I know most of Hollywood are not Christians, but there are also a lot of Christians in Hollywood. Take Kirk Cameron and his sister for example. There are also a lot of movies coming out. I'm in a movie called "You Became I." It's only showing in a couple theatrs, but it's still a SAG movie. Then you take Courageous, 7 Days in Utopia, WWJD What Would Jesus Do, etc...They are just not as common, but they do exist.

I wish Christians would talk about this all the time, because personal holiness and our relationship with God are critical, of course, but the health of our culture and the direction of our country (statism or the limited government of our Founding, thus tyranny or liberty) will not be affected by individual Christians' relationship with Jesus. It just doesn't work that way.

I would highly suggest a classic book by H. Richard Neibuhr called "Christ and Culture." Before coming to conclusions about our relationship to culture, it is critical to understand the history of the church, specifically the Protestant part of it, and its relationship to the surrounding cultures it lived in. Historical ignorance will never lead to good answers to difficult questions, and too many Christians are simply ignorant of history.

Neibuhr writes of five paradigms of this relationship: Christ against, Christ of, Christ above, Christ and culture in paradox, and Christ the transformer of culture. Different Christian traditions over the last almost 500 years have looked at this relationship in radically different ways. Think of the Amish and the Pietist traditions that believe isolation from culture is the most faithful interpretation of scripture, to the Reformed tradition that believes intellectually engaging culture and participating in it is an absolute imperative.

I would also suggest another book, “To Change the World” by James Davison Hunter, mainly the first section. Culture he argues is changed from the top down, not the bottom up. I see it as both/and, not either or, but he makes a very strong case. For instance, if the head of every Hollywood studio is a secular relativist, and all the key decision makers and screen writers share that world view, what do you think the primary view of reality is that will be reflected in our entertainment? It won’t be Christian and won’t embrace traditional values, that’s for sure, and it doesn’t. It’s the same situation for our K-12 education, where over 50 million children are daily indoctrinated in that same secular relativism worldview, and unless they have very strong parents guess which worldview and its assumptions do you think they will embrace throughout their lives? What about the secular and left-wing fiefdoms of higher education? Or our media?

As long as conservative Christians of any type think and teach that callings and vocations in those careers are off limits or not really that important, we’re going to continue to get what we’ve gotten these lost 50 years.

Hollywood as been approached as a mission field before, with GREAT success. Way back in the 40's and 50's evangelist Billy Graham began working with people in Hollywood, and those already doing mission work there. The most significant was Henrietta Mears, Christian Education Director of First Presbyterian Church of Hollywood. She had a phenomenal influence on the town with her ministry and is said to have launched dozens of people into national evangelistic service, including having a big influence on Graham and an even bigger influence on launching Bill Bright. Some of Graham's earliest crusades were in California and pulled a lot of people from Hollywood. I have heard that it was the Hollywood connection that was largely responsible for the news coverage of crusades, which got his name before the whole country. To cap it off, Billy Graham was awarded a star on the Hollywood walk of fame in front of Mann's Chinese Theater. If you read the LaTimes account of that event, you will see that he pulled no punches then (or ever). He preached the gospel to those in attendance at that very event.

It can be done - but it takes a huge amount of courage and Chutzpah!

Elizabeth, Your point is excellent. We're always happy to read comments from a wide variety of people, so jump in when you have the time! Kim

I am currently a missionary in Taiwan, a country that, while very free and advanced in many ways, has a lot of traditional pagan religious practices. I've noticed a lot of demonic activity here, yet I don't know any Christians who would say that we should stay out of countries like this (and others that are much worse off).

I'd guess that part of the reason Christians oppose Hollywood so strongly has to do with fear - we think that by connecting with Hollywood, we'll be corrupted by their false ideas and worldly values. But even if entertainment is a stronghold of Satan, we have the Holy Spirit, who gives us power to demolish these kinds of strongholds.

By the way, I've been reading Breakpoint and this blog for years, but have only commented occasionally. You do a great job of bringing the light of the Gospel into the dark areas of Western culture. Keep up the good work!