Should Christians See Noah?

Spoiler alert: I haven't seen Noah yet.  If you haven't exited your browser or hit the back button yet, allow me to explain.  Noah came out this past weekend and was apparently huge at the box office.  My wife and I talked about seeing it this weekend, but our collective interest was luke-warm, and with the college basketball season hitting the home stretch, I was awarded a night of watching elite 8 games!

As far as spring movies go, Noah is NOT at the top of the list.  That honor goes to Captain America 2: the Winter Soldier.  The preview looks awesome, and if it's anything like X-Men 2, Spiderman 2, and Iron Man 2 (all my favorites of the respective trilogies), it won't let me down.  My interest in Noah is, however, much greater than Draft Day, set to release April 11.  I actually saw that almost a month ago at an early screening, and if I ever see the movie again, it will be too soon.  Although I didn't have to pay to see it, I kind of want my money back.  So Noah is safely in the middle of the pack.

You may be wondering why I'm reviewing a movie I've never seen.  That would be a great question if this were a movie review, which it's not.  With all the controversy surrounding the film (if you're not familiar, I'll catch you up to speed in a moment), I thought it would be good to reflect on what criteria I would use in evaluating even making the trip to the theater.  Since it's a "biblical" movie, I'm going to take a few minutes to explore biblical reasons to see or not see the movie.  More specifically, I'm speaking as a Christian to fellow Christians on how we can have thoughtful, civil conversation about the film.  If you're reading this and wouldn't consider yourself Christian, or even religious - keep reading.  It's good for you to see the Church isn't as perfect as we like to portray ourselves to be.  We consider ourselves brothers and sisters in Christ.  And just like most siblings, we have squabbles, sometimes even fights.  We're imperfect people trying to serve a perfect God.  We're all a work in progress, and that's OK!

What's all the Hullabaloo? 

Noah is based off a biblical account of a man with the same name in Genesis chapter 6.  It's a Sunday School classic in which most people are at least familiar with the narrative: the world's bad. It's so bad, God wants to destroy it.  God finds Noah as righteous, so instead of hitting the delete key, He hit's the reset button - a global flood that wipes out everything except Noah, his family and 2 of every animal on the planet.  

Making a movie based on Noah is interesting for 2 reasons:

1. The story of Noah and his family only spans 4 chapters.  It is the cliff-note version of a very epic event.  Considering the biblical account doesn't have much dialogue, basic film elements like character development and interaction can be a challenge. And yet, we're talking about a global flood - that's big, and with the right budget, would look really cool on the big screen!
2. Most Bible or Christian-themed movies are pretty poor.  There's been a string of films in recent years that have come out with positive reviews such as Facing the Giants, Fireproof, and most recently God's Not Dead.  But much of their success is attributed to the fact that they're simply an improvement on the cheese-fest of Christian movies that came out in the 70's-90's.  Even then, they still lack major budgets and star power.  Every now and again, Hollywood throws us a bone like The Ten Commandments or The Passion of the Christ, but for the most part, it's just not in vogue.  Thus Christianity in film and media is typically left with representations like this:

At this point, all signs point to positive for Christendom, right?  Well, it gets a little sticky when we consider that the director, Darren Aronofsky, is an atheist.  Christians, on the other hand, consider the Bible to be the very word of God, and thus every account in it is true.  When an atheist (i.e. guy who doesn't believe in God) makes a biblical film, he's not trying to preserve the integrity of scripture, he's using it as material to make an epic fantasy.

But what about Christians that just enjoy good cinema?  Shouldn't they be able to enjoy the rare moment in which a biblical story gets a Hollywood budget and big name actors?  Can't this serve as a springboard for more public discussion about the Bible and Christianity?

Let's look at both sides:

Why Not To Go

As mentioned above, the director, Darren Aronofsky, is an atheist.  He has been very unapologetic in recent interviews about the fact that he was not trying to convey any truth about biblical history in his film.  He went as far to say in an interview with the Washington Post that this will be the "least biblical biblical film ever made."  That should make most Christians cringe at least a little.

I'll even admit, when I first saw the trailer a few months ago, not knowing a Noah film was in the making (much less by an atheist director), I was a little skeptical.  I felt like I was watching a trailer for something along the lines of Lord of the Rings. In other words, something meant to be epic, which meant something designed to be fantasy, which is understood as fictional.  

Christians have a responsibility to take God's Word seriously and protect its integrity.  To sit by idly and not address theatrical liberties in the film would be irresponsible.  I know people get fed up with protests from the religious right.  I get fed up with protests from the religious right.  But I always admire the conviction.  I'll probably never join a boycott of Disney films (is that still even a thing?), but I respect those who do because they are taking a stand for something.  So often we call for people to "hate the sin, love the sinner" - emphasis on loving the sinner (which I believe we should do).  However, I am beginning to wonder more and more how much we actually hate the sin.

