Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven. ~ Matt 5:16 ~
Even in Hollywood, that wasteland of warped worldviews, the Holy Spirit finds a way to shine the light of God’s truth. All is not lost: Hollywood has Christians, and they’re not giving up on the film industry.
This article by Angela Lu at WorldMag.com reports on the small but determined group of Christians defending their faith in the belly of the beast.
Covell, a documentary producer, described the movie industry’s makeup: “Only 2 percent of people go to church, many have never read a Bible, and are not at all aware of what faith in Christ is. … [Hollywood] does not relate to the rest of America. It has its own culture, gods, language; we are ministering to a tribe of people who are not the same.”
Considering most of the crap the “tribe” churns out, “not the same” is putting it mildly.
And yet there are a few trying to counter the cultural erosion rather than give up on the film industry altogether. Like the Hollywood Prayer Network – which anyone can join. (Just think what a positive influence we could have if every Christian in America did join!) Last month;
As actors and filmmakers waltzed down the red carpet for the Academy Awards show on Feb. 26, few knew that Christina Lee Storm and 30 others from the Hollywood Prayer Network had walked around the Kodak theater three evenings before to pray over the event.
Karen Covell, the Network’s founder, said the annual walk, now a decade old, helps Christians look at the show differently: Instead of fixating on a small gold idol, they grasp the brokenness in the lives of seemingly successful actors and directors.
Several other groups have been formed to help Hollywood Christians stay connected and support one another ~
Shun Lee, an actor, writer, and producer from Omaha, founded “Greenhouse” which meets once a month;
… to cultivate an attitude of collaboration and service between creative professionals. He also leads “Hollywood Connect,” which helps newcomers to Hollywood get adjusted and plugged in.
Other Hollywood Christian groups include “Actors Co-op,” an award-winning theater company completely made up of Christian actors; “Act One,” which trains Christian screenwriters and studio executives for working in mainstream media; and “Premise,” a Christian fellowship for professionals in film and television.
Another effort to help transform Tinseltown, The 168 Hour Film Project, was founded several years ago encourage filmmakers to honestly portray God-inspired tales. Each year the Project sponsors a competition where producers have 168 hours (1 week) to film and edit an 11-minute movie based on a theme and a Bible verse. All films are created during production week and premiere at the 168 Film Festival.
“Stories to tell” is a companion piece to Lu’s story by John R. Erickson, who emphasizes the importance of maintaining a Christian presence in Hollywood ~
Christians often regard entertainment as a second-rate profession, inferior to preaching or missionary work, but storytelling satisfies a deep human need, and we should feel comfortable in the story business. The Old Testament is a collection of stories, and Jesus used parables to reach people of all ages and levels of sophistication.
In the history of our church, storytelling came first. Theology, doctrine, and scholarship came later. Ours is an age of electronic parables. Every movie and TV show presents a worldview, a set of beliefs that tell us who we are, where we came from, and how we’re supposed to behave in this life.
If Christians don’t present our own version of reality—with a high level of professionalism, and in the media of the times—who will do it?
The Hollywood Christians are a small group. But so were Jesus’ early followers 2000 years ago. And yet Christianity transformed the Roman Empire – and formed the basis for the whole of western civilization. With God all things are possible.
