Let me do something dangerous—recommend a movie.

That’s dangerous because film is such a subjective medium: my “wow” may be your “ho-hum.” And it’s dangerous because the relationship between Hollywood and the church has mostly been an abusive one: it bashes us and we bash it back. It’s dangerous because the movie I want to recommend comes (deservedly) with an “R” rating. And finally, it’s dangerous because I’m going to suggest that a violent, profane, bleak movie may well be the most compelling portrayal of the gospel I’ve experienced in years.

If you can’t get past bad language, stop reading. If violence on screen makes you run for the exits, stop reading. If you’re convinced that the gospel can be carried by only the purest vessels, stop reading. If you believe that contact with the grit of our world defiles us . . . well, you get the picture.

A Futuristic Story

Children of Men, directed by Alfonso Cuarón, is the story of the world gone wrong. The movie is set in the year 2027. Humanity has lost the ability to procreate. A baby hasn’t been born in 18 years. And with the loss of a future, the human race has descended into anarchy and nihilistic violence—without hope and without God (to use the apostle Paul’s phrase). The world has gone cold and pitiless and ugly. There are no children’s cries and laughter. Schools are closed. People are trudging joylessly through their days, dead men walking. A large graffiti screams: “Would the last one to leave please turn out the lights?”

And then, one pregnant girl shows up and changes everything. Suddenly there is hope. Suddenly there are possibilities. No, the violence doesn’t stop. The ugliness doesn’t miraculously disappear. But there’s purpose to living again. And a reason worth dying for.

I won’t give away any more of the plot except to say that the symbolism is unmistakable and points to truths beyond the horizon of the movie itself. Look at the title. Listen for the names of the lead character and the pregnant girl. Watch for direct allusions to the Christ-story. But watch, also, for subtler allusions: the play between hope and hopelessness, purity and grime, strength and weakness, light and dark, meaning and futility—all fundamentally human and profoundly religious themes.

The Ancient Gospel

To my eyes, the movie told the same story as the first half of Romans. A world gone badly wrong (Romans 1:18–3:20). A piece of good news that changed everything (3:21-31). A character who exhibited stubborn, persistent, immoderate faith (4:1-25). The possibility of two worlds: one world ruled by death and slavery and violence and another ruled by hope and grace and life (chapter 5). The need for death and rebirth (chapter 6).

It is the gospel in movie form. It is the gospel (for those who have eyes to see it) spoken in the language of a world that so badly needs to hear gospel again. It touches on all those needs of the human heart that are so fully met in Christ: hope, meaning, beauty, love, transcendence. And it does so in ways that are provocative rather than preachy.

Why should Christians bother with a secular movie, symbolic or not? Why subject ourselves to dirty words and brutal scenes? Because the church has a mission to speak gospel to the world . . . and speak it in a way—using words—our world will listen to. The people around us aren’t hearing big-haired preachers on TV. They’re not reading our apologetics. They’re not flocking to our sanctuaries.

But they are watching movies. And they’re going out for coffee afterward to talk about what they’ve just seen. They gather at the work place to compare thoughts and reactions. They’re asking, “Hey, have you seen _______?” The question is: Will people of faith be part of those conversations? Will we use those conversations to get to gospel? Will we talk with our neighbors and workmates (and, increasingly, our own children) using a vocabulary they can understand and appreciate?

For most viewers, Children of Men will be only an action flick, a tale full of sound and fury. But for discerning viewers, for people who are looking for more than body counts and pyrotechnics, there are layers of meaning in this film that are insightful, creative, and (in the end) deeply moving. It is in those layers where our opportunity lies. If we have eyes to see, if we know the gospel well enough to recognize it in different—even difficult—forms, then this movie will provide a great place to talk to others about faith.

It will also provide a great place to have faith affirmed. I cried for 30 minutes after the movie ended. My son drove home! And as I cried, I thanked God for the precious gift of a life filled with hope.

That’s what gospel will do for you. |L

Dr. Tim Woodroof is senior minister of Otter Creek Church of Christ in Nashville, Tennessee.

