Christian entertainment...ugh!

[dunadan1963]

Ya know, I go to the bookstore and look in the Christian Fiction section and see the same stuff by the same few authors. There's all those books about amish women of lancaster county, the Left Behind stuff by LaHaye, stuff by Ted Dekker and stuff by Frank Peretti. That's pretty much it.

Why are Christians so bad at creating entertainment or art? I have six Christian channels on my satellite service and rarely watch any of it...because it's boring and badly produced. It usually consists of lectures (one person behind a podium speaking to others). We don't create for our own brethren, much less compete for the hearts and minds of others. Why not?

Now, I should say that there are areas where strides have been made. Contemporary Christian music has blossomed and we have Steven Curtis Chapman, Third Day, Joy Williams as well as Christian rock/metal/hardcore like Demon Hunter, Fireflight, As I Lay Dying. For kids, there's certainly more in the way of entertainment which can directly compete with the secular like Veggie Tales and a few others.

But, by and large, Christians seem to either ignore entertainment. Always ready to complain about an infotainment media that is, admittedly, antithetical or hostile to Christian worldview, Christians rarely try to compete with them. Are we incapable of doing so?

 

[Adullam]

It has to do with maturity levels among both the producers but mainly the audience. People who are immature don't want challenging subjects or deeper meanings. Candyfloss is for children and that is what most Christians look for. Candy!

Now there are much better attempts among secular producers. The matrix comes to mind. The matrix of course being the religious system that keeps those connected with it from reality, truth and growth. This is the matrix that stops what you are looking for. But in this case it's by the will of the people as well.

"The prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests bear rule by their means; and my people love to have it so: and what will ye do in the end thereof?" Jer. 5:31

In the end real life is far more interesting. Get free from the matrix and see! :yes

 

[dunadan1963]

Adullam,

While I'm sure you didn't intend to do so, your post kinda comes off as a bit condescending. Your view that people are immature or children is perhaps a tad off the mark? I somehow doubt that Christians are as immature as you seem to be suggesting.

You also, again I'm sure not intentionally, come off as a bit ascetic. The history of mankind shows that people love a good tale, whether in the form of great epics such as Gilgamesh, the Illiad or Star Wars or just tales told around the hearth or camp fire. Is it immature desire for "candy" or simply a desire to express God-given creativity that only mankind of all the earth's inhabitants possess? Jesus used stories or "parables" to illuminate holy truth, did He not?

Although there always - no matter the time or era - seems to be a small minority who prefer the ribald, the vulgar or the "lowest common denominator", that does not mean that most would not prefer that which is challenging, stimulating, sensitive or thoughtful.

 

[Adullam]

Adullam,

While I'm sure you didn't intend to do so, your post kinda comes off as a bit condescending. Your view that people are immature or children is perhaps a tad off the mark? I somehow doubt that Christians are as immature as you seem to be suggesting.

You also, again I'm sure not intentionally, come off as a bit ascetic. The history of mankind shows that people love a good tale, whether in the form of great epics such as Gilgamesh, the Illiad or Star Wars or just tales told around the hearth or camp fire. Is it immature desire for "candy" or simply a desire to express God-given creativity that only mankind of all the earth's inhabitants possess? Jesus used stories or "parables" to illuminate holy truth, did He not?

Although there always - no matter the time or era - seems to be a small minority who prefer the ribald, the vulgar or the "lowest common denominator", that does not mean that most would not prefer that which is challenging, stimulating, sensitive or thoughtful.

What I'm saying is that the majority of Christians are not seeking for deeper things. They are satisfied with milk...they stick with the basics. The writer of Hebrews remarked the same thing in his own time. Are you saying that we modern believers are more mature in the Spirit than they in the early church?

11We have much to say about this, but it is hard to explain because you are slow to learn. 12In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God's word all over again. You need milk, not solid food! 13Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness. 14But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil.

This exhortation itself is difficult for the immature to absorb. How dare the word be so stark!