I should admit this up front; I've
had a real grudge against this film.
The first time I went to see it was
back in seminary at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School.
A college girl I had a bit of a crush on
loved this film. She thought it had profound things to say about Trinity
College's dancing ban. I asked her to go with me to see it, and she agreed to
meet me at the theater. But she didn't come. I was stood up.
It was years before I tried to watch
the film again, this time on DVD. I only made it a few minutes. The opening
credits were pretty fun; a montage of dancing feet accompanied by the theme song
by the great Kenny Loggins (with music in this, "Caddyshack,"
"Fast Times at Ridgemont High," "Rocky IV," "Top
Gun" -- Loggins IS the Eighties.)
But then I got to the film proper
with John Lithgow as the Reverend Shaw Moore preaching, and I didn't last much
longer. The Rev. ranted about "Our Lord testing us" and why God
allows the plague of big cities.
Then he turns to the evils of that
"obscene rock and roll music and its gospel of easy sexuality." He
again asks why God is testing us with this horrible thing when He could easily
wipe all this evil from the earth. The Reverend argues that this testing is
allowed by God to make us stronger for Him. At no time does he use Scripture to
back up his assertions. The Reverend also does not seem concerned about the
people in big cities or the makers or fans of rock music. He doesn't seem to
consider that God may love these people and that is why He continues to show
them grace (II Peter 3:9).
That's when I turned off the film
the last time I tried to watch it.
But for the sake of this blog, I set
out to watch the whole film. And, of course, I did so not to write about the
film but rather about the church in this film.
The sermon I had already seen would
probably lead me to choose not to attend this church. It reminded me too much
of the days of my youth, attending Bill Gaither's Basic Youth Conflicts Seminar
where he spoke of the evils of rock music. It didn't seem true to God's word to
me then, and it doesn't now. Certainly, there are rock songs that have lyrics
contrary to God's Word. But the argument against the musical genre itself is
pathetically weak.
The next sermon Rev. Moore gives is
about the glories of small town life. The director of the film, Hebert Ross, presents this sermon as a
montage, as taking place from the pulpit and in conversations with parishioners.
He says he doesn't miss the hustle and bustle of the big city, but prefers
small towns where everyone is part of a big family. He says he feels safe with
his people in the small town. He, of course, doesn't use any Scripture to
support his points, because the God of Scripture loves the City. In the book of
Revelation part of the New Heaven and New Earth is the New Jerusalem. So
obviously, unlike the Rev. Moore, God is okay with the city.
In the final sermon of the film, the
Rev. Moore has finally seen the light and allows his daughter and the kids of
the church (and, one assumes, the town) to go the dance that Kevin Bacon is
staging. He gives the analogy of a new parent that must learn when to let go as
well as when to hold on. Again, he uses no Scripture in his sermon.
Which is perhaps why Rev. Moore is
won over a bit by Kevin "6 degrees of" Bacon quoting Psalm 149 about
dancing and the book of Samuel (he never says whether it is First or Second
Samuel) about dancing before the ark, because the young man dancer incorporates
Scripture in his city council speeches better than the pastor does in his
sermons.
This inability of the pastor to use
the Bible is one of the reasons the nameless Movie Church of the town of Bomont
in the '80s version of "Footloose" earns only one measly steeple.
No comments:
Post a Comment