The As1 website launched this week. We mentioned this movement earlier, but now it’s going full force.
Full disclosure: As 1 was founded by Jonathan Bock who, with his business partner Ted Gartner, also owns Hollywood Jesus and Grace Hill Media.
Cynics might think… oh, here we go again. PR firm has brainchild for grassroots movement, squarely aimed at putting more cash in said firm’s pocket. Prepare to be snookered once again.
Well, if you trust me or Hollywood Jesus at all (and I do mean at all; I can understand why you wouldn’t) please take my word that it’s time to drop the world-weary pundit act and put on the big boy pants. Sometimes things actually are what they seem, and sometimes a vision can actually be stirring… if you let it be.
So what is As1? Watch the video that follows, and then I’ll share my thoughts and reactions.
So this moves me for a couple reasons. First, I get into a lot of conversations with non-Christians and atheists, and let’s face it: with our tendency toward narrow-minded and fearful responses to anything that doesn’t fit into our neat little safe-for-the-whole-family boxes, we do a lot of really bad PR for God… and don’t at all mirror the kind of Jesus who had no trouble sitting down for a little wine with tax collectors and harlots. Who, exactly, do we think we’re fooling? So I’m pretty jazzed about a Christian movement that says, “Enough! Counting boobs and swear words is not what God is calling us to do.”
Second, I’m not just an editor… I’m an artist, too. I’m a novelist, a playwright, an actor, a poet, a photographer. I know what it’s like to express myself through art and have someone tell me my art isn’t “Christian enough”… or refuse to carry it in their store because I used the word “damned” in the text. Whatever. So I’m equally jazzed to hear a call to support artists in all their gory glory. A painting or a movie should never be confused with Scripture… and also never its own unique power discounted.
What follows are a couple of my favorite quotes from the site’s blog. Browse around the As1 website… and get stoked.
- In the past, if a movie wasn’t 100% accurate Biblically, we dismissed it. If a song wasn’t perfect for the supposed “Christian market,” we refused to play it. If an artist dared show the brutality of real life, we walked away, offended. That has to stop. This time we need to support our dreamers, our creators, and our artists – even in our common imperfection.
- We Christians have all-too-often allowed ourselves to get involved in some harebrained, Quixotic efforts (boycotts, letter writing campaigns, etc.) that have generally amounted to nothing more than making us look like a bunch of whiney chumps. I love my faith and I love the church. And when that happens, it annoys me no end.
August 21st, 2012 at 12:31 pm
wow. that’s pretty great! It’s about unity and showing all aspects of life in Christ through Art.
I love your sentence “A painting or a movie should never be confused with Scripture…”
August 23rd, 2012 at 9:42 am
Thanks!