Christians are given the charge that "just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do" (1 Peter 1:15).  Sometimes that means taking stands when we see something that isn't right. Often that leads to labels such as "close-minded" and "bigoted" (and sadly, some of us have merited that label with less than loving conduct).  But Jesus also said “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me" (Matthew 5:11).  If we're following Christ, we need to accept that sooner or later, we will run into people that hold that against us.

Why Go

Let's not forget that this film is being made by people who are good at making movies.  From what I understand, the special effects are IMAX worthy, Russell Crowe is awesome as always (my wife says he must not sing in this one!), and Aronofsky has a a solid track record of movies.  Without having seen it yet, I can admit, this could be fun to watch.  And contrary to popular belief, Christians can and do have fun.  If a Christian goes in with the understanding that what they're about to see is not biblical canon, it's OK to go enjoy 2 hours of special effects. And not only that, they might walk away with some food for thought...

I once heard renown pastor John Guest say that "common grace allows us to plunder truth from any source" (Camp-of-the-Woods, Summer 2008)  This was right after citing a line from a Beatles song to open one of his sermons.  I think that's the inspiration behind Christian movie-reviewers that have celebrated the fact that this film still finds a way to explore the theme of God's justice vs. His mercy.  That's huge.  Even if Aronofsky wasn't interested in glorifying a God he doesn't believe in, he still couldn't avoid it.  Regardless of intent, God can work through anything, just like Joseph said to his brothers who conspired against him: "You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives" (Genesis 50:20).

I think the bigger picture is that people are talking about something in the Bible, which is a lot better than not talking about the Bible at all.  Christians should view Noah as an opportunity to have conversations that matter with other people.

And the Verdict is...

If it doesn't look like I've picked a side, I have - I choose the side of grace.  Let's look at 1 Corinthians 8:4-13 - 

So then, about eating food sacrificed to idols: We know that an idol is nothing at all in the world and that there is no God but one. For even if there are so-called gods, whether in heaven or on earth (as indeed there are many “gods” and many “lords”), yet for us there is but one God, the Father, from whom all things came and for whom we live; and there is but one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom all things came and through whom we live.

But not everyone knows this. Some people are still so accustomed to idols that when they eat such food they think of it as having been sacrificed to an idol, and since their conscience is weak, it is defiled. But food does not bring us near to God; we are no worse if we do not eat, and no better if we do.

Be careful, however, that the exercise of your freedom does not become a stumbling block to the weak. For if anyone with a weak conscience sees you who have this knowledge eating in an idol’s temple, won’t he be emboldened to eat what has been sacrificed to idols? So this weak brother, for whom Christ died, is destroyed by your knowledge. When you sin against your brothers in this way and wound their weak conscience, you sin against Christ. Therefore, if what I eat causes my brother to fall into sin, I will never eat meat again, so that I will not cause him to fall.

Huh?  Ummmm... what exactly does this have to do with Noah?  Glad you asked.  

First, the context.  Throughout the Roman empire, it was common for meat sacrificed to a pagan god or idol to be later sold in the marketplace.  The first century church was started primarily by converted Jews.  As many people are aware, Jewish custom has strict dietary laws - clean food vs unclean food.  These Jewish Christians learned that because of Christ, that diet was no longer necessary.  Because God is the creator, nothing He made is "unclean" (Acts 10:15).  Therefore, it became accepted that it was OK to purchase and eat meat that was used in idol worship.  After all, they were false gods, so there really weren't any spiritual "cooties" to taint the meat.  On the other hand, when Gentiles began to be converted to Christianity, many of them were turning from a life of worshiping false gods.  In their new life in Christ, they were desperately trying to distance themselves from anything that had to do with idol worship - including eating meat sacrificed to idols.  Paul was imploring those who were OK with eating that meat to avoid doing so in front of Gentile converts.  It wasn't because it was wrong to have the meat, it was out of respect from their fellow Christian trying to get closer to God.

Now the principle.  Obviously, we don't have the option of purchasing meat sacrificed to Satan at our local Kroger (although if my Kroger card got me a discount, I'd probably take it!).  But if we replace the words "eat meat" with "watch Noah," I think we can learn an important lesson.  If someone is offended at the idea of going to see Noah, the best thing for them to do is not see it.  If it's going to be a stumbling block in their relationship with God, they don't need the movie.  In turn though, it's important for them to realize that this is an opportunity to get worthwhile conversations started, and they're not helping anyone by condemning the movie. Conversely, if a Christian wants to see Noah, they are free to do so.  Enjoy it, but please keep a biblical grid in front of it to sort fact from fiction.  Furthermore, if a neighbor in church doesn't want to see it, don't try to convince them their boycott is silly - just respect their decision.

Will I see it?  Maybe.  Captain America comes out this weekend, so first things first.  But I might see it, maybe even enjoy it, and I'm free to do both.  If I don't see it, I don't think I'm missing anything either.  I have the original version on my book shelf, and I can read it as many times as I want.  I'll probably walk away more edified too.