When missionaries approach a cannibal tribe, they don’t protest outside the village, call them names, put an ad in the paper, or complain that they eat people. Missionaries develop a relationship with the tribe, earn their trust, and become part of the community. Once they do that, the tribe is far more open to listening to their message.
So why can’t we do that with Hollywood? Hollywood is simply filled with sinners just like us. There’s plenty of things Hollywood does that I don’t like, and are detrimental to the culture. But does anyone really think a confrontational approach works? When people get mad at you does it soften your attitude toward them? I doubt it. I wish we could view Hollywood as a mission field, develop a relationship with those in the entertainment industry, supporting the hundreds of believers who are there already, and then speak into their lives.
Some responses from people have sited Jesus turning over the tables in the temple as an example that we should be confrontational with the culture. But we often forget that the money changers Jesus tossed out were the religious people. There’s no record to my knowledge of Jesus confronting the non-believing culture. He didn’t go into a Roman guardhouse and turn over the tables.
I recommend reading the rest of the article. I just stumbled onto his site today. I love it when I find engaging, thoughtful Christians who present their arguments in a non-confrontational way, that can take what seems like a middle of the road stance that is, in my opinion, more honest and more truthful to the way Jesus lived and taught.
As an aside, I use Bloglines as my feed reader. You can view my list here. You’re allowed to group blogs into folders. I read a group of blogs that relate to Christianity and Culture. I named that folder “Flandersology.”
