Is God fine with my watching “Alita: Battle Angel,” the new “Barbie,” “Oppenheimer,” or interacting with any art containing portrayals of sin? I know Christians who will watch almost anything or almost nothing. What is a Biblical position on Christians and art? To answer, we need to examine art’s nature, purposes, and problems, then a Biblical approach to it.
What is art’s nature? The New Oxford English Dictionary defines art as "the expression or application of human creative skill and imagination.”1 Art and artistic ability come from God since God created humans in His image. Genesis 1:27-28 says, "God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. God blessed them; and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it . . . ””(NASB). Humans inherit their creativity from God and obey Him by transforming His creation into something new. Creativity and art also come as direct gifts from God. In Exodus 35:30-35, God filled Bezalel and Oholiab with the Holy Spirit "to perform in every inventive work" (NASB). God designed Christians to work with Him in creating and interacting with art for multiple purposes.
What are some purposes of art? First, art can magnify God’s majesty and glory. Hurim, Solomon, and many craftsmen created great works of art in building the Temple. 1 Kings 7:36 says, “He engraved on the plates of its stays and on its borders, cherubim, lions and palm trees, according to the clear space on each, with wreaths all around" (NASB). Symbolizing God’s presence with Israel, the glory of the temple reflects the glory of God. Similarly, J. R. R. Tolkien points out that art uplifts the source material. The story of Pegasus glorifies the horse as a noble creature (Tolkien)2. Michelangelo’s statue of David uplifts the marble used to craft the work. As the originator, God receives glory for man’s transformation of the raw material.
Second, art can actively praise (declare goodness) and worship (bow down) God, specifically through song. In Psalm 98 David calls for singing God's praises.
“4 Shout joyfully to the Lord, all the earth; Break forth and sing for joy and sing praises. 5 Sing praises to the Lord with the lyre, With the lyre and the sound of melody. 6 With trumpets and the sound of the horn Shout joyfully before the King, the Lord.”
Music reminds participants about the truth of God, joy in God, and right living before God. Paul says in Colossians 3:16, "Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you, with all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with thankfulness in your hearts to God” (NASB). Christians should be using art and songs to share truth, joy, and righteousness with those around them.
Third, art instructs people in living. Throughout the Bible, God teaches and confronts people by crafting stories. In 2 Samuel 11-12, King David commits adultery with Bathsheba, then murders her husband Uriah to cover it up. The prophet Nathan confronts King David through weaving a story of a rich man oppressing a poor man. David judges that the rich man "must make restitution for the lamb fourfold, because he did this thing and had no compassion.” Nathan calls out David as that rich man (NASB). Nathan effectively convicted David of his sin by telling a story. Jesus himself taught the disciples and Israelites through parables, like the story of the Good Samaritan on loving your neighbor. Nathan’s anecdote and Christ’s parables highlight how stories draw participants to experience them and learn lessons.
Fourth, art inspires people in living. Tolkien relays that fantasy allows readers to experience joyful occasions that ultimately point towards Christ’s triumphal return (Tolkien)3. Isaiah, in his book, poetically reveals Christ’s return and the hope of peace and safety within Zion. Christians can draw strength from art to live courageously in a broken world. Personally, God inspired me to persevere through secular art. When failure struck at work, I initially fell into discouragement. "The Cinderella Man,” a film about a Great Depression boxer who endured and won, and “If” by Rudyard Kipling4 encouraged me to maintain hope and fight through obstacles.
“If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster; And treat those two impostors just the same; . . . Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it; And—which is more—you’ll be a Man, my son!” -- Rudyard Kipling
Both film and poem encouraged me to follow James 1 in persevering under trial while depending on God.
Art may be beneficial, but the Fall corrupted God's image in man, leading man to craft corrupt art that expresses and teaches lies about God and reality. Christians should carefully interact with art containing objectionable elements as we will reap what we sow. Paul says in Galatians 6:8, ”For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life" (NASB). Thoughts and actions done now will harvest consequences later. Sowing to the flesh through art and entertainment, will reap corruption later, but sowing to the Spirit will reap eternal rewards later. Adding Paul’s imperative in Colossians 3:2 to "set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth" (NASB) should reinforce caution for engaging with art. Colossians 3:2 also reveals a theme in sinful content. Typically, sinful content supports filling a God-given desire in an earthly way. Four areas of objectionable elements are sensuality, vulgarity, substance abuse, and violence.
First, the Bible condemns sensuality. Paul says in Ephesians 4:19-20, "and they, having become callous, have given themselves over to sensuality for the practice of every kind of impurity with greediness. But you did not learn Christ in this way" (NASB). Many films, books, music, and other art glorify filling sensual and sexual desires outside of marriage, which is not Christ’s way. God desires men and women to fulfill their desires within marriage—not with porn, affairs, or film. Singles should fill that desire by growing an intimate relationship with God while looking for a spouse. We should follow God’s boundaries for our desire and not the world’s boundaries.
Second, the Bible speaks against vulgarity. Paul continues in Ephesians 4:29 to "Let no unwholesome word proceed from your mouth, but only such a word as is good for edification according to the need of the moment, so that it will give grace to those who hear" (NASB). God gifted humanity with communication and language, but using the gifts for destruction exceeds God’s boundaries. Christians should use their speech to build others up, while avoiding crass language, complaining, and bitterness that tear down. Filling the mind with coarse language will influence Christians to speak corruptly as well.
