Every year Hollywood’s most prominent figures gather together at the Oscars in the greatest self-adulatory event in our culture. Though Americans have practically tuned out from the Oscars, actors, actresses, and movie directors dress in their most expensive outfits in an attempt to show off their pomp and status. Grant it, they are famous because we make them famous. We buy their movies, buy their clothing, buy their ideas, and buy the products they sell, and sometimes we buy them, because they sell their personas to the public. But should we buy their ideology?

Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 2:6-8, “Yet among the mature we do impart wisdom, although it is not a wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are doomed to pass away. But we impart a secret and hidden wisdom of God, which God decreed before the ages for our glory. None of the rulers of this age understood this, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.” Certainly, the “wisdom of this age” in our times is mostly heralded through the various “Hollywood preachers.” Such “preachers” are usually placed in a few predictable categories.

First, the “Political Preacher Award” goes to the actor Brad Pitt. Pitt took at jab at the GOP establishment saying, “They told me I only have 45 seconds up here, which is 45 seconds more than the Senate gave John Bolton this week,” with little reaction from the crowd at first, he continued ” I’m thinking maybe Quentin does a movie about it. In the end, the adults do the right thing.” His implication is that our government leaders acted like a bunch of children during President Trump’s impeachment trial. Did he forget Democrats, like Nancy Pelosi who ripped the State of the Union address in front of the whole nation, have also acted pretty childish this past week? Does Donald Trump act childish? Yes. Do democrats act childish? Yes. There’s room to cast aspersions on both sides. But most importantly, what does Pitt’s “sermonette” reveal? Politics is divisive.

2020 is an election year. Pastors who are engaged in politics are tempted, and will be temped, to use their pulpit platforms to make political statements. This should not be. Though we need to teach our congregations to engage in intelligent and well-informed discussions on politics from a biblical standpoint, we must not use the pulpit to promote a particular political party or political ideology. Instead, our churches’ pulpits need to be a place for the sole proclamation of the Gospel and the Word of God. We must take the resolve of Peter and John in Acts 3:11-26, and apply it to our pulpit ministries!

Second, the “Marxist Preacher Award” goes to Julia Reichert. Reichert, the film co-producer of “American Factory,” tipped her hat off to Karl Marx. She exclaimed at the Oscars, “Our film is from Ohio and China [a communist country I might add], but it really could be from anywhere that people put on a uniform, punch a clock, trying to make a better life, we believe things will get better when workers of the world unite.” The phrase “workers of the world unite” is a famous line from “The Communist Manifesto” by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engles. The irony? Marxism preaches that in order to liberate the lower classes, societies must use government to fight against the rich and powerful while forcing them to give their assets to the poor. (I know this is an oversimplification of marxism, but it does communicate its main gist). The argument is framed in such a way that portrays the rich always as the oppressor of the poor. The irony? 100 percent of Hollywood actors and actress, as well as directors, are rich. These are some of the richest people on earth. Do they even realize how hypocritical they appear to the rest of the world? The warning for Christian believers? Let us not be hypocritical either!

But one thing is for sure, government is not the answer. Christ is. We must be careful not to be like the 12 apostles were at one point. Remember Acts 1:6? They exclaimed, “Are you now going to restore the kingdom“? They thought a new societal system, not Christ, was the answer to their oppression. But Jesus came to show us a better way. The way to restore order and fairness in the world is not by using government to fix our problems, but rather by pointing people to a better way, the WAY. Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life (John 14:6).

Third, the “Moral Preacher Award” goes to Janelle Monáe. Her “sermon” was targeted. She cried out loud, “It’s time to come alive because the Oscars is so white!” Monáe self-identified herself as “a black queer” woman. Actually, last April in an interview for Rolling Stone, she revealed she identifies as pansexual – not limited in sexual choice with regard to biological sex, gender, or gender identity. She is a picture perfect child of Hollywood. Hollywood preaches anyone can be whoever they want to be, especially when it comes to gender. Gender is simply a social construct for folks who believe in this ideology. It has no moral value to them, it is simply a choice to be celebrated.

As Christians, we must understand how such ideology has affected mainstream America. Most movies today have tried to normalize homosexuality (Don’t believe me? watch the latest Star Wars movie featuring a lesbian couple kissing each other), promiscuity (Look up the movie “Fluidity”), and sexual exploitation (Look up the movie “Hustlers”). But Paul wrote in 1 Thessalonians 4:3, “For this is the will of God, your sanctification; that is, that you abstain from sexual immorality.” Ephesians 5:3 says, “But immorality or any impurity or greed must not even be named among you, as is proper among saints.” We are called to holiness, sexual purity, and wholeness. We must not let the sexually immoral preaching of Hollywood affect our morality.

I believe here I must offer Christians a word of warning. Often times we perpetuate Hollywood’s sexual immorality. Christians watch R-rated and PG-13 movies, with explicit sexual content. We also at times inadvertently aid their sexually immoral preaching by quoting lines from movies that contain highly inappropriate content. There’s nothing wrong with quoting movies lines, but if the movie contains blatant sexual immorality we must be careful not to promote it. For instance, I remember when Game of Thrones became famous. I had Christians who kept telling me I should watch it. At first I decided not to watch it, but after several months I decided to check out its first episode. I was terrified. Its first episode is completely pornographic in nature. I literally watched 2 minutes of it to my disgust. And Christians were recommending it to me? This must not be so! We must heed the words of the Apostle Paul to withstand the world’s sexually immoral preaching:

“Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.” Philippians 4:8

I pray we will pay attention to the world’s false preaching and reject it. I pray we will stand against all that is contrary to the Gospel. I pray we will heed the message of the Gospel above all. And I pray we shall never forget we are urged to not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of our mind (Romans 12:2).

Written by Daniel Messina