Faith & Hollywood

Twice a year I attend a lunch dialogue involving Rabbis and local Jewish leaders with pastors and Evangelical Christian leaders associated with Fuller Seminary. Each time the groups meet there is a special topic of dialogue chosen and guests are brought in to lead the discussion. Yesterday's discussion was on the relationship of Hollywood and Faith. Invited to speak from a Jewish perspective was a media scholar and a sit-com writer. Invited to speak from a Protestant/Evangelical perspective was a Theology and Media scholar from Fuller and a Christian who is president of a company that works as a marketing liaison between churches and various Hollywood studios and productions.

It was a fascinating discussion, but there were two poignant moments that stuck out to me (both included pretty good jokes).

1. The first involved the Jewish sit-com writer. He writes for a popular sit-com and has also become a practicing orthodox Jew. It has been only in the last few years that he has become serious in his religious observance. Interestingly, it was only after marrying a Gentile that he became more serious about his faith. Which leads to the first good joke of the day:

A young Jewish boy fell in love with a Gentile girl and asked his father if it was okay for him to marry. His father replied, "Son, whatever you do, do not marry this Gentile woman." The young man dismissed his father's advice and married the girl. She became very interested in her new husband's faith, converted to Judaism, and began to participate in all of the Jewish rituals of Sabbath keeping, kosher eating, and even the laws regarding dress, etc... The young man had never kept all of these laws before or been that serious about his faith, so not knowing what to do, he went to his father for advice. His father said, "I told you not to marry a Gentile."

The writer shared the challenges that he faces being on a team of writers for a show that includes other Jewish folk who are not orthodox. The show he works for tapes on Friday nights, but he has to leave the studio before sundown so that he can keep Sabbath. Often the team works on Saturdays, but he will not come in to work that day. He described the uncomfortable sense of his colleagues who sort of say, "Hey, I'm Jewish too, but I still come into work on Friday night." His faith even caused he and his writing partner to part ways.
It made me wonder if Christians ever feel this same way about other Christians at work, but it primarily made me envious of the commitment to particular practices of faith that shape our lives and define who we are. It made me wonder what would the defining practices be for most Protestant Christians? It especially made me wonder what practices Christians would be willing to put above their commitment to work.

2. The second moment had to do with the perception of how Christians relate and respond to Hollywood. Here is the second joke of the day. It was told by one of the Protestant leaders present at lunch, but it was originally told to him by a Rabbi.

Many years ago a 100 Jewish leaders got together and decided that they needed to make an impact for their faith in the economy, in politics, and in entertainment. So one-third of them moved to New York and began working on Wall Street; one-third moved to Washington DC and got involved in the government; and the other third moved to California and found jobs in the television and movie industry.
Several years later a group of 100 Evangelical leaders got together and decided that they needed to make an impact for their faith in the economy, in politics, and in entertainment. So they all moved to Colorado Springs.

I'm not sure that joke is completely fair, and I'm pretty sure many Christians I know wouldn't laugh at it, but I did find it an interesting outside perspective on the way Evangelicals are viewed by others in the culture. I'm thankful for those who serve as prophetic voices to the economy, politics, and the entertainment industry, but I am also really thankful for those who feel called to make a difference in all of the influential aspects of our culture through faithful involvement. I hope we are increasingly being seen as those who are "going into all the world" to be salt and light.

Comments

[wirsgmom]

I see that you are reading a book by Brian McClaren. Have you read any of his other books? I apologize for not for not remaining with your topic "Hollywood..."

[Scott]

I have read almost everything he has published - except that he keeps coming out with new stuff all of the time. I got into reading McLaren with his A New Kind of Christian trilogy - which I still think of as his best work. I also thought that The Secret Message of Jesus and A Generous Orthodoxy were outstanding.

I am going to Northwest Nazarene University in two weeks to present a lecture on "Holiness as Furtherness" and McLaren will also be there and we are supposed to serve on a panel together. I have met him once, but this will be my first opportunity to really spend any time with him. I am looking forward to it.

Have you read any of his books? What did you think?

[John Coombs]

Concerning working on the Sabbath, and the Protestant variations of it, I've kind of decided that we have to render unto Ceasar what is Ceasar's. If we've made a committment to an organization, we need to fulfill that committment until that committment is met. If Ceasar, the Army, or Ralph's says come to work on Sunday, then we've gotta "render." At least until we've met our obligation.

[Scott]

John,
On "rendering". I think I agree to a point. The thing I respected in this writer was his understanding of why he was keeping Sabbath. When Debbie worked at Warner Brothers we realized that for many folk who work in "the industry" it is viewed as the end all of being. For this writer keeping Sabbath is his way of saying, "I work in the industry but I serve God." He even mentioned that he has found it interesting during the strike that some of his friends don't know what to do with themselves, while he feels like he already has something in his life that means much more to him than his work. I suppose if we render every time Caesar asks us to render eventually Caesar is lord. The trick, I guess, is figuring out when and where to draw the line with him.

[John Coombs]

Couldn't agree more! I have 3 more years to render, then my assignment will be Fort Living Room!

[Chris Johnson]

Thanks for the "Colorado Springs" joke! I'll be laughing at least the rest of the day. I was just making this point the other day, and the story makes it much more elegantly than I can. I think you've inspired a new blog post for me...