Third, the Bible discourages substance abuse. Food, drink, and medicine are good things in the world. However, excessive use is sinful. Paul says in Ephesians 5:18, "And do not get drunk with wine, for that is dissipation, but be filled with the Spirit" (NASB). Christians should be filled and influenced by the Spirit and not by their appetites; yet much art depicts drugs, alcohol, partying, and greed as the best life. Related to gluttony, Philippians 3:19 says, "whose end is destruction, whose god is their appetite, and whose glory is in their shame, who set their minds on earthly things.” Worshipping food and appetite lead people down the road to destruction and enmity against God.
Fourth, the Bible speaks against violence. God judged the pre-diluvian civilization because "the earth was filled with violence" (NASB). Violence, an evil plight on the world, should not be glorified through art. The Psalmist says, "The Lord tests the righteous and the wicked, And the one who loves violence His soul hates" (Ps. 11:5, NASB). Christians should condemn art that glorifies war and violence, while recognizing its need in justice and the defense of the innocent.
Amount and moderation of objectionable content matters. Both excessive food and violence will reap harmful consequences. Some violence in films will not push me into sin, but constantly filling my mind with evil harms me spiritually. Philippians 4:8 says, "Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things" (NASB). Paul doesn't command us to only think on things of good repute, but the majority of our thoughts should be on good things.
Art can contain good uplifting elements, but also sinful elements. How should Christians respond to art with both? Believers can simply only engage with positive art or engage with everything. However, Christians can also carefully examine and balance the positives and negatives of art by determining if the art leads to sin or a profitable life. In 1 Corinthians 10, Paul warns the church of Corinth to not act immorally or crave evil things like the Israelites did before their judgment in the wilderness. In regard to buying and eating meat offered to idols, the Christian is fine to do so unless it offends his or another's conscience. Art, like Scripture, records sinful content to properly reflect reality. However, if sinful content in art tempts me into sin—fulfilling my lustful desires—or causes another to stumble, then I should stop. If not, I have liberty to interact with it. As Paul says in Verse 23, "All things are lawful, but not all things are profitable. All things are lawful, but not all things edify” (NASB). Some art obviously leads to sin and should be avoided; however, some art lands in a gray area, because the objectionable elements don’t lead to sin and can edify a believer in two areas.
First, objectionable elements build discernment and wisdom. Hebrews 5:14 says that the mature "because of practice have their senses trained to discern good and evil" (NASB). Mature Christians train themselves to discern between good and evil and can use art to facilitate learning through vicariously experiencing the lies, truths, and opinions of the world. By comparing knowledge of the world with the truth of Scripture, Christians practice discernment in what to believe and how to act. If a believer struggles with discernment, they should follow God-honoring artists. 1 Thessalonians 5:21-22 says, "examine everything carefully; hold fast to that which is good; abstain from every form of evil" (NASB). Believers should learn to examine every book, poem, film, game, etc. and dwell on the truth, while discarding the evil lies. In regard to wisdom, Proverbs 18:15 says, "The mind of the prudent acquires knowledge, and the ear of the wise seeks knowledge" (NASB). Learning through art increases one's knowledge, which supports prudence and wisdom.
Second, art containing objectionable elements builds connections with people in the world. As the saying goes, Christians should be in the world, but not of the world. 1 John 2:15-16 supports not being of the world by saying, "Do not love the world nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world" (NASB). Christians should not revel in worldly desires. At the same time Paul says in 1 Corinthians 5:9-10, "I wrote you in my letter not to associate with immoral people; I did not at all mean with the immoral people of this world, or with the covetous and swindlers, or with idolaters, for then you would have to go out of the world" (NASB). Christians should interact and associate with the world. Paul demonstrates the principle in Acts 17:28 as he quotes a Greek poet to the people of Athens. Paul used Greek culture and art to share the good news of Jesus Christ. In the same way, Christians can utilize art to connect Jesus Christ with a lost and dying world.
What does this practically look like? Using “Alita: Battle Angel,” a sci-fi film about a robotic girl fighting against evil, as an example let’s examine the negatives, positives, and my conclusion on engaging. Depending on your strengths and weaknesses, you may or may not agree.
First, what sinful content is portrayed by the film? According to IMDB’s parent’s guide, the film has mild sexual references, mild language (plus a single F-word), mild alcohol use, and plenty of cyborg violence (IMDB)5. Second, will I be led to sin by the content? Sexual references typically don’t tempt me to fulfill my sensual desires. Mild vulgarities don’t draw me to think it, use it, excuse it, or accept it as good. Similarly, bounty hunters drinking in bars don’t entice me to drink in a bar. The brutal and disturbing violence bothers me the most. However, the film focuses on stopping bloodthirsty criminals and demonstrates the pain that a violent society brings.
Third, will watching the film be profitable? In my opinion, yes, because of its positive portrayal of heroism (Alita saving innocents from criminals), sin’s consequences (damaged relationships, death, and destruction), and of love (supporting your friend even when it hurts). The film helped ignite my prayer life. I questioned how I could be a Christian hero (I answered that question here). I can work with God to impact other people’s lives through prayer. I started praying more regularly partly as a result of watching “Alita: Battle Angel.”
Despite its problems “Alita: Battle Angel” can encourage believers in their walk with God. However, “Alita” and other art contain objectionable elements that degrade and tempt believers to sin. Christian need discernment to determine if the art will lead them to sin or profitable lives. If profitable, Christians should use it to glorify God, learn lessons, and connect with the lost. If not, then disengage.
Thank you for reading! Let me know your thoughts in the comment section below! How do you determine what art to interact with? What Bible verses guide you? What elements of the topic should I have covered? What elements should I clarify?
See the first entry for “Art” in Mac’s New Oxford English Dictionary application.
https://uh.edu/fdis/_taylor-dev/readings/tolkien.html
https://uh.edu/fdis/_taylor-dev/readings/tolkien.html
https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/46473/if---
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0437086/parentalguide