There is a lot of negative writing about the moral cesspool that is frequently Hollywood film. I have written a fair amount of it myself. If that is true, why bother to use film as illustrations in sermons, small group discussions, or youth groups? The answer lies in the power of stories to embody the truth and to make morality come alive.

I once heard an interview with Donald Williams in which he discussed Sir Philip Sidney's work, "The Defence of Poesie." Sidney wrote it in 1580 -- and what he had to say about literature then is just as true of movies today.

Sidney argued that stories were better at communicating the truth than either philosophy or history. Philosophy was great at providing abstract moral and ethical thought, but it was powerless to point to concrete examples of people who lived them out.  History was shackled by what actually happened, so it could lead people to real world examples, but none of them were truly exemplary.

Stories, on the other hand, have the strengths of both philosophy and history, and none of the drawbacks. Screenwriters and directors are free to take any ideal and create a character to embody it. In film, ideals and examples can come together in a moving way to inspire people to become better, or to warn them about the consequences of doing wrong.

People love stories. They spend most of their time telling and hearing them. Dr. Walter Fisher, a professor at USC, said that in addition to being homo sapiens or rational creatures, human beings are homo narrans or storytelling creatures. In fact, he argues that stories are the key identifying feature of human beings, because they are used by people to understand others, and themselves.

Jesus offers many great examples of the power of stories, but two should be enough to prove the point. I don't know anyone who thinks that the Good Samaritan or the Prodigal Son were real people -- in the sense of being historical. Jesus had lessons he wanted to teach average, everyday sinners. He did not pull out a volume on Jewish Systematic Theology -- He told stories. In these stories, he was free to create characters ideally suited to the lesson he wanted to teach -- about mercy, hospitality, love, and forgiveness. The truths that lived in these simple stories were ones He wanted to see people live out. They were memorable.

Jesus told stories to people that mirrored the circumstances of their lives. His stories were full of farmers and fisherman, shepherds and landholders, paupers and kings. Film today presents pastors with object lessons from agribusinessmen (The River) and commercial fisherman (The Perfect Storm), laborers (Places in the Heart) and corporate giants (Wall Street), the powerless (Amistad) and the powerful (Bruce Almighty) -- and many others.

While pastors may use film illustrations to maintain their cultural relevance (and I think that is a great idea), such illustrations offer so much more. We should not neglect the use of this great store of collective cultural experience to grab hold of people's natural liking for stories. Sensitively used, these fictional tales can strike a responsive chord in your congregation, small group, or youth ministry that can lead people into a relationship with the God of Truth.