Using Movies to Teach a Biblical Worldview

Whether we like it or not, movies are shaping the worldview and values of our children, grandchildren and young Christians. We can either shake heads and throw up our hands in frustration, or use film to teach. A dozen times in my ministry, I’ve gathered young men together for pizza and a movie, and used films to teach.

While there are a growing number of quality Christian films being produced, most younger people are wary of them. And most of them are just painfully bad. So, I don’t use most “Christian” films. I’d prefer first quality, made in Hollywood films, or those few Christian films with great actors.

Jesus taught using parables. In fact, Matthew 13:34 says this, “Jesus spoke all these things to the crowd in parables; he did not say anything to them without using a parable.” So, while movies today are a lot edgier than Jesus’ stories, the basic principle is the same. Let the story teach and the memory of the story, reinforce that teaching.

When I watch these films for teaching purposes, I will often have a brief discussion ahead of time with my group, so they’ll be watching for certain themes (See my blog last week for some general themes that run through many films). So, here are a couple of my favorite movies for teaching, and why I like them and a brief outline of these themes for each.