Reviews on Church Websites, Redux
Category: Faith...
Posted Wednesday, December 03, 2003 at 08:34 PM [GMT-6]

Last October I posted about some movie reviews found on the website of a church in San Francisco. I disagreed with the approach that the reviewer seemed to be taking in seeking spiritual truths in movies which pretty obviously weren't meant to have 'em...movies like "Hannibal," for example.

That post attracted a lot of comments on both sides of the argument, and I eventually attempted to clarify my original statement by saying that I wasn't necessarily knocking any church for addressing secular culture in its programs or curriculae, as long as it was diligent in always comparing and contrasting the secular culture with the truths spelled out in Scripture. What I found lacking in the reviews on this particular website was that contrast, and the highlighting of error. (Although I still see no value in having a review of a movie like Hannibal on a church website, in any context!)

I had almost forgotten about the post when I got an email notice of a new comment today. The comment was from Drew, one of the contributing reviewers for the Kaleo website. He asked me to read a couple of his recent reviews, one on Christina Aguilera and another on the musical group Live. His reason for calling these to my attention was to see "where you draw the line on what is being too steeped in culture."

Well, I'm happy to report that Drew has nailed the concept of judging secular culture by Scriptural truths, and highlighting where and how that culture falls short. If the movie reviews on Kaleo's website were approached in the same fashion, I believe the church's mission of being a light in a darkened world would be much better served. I appreciate Drew's calling these reviews to my attention, and I invite you to check them out if such things interest you.