I’ve always enjoyed watching movies. They draw me in and excite me. The story. The characters. The music. The emotion. The images. It’s quite an experience. Some movies are better experiences than others. Some I’ve seen several times and others just once. I don’t discriminate based on the genre. I’m open to sci-fi, romantic comedy, suspenseful action-packed thrillers, animated films, etc.
In the past month I’ve seen two movies in theater: Interstellar and The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1. These 2 were hyped a lot, and in my opinion, they didn’t disappoint. I have no desire to do a movie review, but Interstellar in particular was quite the experience. It delved into some of life’s biggest questions. It took you on an emotional roller coaster. It was one of the most visually stimulating movies I’ve ever seen. The music was heavy, uplifting, engaging and overwhelming. It brought you in close to the story it was telling.
When I walked out of that experience my mind was racing. I thought about many of the different ideas and questions the movie raised. And then I had a question myself:
How do I get students to read their Bible when they are watching movies like this?
Now before you think I’m one of those bible-thumping-narrow-minded-movie-hater Christians, hear me out.
See, I work with students. I’m constantly thinking, praying and strategizing about how best to connect this generation with Jesus. And as technology continues to broaden the realm of experiential possibilities through movies, it makes it more difficult for someone like me to say to a student “read your bible.” I mean before we even get to “how?” think about “why?” a student would even want to.
Why would they want to sit down and read a book with black letters (and some red letters if they have a certain translation) on thin, white paper when they can go watch a movie like Interstellar?
Why would they want to read a book that was written a long-time ago and is sometimes difficult to understand when they can go watch a movie like Interstellar?
Why do they want to read something that seems boring like the Bible, when they can go watch something exciting like Interstellar?
Why do they want to read at all, which takes effort, when they can go and passively watch a movie like Interstellar?
It’s a question I’ve been asking myself for a few weeks, and it’s one that isn’t going away. It’s one that’s in a category of questions the church has been wrestling with forever. And the answer is not to condemn movies or to try and sway kids not to watch them. That’s a losing battle. The answer lies in our approach. We have to listen to what is going on in culture and then begin speaking into it.
Because the question is not just “how do I get students to read their Bible?” It’s more than that.
How do we do ministry?
What does church look like in our current culture?
How can I explain the significance of following Jesus?
How do I do________ in an “Interstellar” culture?
As I’ve thought about this and talked with others, here are 6 suggestions that I think can help this generation connect with Jesus.
1) Bring out the life and energy found in the Bible.
Notice I didn’t say, “Bring the Bible to Life.” That would assume that it really is boring and we have a lot of work to do as ministry leaders. But it isn’t. It’s exciting! There’s action. Drama. Scandal. Murder. Miracles. PG-13 type material. Dead people come back to life. People walk on water. And a central figure named Jesus who comes on a rescue mission to save all of humanity from the consequences of their sin. It’s incredible!
“Boring” and “Bible” should not be synonyms. If you teach or preach, commit to bringing out the life and energy already there. And oh yeah, bring your own energy to it!
2) Engage as many of students’ senses as possible when teaching.
This generation experiences sensory overload on a daily basis. With computers, phones and televisions in front of them constantly, it’s good to give them a break. However, it’s also influenced the way they learn and gives teachers other means of connecting with them. Show movie clips. Show pictures. Use props. Draw a diagram. Tell stories. It will make your teaching more effective. CS Lewis was maybe one of the best to ever engage the whole person. Read any of his fiction, especially The Chronicles of Narnia, and you will see how he used many different elements to engage the senses.
3) Help students see the sustainable fulfillment that comes from a relationship with Christ.
Movies, video games, etc. has made us believe we have to always be having an experience, and if we aren’t, we’re missing out. But that’s just not true. High experiences are temporary. Life is lived in the mundane. And in that mundane comes a fulfillment that can be found through a daily relationship with Christ. Through that relationship lies a greater future than anything on this earth could offer.
4) Encourage students to use their God-given talents and gifts.
There are a ton of opportunities for this generation to express themselves in creative ways. We do a disservice to the God who made them when we discourage creativity. We must encourage it! Help students figure out who God has created them to be and celebrate as they live it out.
5) Connect them to the larger story of God on a regular basis.
One of the amazing things movies can do is cause people to long to be a part of the world that the director has created. They can make people feel like they are a part of something bigger. And more, they cause people to feel like they can make a difference. We have largely underwhelmed people with the Gospel if they do not grasp many of those same truths when they read the Bible or hear someone teach from it. Because we are a part of something HUGE—the redemption of all humanity. And we all have a part in that mission. We must connect students to the reality of what God is doing and wants to do in their lives.
6) Allow them to ask questions.
This generation is Bible illiterate. And that’s okay. If we act as if it’s not okay to ask questions about their faith it discourages growth and eventually belief altogether. I’ve written more about that here.
I’m going to keep watching movies. They’re pretty great. Maybe another suggestion could be “Take a student to a movie.” I don’t know. What others suggestions do you have?
MATT HILL 
There are all sorts of questions that you might not want to let them ask: what is the historical and cultural context of this passage? How did the original recipients of this passage understand it’s meaning? How do passages that refer to honor and shame relate to us today? Why does the Bible use mostly male pronouns when referring to groups of men and women? How can one be sure that “men” here meas only “men” and “men” there means “men and women”? Worst case scenario: They ask a question, don’t get a satisfactory answer, go to the internet where they learn all about translator bias, Greek words that have multiple meanings, or instances of word play that got lost in translation, the things they were taught about an inerrant Bible might cause them to question what they were taught from the Bible. I suppose you can prevent that by not teaching context and cherry-picking verses from the Bible to prove the Bible is in fact the Bible and therefore God-breathed and useful for teaching and rebuking and correcting.
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Hey Jamie. Thanks for reading and for your comment! I would actually be open to them asking any of the questions you proposed and I personally value teaching context while doing my best not to cherry-pick proof texts. You bring up relevant questions that I may address in a future post. This post didn’t lend itself to answering those questions. I’d be happy to talk to you more about these and others through email. Hop over to my “Contact” page, fill out the form and then I’ll be in touch. Thanks again!
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I’m good – I’ve come to terms with the idea that the Bible was written in two parts, the Old Testament was written many thousands of years ago to ancient Israelites to introduce them to the idea of a holy God who chose them as his favorites and the New Testament was written a few thousand years ago to both fold all unchosen people into God’s family through faith in Jesus and as such, was a book written to tell Christians how to live as believers without provoking the Romans. It was not writing to affirm Roman traditions as the standard by which all believers should follow at all time, but Paul and John both had to choose their words carefully to get the message across. Not one section was written to modern Americans to explain to us how to be believers in a Roman-free world. To quote Pirates of the Caribbean, the Bible’s more like guidelines, not a strict code. I recognize that many believers do believe that God inspired the Bible and they were taught that it was inerrant because they were not taught about it’s cultural context or it’s historical foundation. I recognize that there are some that take it literally because they believe it to be God’s word, inspired even though it was written down by dozens of authors over hundreds of centuries. I just wish that I wasn’t treated like a heretic because my beliefs aren’t the same as theirs.
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Hmm. I’m truly sorry you feel like you’ve been treated as a heretic. You have some interesting thoughts–not all of which I agree with. However, we can disagree without name calling and have friendly conversation. Again, I’d be open to having a conversation via email if you are. Thanks again for posting!
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