Splintered Fragments: How The Stories All Around Us Reflect the Gospel
I remember the first time I saw a pastor play a scene from a popular movie during a sermon. Since then, such techniques have been derided as forced attempts to appear culturally relevant. But for me, that moment was a revelation. My understanding of God, faith, and the gospel grew as I realized that what I learned at church wasn’t contained within the sacred building. It was out there in the world too.
The gospel is an inescapable reality of life. It’s built into our spiritual DNA as humans who bear God’s image. When we consider ways the gospel shows up in the stories flashing across our screens, what comes to mind first might be movies that present the “message” of the gospel, narratives in which filmmakers use characters as mouthpieces for evangelism or films in which Jesus himself is incarnated as a Hollywood hero. But perhaps even more powerful is when the gospel shows up in unexpected, even unintentional ways.
Splintered Fragments of the True Light
Few people have more clearly recognized the gospel’s narrative power than did J. R. R. Tolkien. His own masterpiece, The Lord of the Rings (and even more so his posthumously released Silmarillion), clearly echoes the gospel, and he believed many other stories do too: “We have come from God, and inevitably the myths woven by us, though they contain error, will also reflect a splintered fragment of the true light, the eternal truth that is with God…. Our myths may be misguided, but they steer however shakily towards the true harbour.”
Joseph Campbell’s influential theory of the “monomyth” or “the hero’s journey” likewise touches on this narrative pattern. He argues that all stories are merely retellings, in part or in full, of a single story humanity has been recounting since the beginning of time. Campbell lacked Tolkien’s theological foundation, but his conclusions were no less spiritual, suggesting that myths point to a reality beyond the material existence of our physical lives.
The Greatest Story and Stories Ever Told
It’s been rightly said that the gospel is the greatest story ever told. It’s also the basis for the greatest stories ever told. The gospel is not merely one story among many—as Campbell believed—but the archetypal structure other great stories echo. The classic plot structure of cinema reflects the gospel: a disruption of order, heroism and love, the death and rebirth of the hero. Watching almost any cinematic story unfold on screen primes us for the gospel.
Using and Receiving
Tolkien’s close friend C. S. Lewis might offer a word of caution at this point. In his excellent book An Experiment in Criticism, he outlines the difference between “using” and “receiving” a work of art. Searching for the gospel within a story can become a game of “Where’s Waldo” as we forcefully arrange the myths of our day into tidy Christian allegories. The meaningful “echo” should be of the gospel, not our own voice. The gospel is already present as a “splintered fragment.” We need only open our spiritual eyes and ears to recognize it.
If the gospel is true, then it’s the most significant reality in human history, and its impact still ripples throughout the entire world—even into the realm of cinematic storytelling. Horror movies offer echoes of spiritual warfare; they unsettle and disturb us, reminding us that we aren’t in full control of our lives and destiny. Crime movies showcase a world in need of redemption. Fantasy stories depict good versus evil. Sci-Fi films reflect the sobering limitations of human potential.
The ever-present motif of self-sacrificial heroes echoes the beautiful sacrifice of a much greater hero who took the sins of the world upon himself and rose from the grave in a stunning victory over death. The prevalence of resurrection and rebirth—whether literal or metaphorical— in storytelling suggests that we intuitively recognize that we need a savior to die and rise again.
In Frame and Out of Frame
The gospel is everywhere. The unsatisfying categorization of so-called “Christian films” and the marginally more helpful “faith-based” label may point audiences to stories that overtly proclaim biblical truth or were created by filmmakers of faith. But limiting the influence of the gospel to such storytelling does a disservice to cinema and, more importantly, to the gospel.
The gospel can’t be contained. Every storyteller bears God’s image (Genesis 1:26-27), and the stories we tell reflect that truth. Some narratives clearly reflect the light of the gospel, while others capture it only dimly. But the gospel is evident everywhere to those looking for it.
Legendary director Martin Scorsese once said, “Cinema is a matter of what’s in the frame and what’s out.” He was referring to cinematography techniques. But as a Catholic, he would likely also apply that truism to the spiritual aspects of storytelling. We can enjoy watching great stories unfold on the screen. And if we enter into those narratives with open eyes and humble hearts, we will begin to see how they point to a greater story outside of the frame.
