Should Christians Watch Noah? Who cares?

I am often surprised (though I shouldn't be) about how worked up Christians get at certain cultural issues, and often minor ones at that. So, for example, when a movie like Noah comes out in theaters, some believers are prone to identify it as a lost Gospel and swear by it, while others see it as an affront to everything we hold near and dear.

Darrell Bock, New Testament scholar at Dallas Theological Seminary, wrote a wonderful article about this exact issue.

With Bock, I readily affirm the freedom of the conscience with regard to this matter. If watching a movie about something in the Bible offends you, then guard your conscience and don't go. If you are willing to watch such a movie, but only if it accurately sticks to the biblical story line, you might as well save your money. None of them will. God is the editor of the Bible and communicates what is truly important, as is His divine prerogative. In order to create a movie, a human director will inevitably expand the account. That is their prerogative.

I will let you know why I will probably go watch the movie: I am very interested in other peoples' perspectives on Christianity in general and the Bible in particular. I am also very interested in whether people I interact with subscribe to the worldview behind the movie, are intrigued by it, or are opposed to it.

The reason most evangelism really misses the mark is because we are culturally dumb. We often do not understand other worldviews, nor do we care to truly engage them. Nor do we often show much interest in the experiences that either gave rise to a particular worldview or are derived from it. Instead, we ask a clever question to get the ball rolling with a stranger (looking at you, Evangelism Explosion), or we have a pre-packaged set of four spiritual laws that, while beneficial in terms of clarity, can tend to reduce a discussion to carefully constructed talking points. These methods may prove helpful at times, but could also prove to be a hindrance as well.

The Bible instructs us to be "quick to listen and slow to speak" (James 1). Before I will speak about the merits of Noah, I desire to gain greater understanding of the director's worldview and that of those who have watched the movie. The experiences and beliefs of a culture are reflected it its art. Noah will give me valuable information concerning where the culture is on various matters.

Again, I respect and appreciate that Christians strongly disagree with one another on this matter, and again, this is a wonderful example of an area where Christians can exercise their liberty with wisdom to the glory of God.

But before we get fired up about this movie, let us make sure it doesn't evoke more passion than we display about other cultural matters of greater import (i.e., the plight of the unborn). And before we get fired up about cultural matters in general, let us make sure that we still care most about guarding the doctrine of the Church. It is one thing for a Hollywood direct to err about God's Word; It is quite another for doctrinal error to be propounded from the pulpit. Guarding God's Word and its primacy within the Church must always be the most pressing concern of the believer as it pertains to truth in this world.