Which really gets to the main message of War Room.
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But the movie made clear that this was not an endorsement of demon-binding (as if they would listen anyway!), but came from a wife who finally realized sin was her enemy, not her husband. Yes, after being a Christian for all of 15 seconds the lead character does banish the devil from her house. Divorce is bad, marriage is good, and Jesus is the only one who can save.
God rules the world, and he can do anything he wants to. Regardless, the theology of War Room is pretty good. I don’t trust her theology, and lament that LifeWay sells her stuff.īut in this movie they are not theologians–they are not even real people! They are actresses, and I am able to see War Room without endorsing their theology in the same way I can watch Mission Impossible and not be a Scientologist. I’m not that familiar with Shirer, and Moore is someone to whom I would not look to for prayer advice. In a world with war and terrorism, is a story about an upper-class philandering husband really the best vehicle for expounding on the sovereignty of God? Well, I suppose Lewis would say that both have their place, and War Room fills that place nicely.Ībout that devil-binding-Priscilla Shirer (Tony Evans daughter, and a Dallas Seminary Graduate) plays the wife-who-turns-to-prayer, and Beth Moore makes an appearance in the very minor role of a co-worker (She has one line: “Sometimes submission to your husband looks like ducking so the Lord’s punch hits him instead”). That crossed my mind while watching War Room. Lewis: people criticized The Screwtape Letters for being too benign-in a world with Hitler on the loose, did Lewis really mean to say that you see the devil in the details of how often a wife has tea, or what past-times consume Joe Englishman? But the truth is that kind of story is often more convicting to Joe Englishman than a WWII study of the holocaust. I was reminded of something Max McLean often says about critics of C. No Christian cliché is beneath the Kendrick brothers, and it is all for the sake saving this one marriage!
There is even immorality interrupted by food poisoning. It features gym evangelism, ethical quandaries at work, a weepy daughter who asks her mom if she even knows the name of her sport’s team. This movie has prayer, devil-binding (more on that later), Bible reading, more prayer, the sinner’s prayer (2xs!), more Bible reading, sermon listening, and ESV product placement. It is as if they looked at the dichotomy in Christian films and said, “that’s fine we’ll make a movie that is so over-the-top Christian that nobody can accuse us of leaving anything out.” Everything in all of their movies is over-the-top.
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Subtlety is not a tool that the Kendrick brothers know how to use. She meets a strong Christian woman who reaches out to her, confronts her luke-warm relationship with the Lord, and challenges her to pray for her family while submitting her life to Christ. A sleaze-ball husband is ruining his family, while his nominally Christian wife feels powerless to do anything about it. And-fortunately-this one did not seem to be made for the sole purpose of selling Christian trinkets. The acting is better, the writing is better, and the production has obviously taken a step up. Gone are (most of) the cheesy scenes that littered their previous movies. This is the crew that produced Courageous, Fireproof, and Facing the Giants, and the company that made October Baby and Mom’s Night Out.
It’s also in the top spot in the box office after Labor Day, having already made over $30 million. The Kendrick brothers’ newest release is by far their best-made movie so far. When I use the term “Christian movie” I mean a movie made by professing believers for the purpose of entertaining other believers while advancing a biblical world view. Side note: I understand there is really no such thing as a “Christian movie.” Movies aren’t born depraved, regenerated by the work of the Holy Spirit, converted to Christ, baptized, and made members of a local church (not that War Room doesn’t try!). I’ll review War Room today, and Captive next week. I saw them both back-to-back and was struck at how they each intentionally aim for different ends of that dichotomy.
There are two new Christian movies that fill opposite ends of this dichotomy: War Room (in theaters now) and Captive (releasing next week). If they are more subtle- Chronicles of Narnia, for example-then they are criticized for not being Christian enough, whatever that is supposed to mean. If they are overt about the gospel-such as Courageous or Fireproof-then they are criticized that they are too in-your-face.
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