Faith is an integral part of our lives. Whether people want to admit it, is a different story. In this generation of Now, we find ourselves being more and more distracted. Mainly by the lovely 60" High definition 1080i/p, super thin piece of machinery called a TV. As head of the media department I am all for TV, especially when TV can no longer be a distraction but a helpful guide in feeding your spiritual needs and also becoming a conversation starter. I recently watched the Movie Chronicles of Narnia. Voyage of The Dawn Treader. The Narnia series has often been viewed as a Christian story and others feel that it is not. That aside for a moment there was a moment at the end of the movie where one of the characters asks Aslan (The Lion) will they ever see him again? His response was very interesting. He said you will not but in your world (Earth) you know me as a different name and it’s your duty to know me, accept me and live by my values. If you are not familiar with the Narnia books Aslan is the representation of Jesus. What made this line in the movie so interesting is that in this media driven world any mention or hint of God, Jesus and Christianity is frowned upon unless they are speaking negatively about them.
To have this movie whose target audience is kids, speak about Jesus (although hinted) is excellent! I say that because you will now have kids asking their parents what do they mean "you know me as a different name"? This will make those parents, willing or not, discuss faith. This could even lead to the parent wanting to find out more about Jesus.
I am realistic and understand that a good amount of people may have been put off by this line in the movie. On the other hand there are an even greater amount of people who feel the same way I do and are happy to see this in a movie. A positive message about God and Jesus in this error of vampires and wizards; maybe we are starting to realize this beast called Media can be a positive discussion starter.
Faith And Media
