For the first time since Mel Gibson’s The Passion of the Christ, a distributor will be courting the church-going audience with the release of Universal’s $200-million Evan Almighty — reportedly the most costly comedy ever made — this weekend. Today’s (Wednesday) Los Angeles Times observed that in recent years, studios have avoided making films with content aimed at the faithful. (Gibson’s Passion was self-financed; Disney’s The Chronicles of Narnia played down the religious themes, although the studio heavily marketed the film to churchgoers.) However, the Times observed, “If Evan Almighty turns into a summer hit, as several competing studio executives predict, the movie could put Hollywood back in the business of making big-budget movies that intentionally embrace sacred subjects.” According to the newspaper, Universal has partnered with Grace Hill Media, the marketing firm that several studios are using to bring the film to the attention of the country’s estimated 200,000 churches. It has conservatively estimated that the movie will earn $40 million on opening weekend. IMDB

This whole thing just doesn’t settle well with me (yes, I’ve said it before). Hollywood marketing towards churches? I don’t think anything good can come from this. The only thing they want is money. They’re trying to find the best way to get the biggest audience. This is not a Christian film. This is a big budget Hollywood film. It’s made to make money. I just find it interesting that churches are so willing to be marketed to. What does this have to do with the Great Commission or the Gospel?So a big fat “thank you” is in order to Grace Hill Media. Thank you for caring so much about our money. Their slogan is “a window to the religous community.” We just let ourselves be suckered into this and the churches are more than willing to jump aboard.

“Here’s the funniest thing: In trying desperately to reconnect with religious Americans, Hollywood assumes religious Americans are so dumb they’ll laugh at anything,” Michael Booth observes in a review of Evan Almighty in the Denver Post.

The only way you’ll ever get bonafide movies that are good (sorry Bibleman, I’m not talking about you) and of merit are when you finance them yourself. We’ve seen that with Mel Gibson and The Passion. Like it or not, that was a movie with clear personal conviction and beliefs. That’s the only way you’ll get something with a remote amount of integrity. And the reason that Grace Hill Media exists is because there is no integrity left in the country’s “200,000 churches.”

For more on my views on Christian movies check out this post on:

I want more R rated Christian Films

It first started back at Acquire the Fire. Then I saw it on Youth Specialties. Then the mailings came. For some reason, the Christian $$ Bandwagon has really jumped aboard the ark of Evan Almighty. It’s being pushed as if it was the second coming of Christ. It’s being pushed by Christians hard and endorsed by most Christian organizations as well. For some reason it doesn’t sit well with me.

Does it have vague biblical themes? Yes. Is it rated PG? Yes. Well there you have it. Let’s call up Tim LaHaye so we can ride the next wave of meaningless, hollow Christian consumerism. What does this have to do with our faith? Nothing. I don’t care if it’s a movie about doing good. We’re not called to be merely good!?! Why are we so eager and easily brainwashed by this crap?

I’m sure it will be a funny movie and I’ll wet my pants because it’s so biblically hilarious. BUT that’s not the point. How easily do we as Christians whore ourselves (and our money) out because things look vaguely Christian? Here’s the stick we should measure these things by as Christians:

How will this (or anything) either draw us closer to Christ or help us to point others to Him?

My answer is… Evan Almighty doesn’t. Sure we can rationalize and twist things into some self pleasing justification, but you can rationalize just about anything! We are so eager to follow something that seems to embody goodness, but unwilling to follow Christ. Why? Because it’s safer and we can eat popcorn while doing it.

For further fuel to the fire on missing the point here is a blog from John Cooper of Skillet. He’s defending the fact that Skillet is supporting (meaning: getting paid to show the preview at concerts) Evan Almighty.

I wanted to send a note responding to the overwhelming amount of messages we have received about the ‘Evan Almighty’ movie promotion that we have done. The messages I am referring to are generally about how Skillet should not be supporting a movie that is a mockery of the Bible. This has been a big surprise to me because I cannot see where these opinions are coming from. We were approached by the company (a Christian company) that did the promotion for Narnia and Passion of the Christ about us helping to get the word out about the movie. We felt that it was an opportunity to stand for a movie that was wholesome, a family movie, and against the grain of what Hollywood typically stands for. We were also told that organizations like Youth Specialties, Willow Creek Church, Teen Mania, Christian radio and festivals, etc. were supporting this endeavor as well.

The movie is based on the idea that God tells a man named Evan to build an ark because there is a flood coming, and Evan has to decide if it’s for real or not. Secondly, man, including his own family, thinks he is going crazy. In the movie, God is real, His word becomes real, and it’s just based on the idea of “what would it be like if the flood happened today instead of thousands of years ago?” It is a family movie, directed by a Christian (Tom Shadyac, who CCM magazine profiled a few years ago) is rated pg and IS also being supported by numerous well-known and respected Christian organizations and pastors (see below comments from such). I honestly cannot see how this movie is a mockery, and though I have not seen the entire film (as none of you have not either) I don’t see why this movie would be sacrilegious, offensive, or negative for Christianity. It’s a lighthearted, family movie where the God of the Bible is real, tells a man that something as unlikely as a flood is coming, it actually happens, and even though everyone else in the world thinks the man is crazy he builds it anyway because he knows what he believes and that God’s word becomes true. Is it really that different than a veggie tales movie about Jonah? Is it sacrilegious to compare Jonah from the Bible to a cucumber? You decide. But whatever you do choose to think on this subject, I ask you to remember an important thing called grace; and how those of us who have been given so much of it seldom give it to others.

I like Skillet, but I think Johnny Boy is missing the point here. Mockery is not the heart of the matter. The movie isn’t the heart either. My beef is why the heck are we all so willing to follow some movement, this or any other, (need I mention, 40 days of whatever anybody?) and but not so eager to follow God?

Any thoughts?