God , Art and Truth Part 2

God Desires Art That Reflects His Truth. How does God inspire filmmakers to reflect his glory and truth, especially nonbelievers? How does this process play out?

(1) God can use our gifts and talents to inspire us. We did not create our gifts or talents. They are a gift from God. Because we are made in the image of God, he can inspire us to use them for his glory.

(2) God can inspire us through the creation process. Filmmaking and media making is a creative endeavor. When we create, we are mirroring God’s creative process. God’s nature is to create. He reveals himself every day through his creation. It would make sense that anything we create could contain God’s truth as well, including our art.

(3) Whether you are a Christian or nonbeliever, the Word of God is true. At some level, we are able to recognize this whether we are familiar with God’s Word or not because his Word has gone forth and exists everywhere in the world. The Bible is a story about man without God and man’s efforts to find something greater than himself. That story has been reflected in much of our art throughout history. That includes films and modern media. Hollywood cannot create anything new.

Ecclesiastes 1:9-10 says, “History merely repeats itself. It’s all been done before. Nothing under the sun is truly new. Sometimes people say, ‘Here is something new!’ But actually it is old; nothing is ever truly new.” NLT In other words, Hollywood cannot find any new stories. They are in the Bible. Whether they realize it or not, their movies reflect Biblical stories.

Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 says, “There is a time for everything, and everything on earth has its special season. There is a time to be born and a time to die. There is a time to plant and a time to pull up plants. There is a time to kill and a time to heal. There is a time to destroy and a time to build. There is a time to cry and a time to laugh. There is a time to be sad and a time to dance. There is a time to throw away stones and a time to gather them. There is a time to hug and a time not to hug. There is a time to look for something and a time to stop looking for it. There is a time to keep things and a time to throw things away. There is a time to tear apart and a time to sew together. There is a time to be quiet and a time to speak. There is a time to love and a time to hate. There is a time for war and a time for peace. NLT

Is there any film, TV show or other form of media that Hollywood has ever produced that does not reflect these themes from Ecclesiastes? This helps to explain why God is at work in entertainment. Much of what Hollywood creates is a reflection at some level of stories from the Word of God. We are all interested in finding the truth. That’s why secular filmmakers are often drawn to Biblical themes. Whether they realize it or not, they recognize truth.