What's Your Opinion?

"Ricky Bobby's prayer shows ignorance of Christ"
(EDITOR'S NOTE: This is a first-person account of Cramerton First Baptist Church's [FBC] experience in participating in the movie "Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby" starring Will Ferrell. The church used the opportunity to minister to the cast and crew by giving them a copy of "The Purpose Driven Life" by Rick Warren.)
"Hey David, these men are from Columbia Pictures and they want to make a movie in Cramerton and maybe use your church." These words from our local police chief introduced me into the process that would become Talladega Nights, The Ballad of Ricky Bobby. This process would be exciting with opportunity for ministry, but would leave us asking hard questions about ourselves and the experience.
After our location was approved, talk moved to signing a contract. As a Baptist congregation, our church would have to vote to approve the deal. When our congregation met, we were told the movie would be centered on NASCAR (which sounded great to us) and would be rated PG or PG-13 (which didn't sound as great).
The deciding factor for us was an opportunity we saw for ministering to the cast and crew. We were in the midst of purchasing The Purpose Driven Life for our congregation, we agreed and decided to purchase additional books to give as gifts to the movie's cast and crew.
Being associated with the making of Talladega Nights enabled us to see the people of Hollywood in a different way. The cast and crew were professional and gracious. During a lunch break, I gave the books to the cast and crew. You could see they were touched by the gift. I had to assure them that it was a gift from our church, and we were glad to have shared this time with them. (Several asked if I was Rick Warren!) I have often wondered what impact the books might have on their lives. Would the books cause them to ponder, "What on earth am I here for?" Would God speak to them at that point about their life's purpose? Yet, when the movie was released, its foul language and suggestive situations caused many of us embarrassment at our involvement.
An article in the magazine Charlotte Parent, noted a recent study at Harvard School of Public Health that pointed out a trend they dubbed "ratings creep." They suggested the Motion Picture Association of America had become increasingly lenient in assigning its movie ratings. The study shows that there was an increase in violent content, sexual content and profanity in PG, and PG-13 rated movies. So, PG and PG-13 movies are "creeping" closer to the R rated movie. The article notes that James Farrelly, director of film studies at the University of Dayton, finds the greatest example of "ratings creep" in movies that are rated PG-13.
The article notes an observation by Joe Camp, the director of the Benji movies. "When I was a kid we'd figuratively go out behind the barn and laugh at dirty jokes. But we knew that's where they belonged, behind the barn ... but when the stuff appears on a big movie screen, in an audience of your family and neighborhood there goes with it a tacit approval that says it's OK to absorb and repeat whatever you want."
This was driven home to me when my innocent four-year-old daughter, who had only viewed the previews on TV, stood in the middle of the room and proclaimed, "Thank you, Baby Jesus, for my hot smokin' wife."
My family has not seen the movie. Would our church assist with a movie project again? I don't know. At what point are the opportunities of doing ministry outweighed by the compromise of being part of a process that coarsens society? Are we being swayed by the excitement of celebrity or are we really motivated by mission and ministry?
In the end I believe our decision was right. The great missions teacher, Hugo Cullpepper, wrote about the church being the "growing edge" in the world. The metaphor is taken from the biology lab: a piece of living tissue placed in a culture bath will grow by adding cells around its edge. Where the church confronts the non-Christian or secularized world and God is made known, the church grows by adding new converts. I believe we were a presence of the living tissue of Jesus Christ in our encounter with the movie cast and crew.
I believe we can learn a lesson, by how other people depict us. The self absorbed, boorish Ricky Bobby likes to pray to "the baby Jesus." How much of our current preaching and teaching is really only getting a supercharged Jesus to bless our worldly values, pursuits and lifestyles? Do we, like Ricky, really prefer the baby Jesus because He makes no demands upon us? The New Testament proclaims we worship the sovereign, risen Christ, whose Lordship requires a reappraisal of ourselves in the light of his Lordship. If society sees us proclaiming the baby Jesus rather than the sovereign Christ, maybe we deserve to be made fun of a bit.
--David Julen, Pastor of Cramerton First Baptist Church
(taken from the Dec. 23rd issue of Biblical Recorder)

I don't read the Biblical Recorder much, but the title of the article caught my eye today, I guess mainly because I watched the first part of this movie the other night. Though I did laugh at parts, I couldn't help but feel uncomfortable at the same time...course, irreverant, language-filled movies aren't my style-- never have been, and never will be. I like to fit in with everybody else, but when my beliefs, values, etc. start to feel compromised, or made fun of...then it just isn't worth it.
Just my opinion...