I don’t feel this push and pull as strongly concerning the media I watch, but I feel the forces at work concerning my children’s viewing and listening. My husband and I are very particular about what we do and don’t watch as a family, BUT we are considerably less uptight than some families we know with the media wars. Case in point, we have a Disney Plus subscription. We are very particular about what we watch and what our children are allowed to watch off of the platform. We know of multiple families who refuse to give any money to any media company that pushes agendas contrary to Christian teaching. And that is their right. I do get a bit annoyed when some of them feel the need to defend that stance to my kids every time they see them, but whatever. We like to vote with our views and the occasional movie ticket. We like movies and I don’t feel like never watching any movies that are not expressly Christian again least some money accidentally goes to a company that I don’t agree with all the time. Sometimes “Christian” movies can be even more problematic and complicated to discuss with the kids than Moana.
Additional confession: I have never really listened to Christian music exactly. Friends in high school did, but it isn’t part of my faith tradition and I never got into it. I love hymns and chants and classical music, but mostly I listen to very eclectic multi-genre music. Our road trip mix is all over the place.
So good, Kori! Let’s not put ourselves in small boxes when God gifted us with the whole world!
Some of the stories that affected the most had people who did things very differently than I may have, but helped me understand them and grow in compassion. We don’t need exclusively “perfect” models to imitate. It’s a fallen world. Also, some of the most inspiring people may mysteriously not be people of our faith, or any faith at all.
But maybe it’s not so mysterious...because it’s not just us who live and move and have our being in God, it’s everyone. The Holy Spirit is free to work wherever and with whomever he wishes, and I’m so grateful for that.
Also, I admit I laughed at the analogy that one wouldn’t ask if a plummer was a Christian. The other day I was chatting with another southern transplant. My friend talked about how strange it was when they moved to this part of the world and noticed when looking up repairmen some listed their church position—e.g. “church elder.” It was a label that was supposed to give one deep confidence in their ability and reliability…. Unfortunately, as common as the label is thrown around, the lack of quality is equally prolific 😒.
My mom is an artist, and is also heartily allergic to B.S., so she wanted us to engage with art on the artistic basis as well as the content basis. My mom did want us to critique the work we engaged with, analyzing worldview and etc, but that didn't mean we necessarily had to drop something because it didn't fully align with Christianity. We were supposed to look at what frames the stories were wrapped around, and how those elements interacted or caused different results. (I still find this super fascinating). The ways she taught me to critique work like this made me dubious about some of the Christian stories I saw, too. Those particular stories presented difficult issues but then rushed towards a particular message in such a way that the message became itself warped, let alone the story. (That wasn't all the Christian stuff I encountered, though, of course--there's some great Christian work out there too). So when I was older and some of my peers started saying "it's good because it has a conversion in it," I was surprised. It hadn't occured to me that that could be a requirement at all.
I don’t feel this push and pull as strongly concerning the media I watch, but I feel the forces at work concerning my children’s viewing and listening. My husband and I are very particular about what we do and don’t watch as a family, BUT we are considerably less uptight than some families we know with the media wars. Case in point, we have a Disney Plus subscription. We are very particular about what we watch and what our children are allowed to watch off of the platform. We know of multiple families who refuse to give any money to any media company that pushes agendas contrary to Christian teaching. And that is their right. I do get a bit annoyed when some of them feel the need to defend that stance to my kids every time they see them, but whatever. We like to vote with our views and the occasional movie ticket. We like movies and I don’t feel like never watching any movies that are not expressly Christian again least some money accidentally goes to a company that I don’t agree with all the time. Sometimes “Christian” movies can be even more problematic and complicated to discuss with the kids than Moana.
Additional confession: I have never really listened to Christian music exactly. Friends in high school did, but it isn’t part of my faith tradition and I never got into it. I love hymns and chants and classical music, but mostly I listen to very eclectic multi-genre music. Our road trip mix is all over the place.
YES. ALL OF THIS!
I *heart* this line: "you are not obligated to justify the art that edifies you."
So good, Kori! Let’s not put ourselves in small boxes when God gifted us with the whole world!
Some of the stories that affected the most had people who did things very differently than I may have, but helped me understand them and grow in compassion. We don’t need exclusively “perfect” models to imitate. It’s a fallen world. Also, some of the most inspiring people may mysteriously not be people of our faith, or any faith at all.
But maybe it’s not so mysterious...because it’s not just us who live and move and have our being in God, it’s everyone. The Holy Spirit is free to work wherever and with whomever he wishes, and I’m so grateful for that.
Man, this makes me think of all ways I used to feel the need to justify my consumption of secular (or even just non-explicitly-Christian) art:
"But guys, I swear Neo is really a Christ figure - so we can watch the Matrix after all!"
"Yeah, I know U2 isn't on a Christian label, but they have a song based on Psalm 40, so I think it's okay..."
RIGHT?!?! Also, read my forthcoming book Why I Dyed My Hair Purple & Other Unorthodox Stories for an essay about U2.
This is excellent, Kori.
Also, I admit I laughed at the analogy that one wouldn’t ask if a plummer was a Christian. The other day I was chatting with another southern transplant. My friend talked about how strange it was when they moved to this part of the world and noticed when looking up repairmen some listed their church position—e.g. “church elder.” It was a label that was supposed to give one deep confidence in their ability and reliability…. Unfortunately, as common as the label is thrown around, the lack of quality is equally prolific 😒.
My mom is an artist, and is also heartily allergic to B.S., so she wanted us to engage with art on the artistic basis as well as the content basis. My mom did want us to critique the work we engaged with, analyzing worldview and etc, but that didn't mean we necessarily had to drop something because it didn't fully align with Christianity. We were supposed to look at what frames the stories were wrapped around, and how those elements interacted or caused different results. (I still find this super fascinating). The ways she taught me to critique work like this made me dubious about some of the Christian stories I saw, too. Those particular stories presented difficult issues but then rushed towards a particular message in such a way that the message became itself warped, let alone the story. (That wasn't all the Christian stuff I encountered, though, of course--there's some great Christian work out there too). So when I was older and some of my peers started saying "it's good because it has a conversion in it," I was surprised. It hadn't occured to me that that could be a requirement at all.
I love this, all of it, so much. 💜💜
This!! —> “You are not obligated to justify the art that edifies you."
Yes, thank you. Amen.