Mixing Message and Story

"Many speak as if message, in and of itself, were the Achilles’ heel of all creative [Christian] endeavors; that message cannot help but impede story, which in turn impedes audience reception, which in turn impedes commercial success. I disagree. However, I do think the wrong message is an Achilles heel of all Christian creative endeavors. And I think a lot of Christian creative endeavors send a…I couldn’t say wrong, but rather…an incomplete message.

With these assumptions, Harriet Beecher Stowe and Charles Dickens never take a combative “you disagree because you’re lost and/or ignorant and/or evil” approach. They seem to be saying, “You know what’s right and you know what’s good. It’s self-evident. Stop repressing it and ignoring it.” (Romans 1:18)

To top it all, it seems Christian characters in these stories struggle both with and against the social ills. And in so doing, we get a active demonstration of what it means to be a Christian (not just in word, but in deed and in truth). It isn’t simply taking the fire insurance and improving your personal well-being. It’s actively combating real, tangible, oppressive evil in the world!

Largely as a result of their works, social ills were brought to light and eventually eradicated.

Why don’t more Christian films do this???" ~ Richard Ramsey

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