OTHER COLUMNS:
November 8, 2009 - Why I believe in God
October 25, 2009 - Commuting in days of evil
October 11, 2009 - Poets and don’t know it
September 27, 2009 - How Hollywood proves abortion is wrong
September 13, 2009 - Significance
August 30, 2009 - Dance alternatives
August 16, 2009 - Gluttons for gossip
August 2, 2009 - Truth from Twilight
July 19, 2009 - Visitor-friendly churches
July 5, 2009 - The Shack
June 21, 2009 - When forgiveness fails
June 7, 2009 - Re-imagining Education (Part Six)
May 24, 2009 - We are not alone
May 3, 2009 - Re-imagining education (part five)
April 26, 2009 - Conviction
April 12, 2009 - Re-imagining education (part four)
March 29, 2009 - An evangelistic proposal
March 15, 2009 - Re-imagining education (part three)
March 1, 2009 - He makes me sick
February 15, 2009 - Re-imagining education (Part Two)
February 1, 2009 - Spiritual insecurity
January 18, 2009 - Re-imagining education (part one)
January 4, 2009 - Church and politics
December 21, 2008 - Heaven’s music
December 7, 2008 - The church and marriage
November 23, 2008 - God and the president
November 9, 2008 - A time for courage
October 26, 2008 - Likes and dislikes: the Prince Caspian movie
October 12, 2008 - What’s that noise?
September 28, 2008 - Modesty matters (part two)
September 14, 2008 - All it takes is some TLC
August 31, 2008 - Modesty matters (part one)
August 17, 2008 - What would you fight for?
August 3, 2008 - Staying through the credits
July 20, 2008 - Honor to whom honor
July 6, 2008 - Tyler Perry and the movies you’re missing
June 22, 2008 - The peaceable kingdom
May 25, 2008 - Another generation grew up
May 25, 2008 - Technology and the Bible (part two)
May 11, 2008 - Technology and the Bible (part one)
April 27, 2008 - What is truth?
April 13, 2008 - And the geek shall inherit the earth
March 30, 2008 - A charactered God
March 16, 2008 - The college choice (part two)
March 2, 2008 - Good news can be hard to hear
February 17, 2008 - The college choice (part one)
February 5, 2008 - Ten suggestions for a godly standard of living
January 20, 2008 - Expelled: that “Bueller” guy’s pro-God movie
January 6, 2008 - Choosing a lifestyle
December 23, 2007 - Teachable TV?
December 9, 2007 - Owners or stewards?
November 25, 2007 - Christians teaching Christians to change TV and film
November 11, 2007 - My money is God’s business
October 28, 2007 - Navigating under the radar
October 14, 2007 - The things God values
September 30, 2007 - Movie moments
September 16, 2007 - God’s economics
September 2, 2007 - The best books to read
August 19, 2007 - There’s a rat in ‘separate’
August 5, 2007 - The art of reading
July 22, 2007 - Atheist chic
July 8, 2007 - Why books matter: the sequel
June 10, 2007 - Books: why they matter
June 3, 2007 - The non-impact of “The Lost Tomb of Jesus”
May 27, 2007 - The universal gospel
May 13, 2007 - Loving Muslims through culture
April 29, 2007 - Hope
April 15, 2007 - God in the dark
March 18, 2007 - What the Bible movies can teach us
March 4, 2007 - What will you hurt for?
February 18, 2007 - Why Heroes . . .
February 4, 2007 - Give peace a chance
January 21, 2007 - When fairy tales are true
January 7, 2007 - WYSIWYG lives
December 31, 2006 - What’s coming next?
December 17, 2006 - Mercy, mercy
December 3, 2006 - Proof of evolution!
November 19, 2006 - Hungering for God
November 5, 2006 - Violence and government, war and peace
October 22, 2006 - The mighty meek
October 8, 2006 - The Battlestar and the Bible
September 24, 2006 - Soap for the soul
September 10, 2006 - Right vs. cool
August 27, 2006 - The painful truth
August 13, 2006 - More Lies Hollywood Tells
July 30, 2006 - Christian counter culture
July 16, 2006 - The lies Hollywood tells