The answer is YES. Period.
Back up a little… earlier this week, I saw a video of a lady ranting about why Christians SHOULD NOT watch Wicked nor allow their kids to watch this movie. I am not even going to list all the points she made (not worth my time) but would like to offer a rebuttal to her viewpoint. And let me say this…I have seen the musical FIVE times. FIVE. It is my second favorite (behind Les Mis). I watched the movie and loved it (and so thankful they stayed true to the musical). I am not going to counter-argue every point she made but just focus on one big one – “wickedness”…
Lyric – “Are people born wicked, or do they have wickedness thrust upon them?”
Wicked is a musical that is over 20 years old. If this lady truly had an issue with this movie/storyline, she would have made a statement (video, blog post, etc) long time ago. She is just now making a “statement” because the movie was just released. I believe she found an opportunity to get more views and “clicks” on her link. Now, I do have issues with the book. It is one of filth, and I absolutely hated it (didn’t even finish it). But, that is for another post.
As a Christian, we are called to teach our kids how to view culture through the lens of Scripture. This movie was not created by a Christian company or pushed to only Christians with a desire is to teach a theological perspective. I am saying this because I will not watch something that is theologically dangerous when it is produced BY Christians FOR Christians. That is when I want to guard my heart and protect my children. However, this movie does not fit that category. This is an important difference to make and should be stated! Saying that, we are called to train our children on how to view society/culture through the lens of Scripture. This story presents a great opportunity to have conversations with your children on “wickedness” – SIN! Psalm 51:5 says “Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me.” Romans 5:12 – “Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned.” We are born into sin (and have sinful tendencies and desires from birth). We are not born without sin (as a blank slate, with a clean, impure heart) only to later have “wickedness” thrust upon us. We are all dead to sin and only by God’s grace are we saved from our “wickedness.” Ephesians 2:8 says, “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God.” THIS is the conversation we should be having with children, training them up on how to hear a story and to know Scriptural truth! Any Christian parent who allows a movie/musical/book/school/class/curriculum (anything) to dictate TRUTH to your child is allowing the world to parent for you. When I took my now 18 year old to see the musical (she was elementary age the first time she saw the musical), we had these conversations in the car afterwards.
Building on point #2, two of my favorite movies are not created FOR Christians but offer so much theological truth. First, The Village is absolutely great at teaching us that you cannot escape and hide from sin. You can isolate yourself from the world but your hearts are still sinful and deceitful. You cannot flea from your sinful tendencies such as murder. What an important topic that can be taught through this movie. Second, my all time favorite movie – Signs. God is Sovereign over all aspects of our lives. No event goes without a purpose pointing to a EVEN GREATER purpose that He has ordained. What may be small or life changing events all have a purpose in the greater plan that God has in our lives. My girls probably get tired of me talking about this every time we watch this movie together. Every single aspect in that family’s life (from the death of the mom to the child’s asthma to the brother’s failed baseball career) was an important detail in defeating the alien (if you haven’t seen the movie, I probably lost you there but trust me…it is great). How many times do we allow the intricate details of an event overshadow God’s awesome plan in our lives? (talking to myself here…). Why am I sharing this with you? Because you could easily watch any of these movies and talk about how Christians shouldn’t watch them and how they can harm our children. But instead of seeing these two films as that, I chose to watch with my girls and talk about theology.
Do not take this post as one that means never monitoring what your kids watch. That is absolutely not what I am saying. What I am saying, though, is don’t pick apart every aspect of a movie to justify, as a Christian, why one should not watch it. If you choose to not allow your kids to watch Wicked, that is your prerogative and that is ok! However, don’t post a video demeaning Christians who choose to watch this movie/musical as if your not watching makes you any more righteous! And yes, I think some may leave the film with believing the premise of the movie as truth. But…evangelism isn’t for Christians to sit back and critique a movie or condemn those who watch it. If anything, this movie can open many doors and conversations that Christians can have with others, creating opportunities to share our faith and witness to them about the amazing work of Christ!
Merry Christmas!
