Last Friday, a group of women from our church got together for a movie night where we went to see Do You Believe? the latest release from the Christian production company, Pure Flix. My daughter and I were among the attendees, and I must say, we had a wonderful time. The message of the film was inspiring and convicting, and I immediately found myself praying for the courage to be bolder in living out my faith.
I think we are seeing in Christian film what the Christian music and book industry have already gone through – the evolution of an art. I can remember back in the 1980’s when Amy Grant became the first known name in Christian music. Did it exist before her? Sure. But she was the first breakthrough artist. Over the last three decades, the Christian music industry has grown into a reputable business with talented artists using their gifts for God’s glory in an excellent way. So many styles and genres of faith-based music of the highest possible quality.
The Christian fiction market has gone through much the same process. Perhaps Catherine Marshall’s Christy (1967) can claim the beginning of the success of the genre, but it wasn’t until Jeanette Oke first published Love Comes Softly in 1979 that the industry began to gain traction. Frank Peretti had another breakthrough novel with This Present Darkness in 1986 that opened the door further and the door finally flew open wide with the Left Behind series by Tim LaHaye and Jerry Jenkins in the mid 1990’s.
In both the Christian music and Christian fiction industries, critics often found little to praise in the early works. Many artists/authors were considered sub-par or lacking in professional quality when compared to their established mainstream peers, and many times the critics were correct in their assessment. Over the last few years, we’ve seen the same comments extended toward the Christian film movement. However, as birth pangs give way to growth and increased maturity, the quality rises, and more talent is attracted to the new line. I believe we are seeing that happen now in the realm of Christian film.
More and more consumers are “buying in” and supporting faith-based films. This allows the industry to attract better talent both in actors and screenwriters. It’s very exciting to me to see this growth occurring. Of course, there have been other mega-hits that came from faith-based sources – The Passion of the Christ, The Chronicles of Narnia, The Hobbit, The Fellowship of the Rings to name a few. I think these movies helped pave the way for companies like Pure Flix to find a niche in the market, proving that people will pay to see movies with messages from a Christian worldview. With movies like God is not Dead and Do You Believe? having such overt Christian messages and still finding a level of success in the box office, I sense great hope for the continued maturity of the industry.
So let’s get down to it – Did I enjoy the movie? Yes. I truly did. The characters were engaging and the story built to a satisfying ending that was full of action and suspense. Was it the best movie I’d ever seen quality-wise? Not even close. But I found that I didn’t really care. The message spoke to my soul and prodded me to prayer and self-examination. It has lingered in my mind.
I believe the Christian film industry is growing and maturing, and I plan to support it with my box office dollars so that hopefully in another decade we’ll see the kind of transformation in talent and quality of craft that we have seen in music and fiction. One more way we can touch lives for Jesus.
- Have you see Do You Believe? What did you think?
- Do you expect faith-based films to find a permanent niche in Hollywood in the near future?
May you all have a blessed Easter!
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I am encouraged when I see the growth of the ChristIan presence in the film industry. I am also encouraged when I see the response to this presence.
I have not seen the movie yet but I plan to see it.
Me, too, Shirley. I hope it continues to grow and flourish. Heaven knows we need more positive, Christ-centered messages in our media. What really encouraged me was how much my kids enjoyed the films. I was afraid that as teenagers, the movies wouldn’t be “cool” enough for them, but they actually were excited to watch them and then talked about them long afterward as well. Yay!
Yes my husband and I went to see the movie Do You Believe the first night it was officially released to the general public. I liked it better than God’s Not Dead. I cried through some of it. I thoughly enjoyed it. I feel that a Christian movie lets a believer walk away feeling satisfied. Same as reading a Christian fiction book or listening to Christian music. Go to see a movie with sex or bad language do you walk away satisfied? Same as reading a book. I have only read one book that claimed to be a Christian fiction book that had bad language in it. It was only once but I was upset because when you buy a Christian fiction book you expect no bad language in it. That’s why I buy it. As for Christian movies becoming popular , if Christians don’t support the movies like they have Christian fiction or Christian music they will not continue with them. Every Christian that can get out should go see Do You Believe. Support it and we will get more movies like this available.
Amen, Shirley. I couldn’t agree more. Judging by the previews I saw, it looks like there will be several new movies coming out soon along the same lines. I plan to be in line at the theatre. 🙂
It’s interesting to ponder the intersection of art and faith! So many of the old masters in the arts had Biblical inspiration. Handel’s the Hallelujah Chorus. Michelangelo’s David. Da Vinci’s The Last Supper. I don’t know as much history into these works as I’d like…. It may be that these artists focused on these types of works, in part, because they were commissioned to do so. In other words, there was a market during their time for art that intersected with faith.
In the centuries since, that market has fluctuated. I’m so glad that there’s a place in this current day for music, books, and movies that celebrate Christ. As Tricia talked about yesterday, Christian art is more than just entertainment. It’s soul refreshing and inspiring. It’s deep and rich.
I haven’t yet seen either God is Not Dead or Do You Believe? — but I’d like to. I did go to the theater to see Old Fashioned in February. It’s a contemporary Christian romance (!!) and I wanted to support everyone involved in bringing it to theaters.
It’s looking like there’s also a place these days for Biblical TV! The Bible was such a huge success, that they’re about the debut another TV series called ‘AD’.
I couldn’t agree more, Becky. I hadn’t heard about AD. I’ll need to look into that. I hope we continue to have more and more of these options.
I haven’t seen it yet. But like you, I am so encouraged to know that a Christian message is being represented in this industry.
The more seeds we can plant, the better. 🙂 I hope you get a chance to see it, Lynn.
I have not seen either of the Pure Flix movies. However, I have seen Facing the Giants and Men of Courage and really enjoyed the messages and the story lines in both of those movies. I really enjoy going to movies and not needing to worry about the content. It is one of the great things about Christian fiction. I am really looking forward to more of these types of movies.
My kids all loved Facing the Giants, Dora. Another great one. the more positive messages out there, the better!
My hubby and I saw, Do You Believe?, Saturday afternoon. We loved it for the message it gave to not only Believers but non-Believers. What a testimony of the 12 lives involved in this story. I won’t give anything away here for those who haven’t seen this movie but some day I’d love to share my story with you. This movie made me laugh, cry, and clap! I can’t wait to see more Christian films like this one. (We also saw, God’s Not Dead. That too had a great message.)
Jesus Lives!! Happy Easter everyone!
God’s Not Dead was a good one, too. My kids (who are math and science whizzes, btw) loved seeing the words of scientists used to disprove scientific atheism. Their favorite line was the quote from Oxford mathematician John C. Lennox when he debates Stephen Hawking’s argument that because we have the law of gravity, the world was guaranteed to self-create. In the words of Lennox, “Nonsense remains nonsense even when spoken by world-famous scientists.” 🙂
I’m thinking the Christian movie movement may be part of “until all the world hears” when Christ returns to the earth. These are scary times we live in but I hold on to the knowledge that God is in total control!
That is a true comfort, isn’t it, Gail? That God is in control. And since he is in control, he can bring good out of any situation. As Joseph said to his brothers in Genesis – “You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good.”