Music and Movies Can't Be Christian?
Christian musicians are fond of saying things like, "Well, we're not a Christian band. We're Christians in a band," and think they're being profound. Front-man Jon Foreman was once asked, "Is Switchfoot a Christian band?" And he answered, "To be honest, this question grieves me because I feel that it misrepresents a much bigger issue than simply a couple Switchfoot tunes. In true Socratic form, let me" oh good grief, let me find a shorter example. Christian filmmaker David Leo Schultz has said, "What I've learned from smarter men than me is that products can't be Christian. A movie can't be baptized, or take communion, or follow Jesus." So are Schultz and other artists correct? Are we mis-applying the word "Christian?" Well, as with anything we talk about on When We Understand the Text, this all has to do with "context." Believe it or not, the word "Christian" appears only 3 times in...