Invisible Ink and a Squeegee

   Imagine a window. The stunning country view is framed perfectly, and you really want to share it's wonder with some friends. Facebook happens to be up, so you send a group message, and soon you have a half a dozen people or so in your home. They take turns looking out.

This isn't stunning, but that's why you have an imagination

   The first friend admires for a second, then starts pointing at the flaws. That plant is dead, that cloud is too small, that propane tank is ugly, whatever. As he does so his clean hands manage to smudge up the window a bit. You shoo him off and let the next one have a turn.

   "I admit it's lovely," he says, "but the glass isn't smooth enough. It's too old. You need a new window." He runs his dusty hand along the ripples in the old pane.

   Friend three uses his grimy finger to draw a face over the barn, not bothering to take a good look, and walks away.

   The fourth fellow decides the window is to smeared for him to look correctly, and goes home.

   Your fifth friend lives in the middle of Chicago and has rarely seen farmland. "I'm sorry the window has gotten so dirty. I don't suppose you want to look out any more."

   He smiles and says, "That's ok. I'll just step outside."

   I stand with my notion that most people have over-legalized Christianity in films. Truth is a wonderful thing, and needs to be shared. The audience has to be willing.

   Some viewers say Christian media must be perfect in order to properly represent the Perfect One, or the viewer has to be perfect. This is boring and distorts reality more than our eyes alone. Reality isn't perfect. By presenting a perfect world or expecting a perfect audience you only distance the viewer from the story.

   Some flat out don't care. They hear "Christian", or not, and do what they want. These people cannot be helped until they want to be, so ignore them. They are "bad readers" and not worth your time.

   Others have heard so much negativity about Christian media they aren't even willing to give it a chance. I find myself slipping into this prejudice often. Unfortunately, there is a base for these accusations.

   Every once in a while you have an audience member who wants to see truth, and is willing to go a little further to find it. They can move around the mess others have made and see it for what it is. This is the sort of audience we are to be.

This is a dangerous job

   Please, criticize what you see. Analyze it and think about it. Don't swallow it without reading the label and risk poison. But when you write your report, understand that others are watching, and how you talk about something matters. Jesus came to "testify to the truth" (John 18:37) and we are called to the same end. Go ahead and find the truth, but pick your pen carefully when you write "Christian"; not because it isn't, but because we aren't here to label. We are the window washers.

Stained glass is beautiful, but difficult to see through