That you want Christians to market it for you) with this film strip away the action figures, fast food tie ins, and video games for this and the 6 more to follow.
Pax,
Stephen
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