The art of the Romantic Comedy (a story of too many churches)

Writer's Note: It's never a good thing to need a note to explain your blog before you write it, but I feel that this one could get too many people evaluating things in ways I have no intention of them evaluating things. So here is my note. As I write this blog, I am not picturing or speaking of any specific Pastor or church (unless mentioned by name) and am instead babbling about the stereotypes that I see of the way Pastors and churches lead. With that said, lets turn to Hollywood, they never lead us down the wrong path. (If you didn't know that statement was sarcastic, chances are my writing will never be helpful for you).


In my opinion, Hollywood has made a vast change in the way they film the love story. In a way to maximize profits, the classical love story has not been produced in recent years, and has often been portrayed by the new style of "chick flick", the romantic comedy. Romantic comedies still come in all forms (read successful and entertaining, and the rest of them). I've actually found some of the more recent ones to be quite enjoyable. Valentine's Day and "Hitch" were a great combination. The art of the romantic comedy is something most of us could easily put down on paper, even as far as to know Hollywood's motivation behind their decisions. I'll break it down in it's simplest form, gender appeal.

Hollywood understands (again, I'm speaking in stereotypes) that women enjoy love stories. They equally understand that guys get bored if we aren't laughing, curious, or watching something blow up, and love stories alone rarely bring these feelings or senses to us. Insert comedy. Romantic comedies are written with both genders in mind. Lovey enough to bring in the women, and funny enough to make them tolerable to the men. I'll admit, this can be done successfully from a Hollywood business standpoint. What has begun to irritate me, is that many Pastors have begun to form their sermons and teachings with the philosophies of Hollywood.

I have seen too many pastors take a love story (which I will refer to as the "truth" or the "gospel") and decide that it won't be appealing enough to everyone (which stylistically may be true) and add stories and humor to entertain those who are uninterested. The result to me, leaves both genders (in this case, Christian and non-Christian) unchanged. Those who already have the truth and know the gospel, hear the story they came in expecting to hear, and leave with the same understanding they came with. Those who don't know the truth, often latch on to a humorous illustration or story and leave with a funny anecdote for work the next morning. Neither of these results is what Christ wants of His church, but both of these results can be effective in the business side of a church. It is a simple way to keep people when you can entertain, and not ask for any change.

There are other movie styles (I understand that I'll probably take this analogy too far) that also describe what too many churches do. The action movie...Has pointless unrealistic scenes which cause us to fantasize about life in a different way. It's unfortunate that many churches have been able to build their congregation on messages of miracles and power that leave God as a resource, and not as a Savior.

The independent film... Which strives so hard to be unique and noticed, that their own independence and survival is their focus, and their impact on people is left far behind.

The Walt Disney moment... Where everything is always happy, the sappy music plays, and nobody gets hurt. I wish life were like these movies, but we all know that's not true. Still, some churches and pastors are afraid to talk about the real issues of life.

I could go on... But I'll get to my favorite kind of film, and thus give a positive example of what I hope churches look like. Any movie gets an immediate increase in rating for me if it is based on a true story. That being said, I love churches that do an above average job of majoring in the majors and not the minors. And my favorite type of movie is the mystery/suspense film. I'm not looking to be told (or to teach) about the Jesus who died 2000 years ago, never to be heard from again, or the God who created me, and watches how I live...Someday to judge me. I love hearing (and teaching) about the God who is doing things in our world, here and now. Who interacts with me, and my community, and you and your community. The God who is constantly working for the good of those who follow Him (you can find that in the Bible) and who is always surprising me. I never know what to expect from this God. I understand that the end of the story is written, but that my part of it, I still get to help write. I love this kind of church, and more importantly I love this kind of God.

I hope none of you have been burned by being at a church that is run too much like a Hollywood production company. I hope you have been intrigued by God's story and what He is doing in the world, and in your life right now. If you haven't, I'd love to talk to you about finding that kind of place, and organizing your life to be in tune with that kind of God.