“Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.”
1 John 4:8
Those who follow the Christian faith naturally yearn to see that faith spread to communities around the world. After all, among our Savior’s last words were these: “Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to everyone…”
Which brings me to a question. What role—if any—does art have in fulfilling the Great Commission?
Abraham Lincoln (not an artist, we readily admit) said, “In order to win a man to your cause, you must first reach his heart, the great high road to his reason.”
In other words, before you engage a person’s intellect, you must first engage his emotions. This is how films, and all art I would argue, operate. My Master’s Thesis at Art Center College of Design was entitled The Role of Film in the Process of Conversion to Christianity. You can read the entire thesis here.
The famous Dutch painter, Vincent van Gogh, said something that has always resonated with me. (Keep in mind he was the son of a minister and before he became a painter, served as a missionary to coal miners in Belgium.)
“I have a terrible need—shall I say the word—of religion, then I go outside at night and paint the stars.”
If I might be so bold, I, too, feel the “need of religion…” Perhaps not unlike Vincent, I “go outside at night” to paint my vision of the stars, creating stories in the language of cinema. This is what has motivated me as a filmmaker for thirty plus years. It comes from the simple desire to share God’s love with the world.
But the question remains: Am I preaching the gospel when I create films?
I think the answer hinges on the word “beauty.” Are we making films of beauty? Beauty that stirs the heart? I’d like to share with you this “adaptation” of 1 Corinthians 13 to illustrate the point.
If I make films that have no beauty, I’ve become like sounding brass or a clanging cymbal. And though I master the nuances of marketing and distribution, and achieve great box office success with my films, and though I create wholesome family entertainment to the delight of the already converted, but my work has no beauty or transcendence to stir people’s hearts, what have I gained?
Beauty doesn’t measure success by numbers; it is not the purview of one particular class or group. It blesses, consoles, inspires, and spiritually restores people of all backgrounds and faiths.
Beauty never fails.
But where there is merely entertainment, it will soon fade; where there is solely a calculation of winning people to your cause without first engaging their hearts, without beauty it will come up short. As filmmakers, we know in part and produce in part. But when beauty permeates our work, then that which is in part will be done away.
And now abide these three for Christian filmmakers: teaching, financial return, and beauty, but the greatest of these is beauty.
I remember when I was in Sarajevo, making Sabina K., and how strongly I felt that, yes, I am doing God’s will; I am preaching the gospel; I’m bringing his love to a community that needs to hear that God is love! And I am doing so in league with a talented group of people who are helping me create a work of art, a beautiful film.
When we create works of beauty infused by love, we can have confidence that the message of our faith will speak across cultural, racial and religious barriers and spread to other communities, reaching across the divides that otherwise separate the children of men. Why? Because God is love! And “he has made everything beautiful in its time” (Ecclesiastes 3:11).
In closing, thank you for your interest and partnership in the ministry of Messenger Films. Donations are always welcome, but so, too, are your comments and words of encouragement. Write us at info@messengerfilms.com. And if this newsletter has touched your heart, please share it with your friends and family today. You can sign up for our newsletter at www.messengerfilms.com
May the Lord bless you!
