Never Trust the Ratings (or the Academy Awards®)
Movies can tell wonderful stories, but they can also contain graphic expressions of violence, profanity, sex, and drugs. Although the clip you choose may be morally neutral, other parts of the film may offend members of your audience — even if it was an Oscar-winning film! Ultimately, you want your audience to react to the truth, not your video clip.
Anticipate your audience response to the entire film. Why? Because they often will decide to go out and rent the video after viewing the clip you used in your sermon. Your use of a video illustration will be received as a tacit endorsement of the entire film. If you use a clip from an R-rated movie, you may be inadvertently leading members of your church to go out and view some deeply objectionable material.
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Review and personally rate the movie before using any part of it. Since 1968 the Classification and Rating Administration has assigned ratings to films (G, PG, PG-13, R, and NC-17). A fulltime board of 8 to 13 men and women jointly view, discuss, and vote on the rating a film should receive. Because the process can be highly subjective, you really need to become personally aware of the film’s content by viewing the movie for yourself. If you are short on time, consider an online subscription to ScreenIt.com (www.screenit.com), which thoroughly evaluates film content based on 15 different moral categories. Another option is to subscribe to Focus on the Family’s Plugged In magazine (www.pluggedinonline.com).
Search for the Perfect Video Illustration
Finding a good video illustration takes T-I-M-E. If you have one that you really like, but find yourself struggling to “make it work,” you probably have not discovered the best film clip—yet. Here are some ideas to help you find the perfect illustration.
- Keep a notebook. When you finish watching a great movie or a favorite TV show, pause and jot down ideas. Even commercials can contain content for a sermon illustration. Although copies for public viewing can be difficult to obtain, most feature films will make their way to the stores after several months.
- Buy a book. Several titles are on the market containing ideas for video clips. With each illustration, the authors often provide scripture references, story backgrounds, and suggested thematic applications
- Go online. Websites like SermonSpice.com and WorshipHouseMedia.com offer hundreds of downloadable, high-quality video clips for a small fee. Made especially for use in churches, the videos are topically categorized and can be previewed before purchase. (See the Survey of Video Resources for Preaching found in this issue of Preaching.) There are also sites like MovieMinistry that offer suggestions for film clips that illustrate key topics and themes (www.preaching.com/movies).