Here are some thoughts about death from a Christian perspective.
An animated movie about the Ten Commandments has been made. It is not winning rave reviews.
Here are someone’s thoughts on valid criticism wrapped in bad doctrine.
Also, a pastor explains Six Rules for Cultural Engagement. He writes, “Receiving what is good seems to be more problematic for many Christians. People often think that we can only find good in something when it is all good. The problem of course is that nothing is all good this side of the resurrection, but many things still reflect the law written on the hearts of sinful man. The imago dei is still visible, and people often create or do things that reflect what is true, beautiful, noble, excellent. Receiving what is good means that there are times when the Christian, or the church, can walk beside the world and affirm the goodness of a communal value or cultural artifact. When our community decides it will take environmental care, the education of our children, or the health of the sick seriously we can say “amen.” But even then we have to show them that such goodness is not socially constructed, but reflects the truth and the plan of God.”
I admit struggling most with this point. Depending on how it is applied, I may not wholeheartedly agree. I wonder about this particularly in choices related to movies that I watch and other media. I may hear of a good movie. It may even contain some elements that can be talking points in relating Christ to others, but to see it, I may have to wade way out into the mire of a lot of images and other things that don’t cause me to think on whatever is good, noble, and praiseworthy. I don’t have simple black and white answers to this issue. It seems to me that each believer has to recognize where he is strong and where he is weak in relation to sin and not volunteer to be lead into temptation. At the same time we have to weigh being connected enough to the world around us and to the culture that we live in to be able to intelligibly communicate the Gospel.
Those, like me, who are more conservative in their entertainment choices need to be careful not to judge our fellow believers who may choose otherwise for good reasons. Likewise, others more open in their entertainment need to avoid throwing the label of Pharisee on more conservative believers if that is a temptation that they have. All in all, the Six Rules given are good, helpful and thought provoking. The writer is speaking of far more than just movie choices when he talks about recognizing what is good, and it is worth taking time to read what he writes.
