A film version of Don Miller’s popular book, Blue Like Jazz: Non-Religious Thoughts on Christian Spirituality, is hitting theaters next month. The trenches already seem to be forming between
more conservative Christians and an evangelical subculture championing
what they see as more honest, open-ended talk of faith. Director Steve
Taylor, a longtime CCM artist and music producer, recently announced the
indie film came under fire from Sherwood Baptist (Facing the Giants, Fireproof, Courageous) during production. Now the distributor of October Baby is working to ensure the trailer will not play before their film.
Over at The Gospel Coalition, Mike Cosper has written an interesting primer on
the film. He explains the background and tries to identify some of what
attracts burnt-out evangelicals and why. While not wanting to let
Miller off the hook for his bad ideas (of which there are many),
he is sympathetic to what he finds and urges Christians to approach the
film as descriptive rather than prescriptive, believing we should
address any issues we may have at “an almost personal
level—understanding that Miller is just a guy with a writing gift,
telling his story, and the stories around him.” We should be receptive
to the fact that Miller is giving voice to real problems and experiences
in the evangelical world.
This prompted some great discussion in the comments. Matthew Anderson brought
his characteristic insight, pushing for more options than this
framework. While Miller’s storytelling is descriptive, “therein lies the
problem: stories aren’t exactly a neutral medium, as I would bet good
money Mike already knows. How we describe things renders certain
approaches to the world more plausible than others. The Book of Judges
is some pretty hot narrative—and an apologia, it seems, for a monarchy.
Even if Miller isn’t self-conscious in this, it still matters.” A simple
prescriptive/descriptive dichotomy makes “patient, confident, and
appreciative critique” more difficult. Continue at WHI
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