{"id":2624,"date":"2005-08-31T14:03:00","date_gmt":"2005-08-31T14:03:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/2005\/08\/cashing-in-on-aslans-evangelism-potential\/"},"modified":"2005-08-31T14:03:00","modified_gmt":"2005-08-31T14:03:00","slug":"cashing-in-on-aslans-evangelism-potential","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/2005\/08\/cashing-in-on-aslans-evangelism-potential.html","title":{"rendered":"Cashing in on Aslan’s evangelism potential"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

What bothers you more about the early hype around the upcoming film version of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe<\/a><\/i> \u2014 the merchandising, or the evangelism? I ask because the Mission America Coalition<\/a> is now \u201cinviting church leaders around the country\u201d to use this film as \u201ca powerful evangelistic tool.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

I guess I\u2019m so used to capitalists capitalizing on hit movies that it doesn\u2019t bother me when I see toys, comics, action figures, books, cuddly dolls, and other movie tie-ins. (And C.S. Lewis was a \u201cstorehouse of marketability\u201d since long before he became a movie franchise, as The Door<\/a><\/i> once noted.) But despite growing up in a very typical evangelical family and a very typical evangelical church<\/a>, I have never, ever, ever been used to the idea that the key thing about a film or a story is how useful a \u201ctool\u201d it can be.<\/p>\n

When The Passion of the Christ<\/a><\/i> came out, there were stories about churches buying out entire theatres and turning off the movie when the end credits began, and then trying to manipulate their audiences into conversions right there and then<\/i>, instead of allowing the movie to sink in, or allowing people to discuss the film as a work of art with pros and cons. I pray nothing like that happens with The Chronicles of Narnia<\/i>, but with so many people drawing parallels<\/a> between these two films, who knows. (Indeed, with Barna<\/a> encouraging churches to buy blocks of tickets to preview screenings, we may already be headed down this path.)<\/p>\n

What makes this particularly interesting, for me, is that I e-mailed Doug Gresham, Lewis\u2019s step-son, a while ago \u2014 for a story that turned out differently from what I had expected, so I ended up not using any of his quotes \u2014 and we had the following exchange:<\/p>\n

Some newspaper stories have called the film \u201cThe Passion for Kids<\/a>\u201d \u2014 do you think that\u2019s accurate?<\/b><\/p>\n

No I don\u2019t think so at all.<\/p>\n

Is the Christian element getting too much attention?<\/b><\/p>\n

I really don\u2019t know. One has to remember that this is not a \u201cChristian\u201d book but rather a book that champions high moral and ethical values. One can find as much Christian symbolism in it as one wants to find, or none at all if that is one\u2019s natural bent.<\/p>\n

What should Christians do with a film like this \u2014 besides go to see it, of course! \ud83d\ude42 Use it as a springboard for evangelism, perhaps?<\/b><\/p>\n

Certainly not that last, that would a bad mistake. But certainly go and see it, and then recommend it to all their friends no matter what their ethnicity, creed or colour. The great thing about truth and quality is that they will carry their own message without us having to labour it.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

This is not to say that Gresham is downplaying the film\u2019s spiritual significance, of course; indeed, shortly after that exchange, I came across this story<\/a> which quotes him as saying, \u201cIt\u2019s being made the way the Holy Spirit of God wants it made and that\u2019s what\u2019s important.\u201d I have to say that, to me, that sounds a little too close to Mel Gibson\u2019s<\/a> \u201cthe Holy Ghost was working through me on this film, and I was just directing traffic\u201d comment for comfort; but the point is, there is definitely a spiritual element to this project that cannot and should not be tamed into a mere evangelism tool.<\/span><\/p>\n

More than ever, I want to write that \u201cpaganism of Narnia<\/a>\u201d article.<\/p>\n

One thing seems certain, at least \u2014 if this movie\u2019s a hit, the money that church audiences pour into it will at least go into future Narnia movies, and not to something like, oh, Apocalypto<\/a><\/i>.<\/p>\n

SEP 1 UPDATE: On a related note, my colleague Lloyd Mackey has a column<\/a> up now on Gene Veith\u2019s The Soul of The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe<\/a><\/i>. Veith says The Chronicles of Narnia<\/i> could have a bigger impact on Christian thought and commitment than The Passion<\/i> because \u201cYou can take your children to Chronicles<\/i>.\u201d<\/p>\n

SEP 2 UPDATE: Thanks to Jeffrey Overstreet for pointing out this brand new letter to the editor<\/a> at CT Movies:<\/p>\n

Your Reel News column states, \u201cIt\u2019s not surprising that believers would see [The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe<\/i>] as not just mere entertainment, but as an evangelistic opportunity.\u201d In stark contrast, C. S. Lewis\u2019 close friend Walter Hooper argues \u201cI was worried that those who talked about \u2018teaching\u2019 the stories as Christian \u2018theology\u2019 might by such efforts frustrate the spell of Lewis\u2019 clearly worked illusion.\u201d<\/p>\n

As a Lewis scholar, I completely agree with Hooper. First and foremost, all seven Narnia books are literary masterpieces that were written to be enjoyed by all, and just as one need not be polytheistic to enjoy the splendor of ancient Egyptian art, or benefit from scientific progress, much of which originated in polytheistic cultures, one need not be Christian to enjoy the Narnia series or any other great masterpiece that happens to have been written by a Christian, especially as great a writer and philosopher as Lewis.<\/p>\n

However, the good fellowship that naturally comes from great books and great movies can definitely be used as an evangelistic opportunity. After all, before he became a Christian, Lewis himself shared a love of medieval and ancient tales with his friend and colleague Tolkien, a committed Christian. I believe this solid friendship that began with a mutual love of literature caused Tolkien to be influential in leading Lewis to Jesus. If anything is to be used as an evangelistic opportunity, then let it be the friendship that comes naturally from shared interests such as that of Narnia.<\/p>\n

Katrelya Angus<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Good points all, Katrelya.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

What bothers you more about the early hype around the upcoming film version of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe \u2014 the merchandising, or the evangelism? I ask because the Mission America Coalition is now \u201cinviting church leaders around the country\u201d to use this film as \u201ca powerful evangelistic tool.\u201d I guess I\u2019m so […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1116,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2624","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nCashing in on Aslan's evangelism potential<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"What bothers you more about the early hype around the upcoming film version of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe -- the merchandising, or the\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/2005\/08\/cashing-in-on-aslans-evangelism-potential.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Cashing in on Aslan's evangelism potential\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"What bothers you more about the early hype around the upcoming film version of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe -- the merchandising, or the\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/2005\/08\/cashing-in-on-aslans-evangelism-potential.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"FilmChat\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2005-08-31T14:03:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Peter T. 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