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What Is A Christian Movie?

By Joseph Bardwell

Published: June 16, 2008

What is a Christian movie? Certainly we would think of Mel Gibson's, "The Passion of the Christ" as a Christian movie. But what made it Christian? Was it Christian because it was made by a Christian? Was it Christian because it was about Jesus or based on events from the Bible? Was "Amazing Grace" a Christian movie? What about "Lord of the Rings" or even "Spider-Man 3"?

There is a great deal of confusion about what really makes a movie "Christian". Let's start from a perspective of what makes a person a Christian. Is a person a Christian because he wears a cross around his neck, or tries not to swear, or goes to church on a regular basis? No, a person is a Christian if he has placed his faith in Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior. I would go further and say a person is a Christian only if he or she has a personal relationship with God through Jesus Christ, and God now lives within them. Once a person is a Christian, he or she begins to grow, based on their obedience to God. Their life begins to change, from the inside out, as they are empowered by this new living relationship with God.

So what does that have to do with the definition of a Christian movie? I propose if a movie is going to live up to being called a "Christian movie", it should genuinely point to Jesus Christ. A Christian movie should lead a non-believer closer to a personal relationship with God through Jesus Christ, and/or help a believer grow deeper in their relationship with God. This should not be done in a preachy way. A Christian movie should not be a sermon, but rather leverage the power of storytelling, exactly as Jesus did, to reveal spiritual truths to people.

Many movies have a Christian worldview and will speak of elements of good vs. evil, forgiveness or redemption. "Spider-Man 3" is a good example of this but does this make it a Christian movie? What about "Lord of the Rings" where the book was written by a beloved Christian author and contains story elements strongly tied to Christianity? I don't believe so. While one could take any of these films and start a Christian conversation by using the film to illustrate points, we need to be realistic that these movies do not really help the average person become a Christian or grow as a Christian.

Nevertheless, if we look at the movie "Amazing Grace", we would all agree that it is a Christian film. It is a wonderful true-life story about William Wilberforce who was used by God in a powerful way to end the slave trade in the British Empire in the 18th Century. Once we have a clearer definition of a "Christian movie", we can turn our attention to another related question: How effective was "Amazing Grace" as a Christian movie?

If our goal is to influence non-believers to come closer to Christ or to influence Christians to grow in their faith, I believe we need to be honest that "Amazing Grace" was not very effective as a Christian film. Why? There are likely many reasons for this, but for me the number one reason was that God was a "mention" in the movie, not a living, breathing character. To believe in the reality of a personal relationship with God through Jesus, we need to see God come alive in our Christian films. God needs to be a real character who is interactive, not complacent. He needs to answer prayers, reveal Himself to people, cause life-change or empower acts of faith that are impossible apart from Him. God was missing as a character in "Amazing Grace", but it was nice that He was mentioned.

Once we decide together which movies we wish to see made, we work with the best and brightest filmmakers inside and outside of Hollywood to make great movies, great movies that will lift up the name of Jesus and will most definitely be "Christian movies."

Joseph Bardwell is chairman and president of In Jesus’ Name Productions (http://www.IJNP.org), the world’s first Christian motion picture studio funded by a large grassroots group of Christians dedicated to making Christian films, not for profits, but for God’s purposes.

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