A survey by Lifeway Research shows that 81 percent of American Protestants believe Christian movies are effective evangelism and discipleship tools. The survey also showed that 68 percent of respondents had watched a Christian faith movie in the last year.
Churchgoers from denominations slightly differed in response to the statement, “Christian movies are effective evangelism tools.”
Baptists and non-denominationals strongly agreed (84%), with Lutherans at 75 percent and Presbyterians/Reformed lower at 68 percent. Evangelicals were also more prone than other types of Christians to agree with the statement: 90 percent compared to 71 percent.
“It can be easy for Christian resource providers to design resources they hope are helpful, but Christian movies are something churchgoers want to see,” said Scott McConnell, executive director of Lifeway Research.
“They don’t assume every Christian movie is a fit for non-Christians they know, but they agree films can be an effective way to share the gospel.”
McConnell explained that one of the intentions of the survey was to gauge if churchgoers placed importance on Christian themes when watching secular movies.
“However, it’s clear some churchgoers may not have been familiar with this use of the term ‘secular’ and others may have thought it was seeking to contrast movies that are overtly anti-Christian.”
Meanwhile one in 10 churchgoers (12%) had invited a non-believer to watch a Christian movie in the last year and younger believers were more likely to do so. This broke down to 26 percent of 18 to 34 year olds, and 21 percent of 35 to 49 year olds – compared to only eight percent of 50 to 64 year olds, and three percent within the 65-plus age range.
The survey also revealed a few other interesting results.
Believers classed as ‘white churchgoers’ were the least likely ethnic group (9%) to invite a non-believer to a Christian film.
Some 72 percent, representing almost three out of four churchgoers, purposefully watch movies containing a form of Christian message.
More than 68 percent had watched a specific Christian movie in the last year, but only 48 percent had seen a secular film in the same period.
Stephen Kendrick, co-producer of ‘The Forge’, a movie focused on evangelism and discipleship released this month (August) believes faith movies played a key role in helping believers in their walk with Christ.
“We live in a visual, video-driven generation. Movies can be great tools to reach people where they are and share biblical truth in the context of an emotional and memorial story,” Kendrick said.
“Countless people have come to Christ through watching a Christian movie. The Holy Spirit continues to use art to point to the glory of Christ and the gospel.”
Christian books are also important for discipleship and evangelism. About two out of three churchgoers had read at least one Christian book, not including the Bible, in the past year.
The figures also showed that 17 percent had read such a Christian book recently, and another 17 percent had upped their reading to two such books this past year.
13 percent had read three Christian books, 11 percent four or five, three percent six or seven, one percent eight or nine – and three percent had managed to read 10 or more such books in the reporting period.
Meanwhile, 31 percent had read no Christian books during the past year and four percent said they couldn’t remember.
Older churchgoers were less likely to read such books: 37 percent in the 65-plus group compared to 25 percent of 18 to 34 year olds and 26 percent in the 35 to 49 age bracket.
Ethnically, a third of white churchgoers (34 percent) had not read a Christian book in the past year, compared to 25 percent of African Americans.
In the denominational breakdown selecting “none” for reading Christian books in the past year, Lutherans (50%) were more likely than Presbyterian/Reformed (34%), Baptists (26%) and non-denominational churchgoers (25%).
Evangelicals were less likely to have not read Christian books (25 percent) than non-evangelical believers (38%) in the survey.
Kendrick believed that Christian books were an excellent resource to follow-up after watching a Christian movie on differing themes.
“After the emotion of a movie ends, a Christian resource can bridge them to what the Word of God instructs about a topic or issue they are facing,” he said. “Our hope is that people will see a film and be inspired to dive into a resource that will help them be transformed by the renewing of their minds.”
Kendrick gave as an example the production of the movie ‘Fireproof’ with the linked book ‘The Love Dare’, which he said helped many marriages. He also said Christian men were helped by the film ‘Courageous’ by reading ‘The Resolution for Men.’ A third example was prayer ministries being supported by the double combination of the ‘War Room’ movie and the resource book, ‘The Battleplan for Prayer.’
