Would You Take Jesus to See Halloween?

Would You Take Jesus to See Halloween?

Not the holiday—the movie.

I really can’t speak authoritatively on that particular movie, I have never seen it. However, this time of year it seems appropriate to have a thoughtful conversation about the horror genre and the Christian. So, for a moment, let’s lay aside our discussion of the sexual perversion and nudity that fills the entertainment world and think about blood and guts, occultic themes, violence, and the believer.

Think principles, not rules.

My appeal to you is to think about your choices. Do not act simply based upon what you like or don’t like. Christianity has a long history of making “moral” choices simply on the basis of consensus preferences rather than biblical principles. Your thinking has to be based upon your surrender to the word and to the work of the Holy Spirit as He informs your sensibilities. It is nearly pointless to argue morals with a rebellious (and worse, a rebellious and immature) believer. They all become lawyers trying to defend their choices based upon the letter of the law. It is just another form of legalism.

Some definitions are in order.

The horror genre of movies and entertainment is a broad discussion. It includes the dark tales of Edgar Allen Poe, the blood and guts terror films so popular this year, and even supposed comedy where innards fly while the audience laughs. The key questions every believer must ask.

Why do I find this entertaining?

Art is not required to be happy to be good. There are very dark events recorded in scripture. We need to be sobered and saddened sometimes, but that is more characteristic of a tragedy than a horror flick. A horror movie is about fear and being startled. It is about the adrenaline rush that comes from fear. Adrenaline is not all evil either, after all, God made it. However, that does not mean that it is morally correct or wise to set sin before my eyes in order to achieve the desired thrill.

What is it in me that wants to watch this?

I have the flesh and the Spirit. This is why the standard of “like” is a false standard. I must determine whether it is the Spirit that likes what I see or my flesh that likes it. Kenneth Myers put it this way (All God’s Children and Blue Suede Shoes):

At one level, all we mean is that each of us takes pleasure in listening to our respective music [or watching our favorite movies]. But there are many ways of taking pleasure, not all of them comparable, and not all of them morally good. One person may take pleasure in visiting the elderly in nursing homes on Saturday afternoons; another may take pleasure in mugging old ladies on the street corner on Saturday nights. One person has a “taste” for acts of benevolence, another for acts of violence. (1989, p. 77)

Knowing the difference is sometimes a difficulty. An appropriate depiction of a sinful act is often essential to telling a story, or even in communicating the depth of evil in one of the characters in the story—and even that can easily go too far. There is a difference between that artful necessity and making the depiction of the sin entertaining, even titillating in itself. We often instinctively know the difference. That is why most Christians (who value life as sacred and belonging to God) do not find horror movies entertaining. The bloody and over-the-top destruction of human beings is revolting—not entertaining. This is true even if it is clearly fantasy, in fact, it might be more so.

Can I watch this to the glory of God?

As a young person, I was often mystified about how to apply this verse. Could I play basketball to the glory of God, or eat a hamburger to the glory of God? Again, Kenneth Myers helped me with this thinking. Chapter three of his book is entitled “Would You Take Jesus to See This Planet.” We cannot isolate ourselves from the world around us, but we can choose the value of the things with which we do interact. Maybe the more appropriate question would be “would I take Jesus to see this movie?” If I had a discussion with Jesus after watching it, what would He say about it?

Is the live-action medium different from the written word or still art?

There are some extremely gory narratives in the Bible. Because we hear and sing about the stories from childhood, they seem less vivid. Imagine adding another verse to “Only a Boy Named David” only this one starts with “Only a Girl Named Jael”! The Bible is not immoral, so communicating the story—even the gory aspects–is not immoral. How we communicate the story does matter. For instance, in the biblical accounts, divine justice is the centerpiece of the story. If we were to make a movie about David or Jael and draw out the kill scenes with as much blood and gore as possible, we could turn what is a morally beneficial narrative into something offensive to God.

Wherever you draw your line, you will be splitting hairs.

The Halloween genre of horror movies so popular at this time of year—with the chainsaws, axes, blood, and body parts flying everywhere—is clearly inappropriate for believers, but there are more nuanced decisions required that are not nearly as easy to discern.

As you make decisions for yourself and your family be prepared to split hairs. Twenty years ago, Peter Jackson released the first of his Lord of the Rings trilogy. The three movies were based on the classic work of J.R.R. Tolkien. Tolkien’s books follow grand admirable themes such as love, friendship, self-sacrifice, and honor. But the movies were also sporadically laced with violence and at times very gory violence (arms, legs, and heads being cut off). Christians evaluating had to take a number of factors into account. Some argued that it was primarily non-humans that were being killed (orcs and goblins). Some would say the violence was only a small segment of the movie and necessary for an artful telling of the story. An unbelieving world, however, would see very little difference between moments in the LOTR movies and many of the horror flicks Christians condemn.

When Peter Jackson produced three more movies based upon Tolkien’s The Hobbit, he was highly criticized for making a light-hearted children’s fantasy (clearly written by Tolkien for a different primary audience from his LOTR work) gratuitously gory–much more violent than the book. It is not really surprising since Peter Jackson’s cinematic roots were in the horror genre. Many believers who found the LOTR series acceptable rejected the Hobbit series.

I am not bringing up these movies as examples of horror films (or suggesting that anyone watch any of these) but as examples of the nuanced type of discernment that is required of believers in order to make God-honoring entertainment choices. You cannot allow others to convince you to stop drawing lines because your lines seem inconsistent. They will always seem inconsistent to someone.

God will hold you accountable for your entertainment choices. You have an obligation to discern what is pleasing to Him.

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