By Mark Bryson 
It was called The Chartroose Caboose. I was five years old in 1962, and my father decided to take our family to the drive-in movie. I can’t tell you anything about the movie but I do remember the wonderment of watching a movie on a huge screen with all of us in a car. That was my first exposure to the movies. Like all of you reading this, we have gone through quite a transition from what movies were like “back in our day” to what we can view today. My father and I went on to see a few more movies together, and like most dads of my generation, he certainly began to miss those Westerns as they faded from the screen. Today seeing a movie at a theater is more rare due to two factors:  One is the higher price, and the other is the availability we have at home of watching movie channels, the ease of recording shows, Netflix, etc. All of these give us even more exposure and immersion into the influence of Hollywood culture. 
We all talk about our favorite movies from our past and present or favorite actors and actresses. We have scenes from certain movies burned into our memories and lines we can quote. Some can tell you where and when they saw the first Star Wars movie or what movie made them cry. Many can relate a special date to the fact that it was going to the movies together. It is hard to escape this influence in our lives. Movies began in the early 1900s with silent films and moved to talking movies around 1930. Being born in America any time after this means that movies were part of one’s society and activities. To say that the movie industry has not influenced our culture would be an understatement. A consideration of the homosexual issue would be just one example.  
In the midst of knowing that so many of us have seen, still go to, or watch current movies, how do I filter this influence through my allegiance to Jesus Christ? How is watching a movie compatible with the Christian faith? As we said, only in the last 100 years or so has a Christian been able to ask this question. What would Jesus do? What should a Christian father decide when determining what his child or teen should watch? Can you be “old fashioned” or extreme in your views if all the other kids are going, or harder yet, if all the other kids in the youth group are going? 
Each Christian family usually comes to some decision on this matter. The pendulum may swing to both sides. One father may say, “Well, they’re going to see those things and hear those words out in the world, so I really can’t isolate them.” Another may look at any rating over a “G” and eliminate that as an option for his family. Then there is the in-between approach that says, “Well there are only a few bad words or just that one bad scene, so at least it’s not too bad.” I think most Christian parents fall into this latter category of trying to put some brakes on at times. One problem I have always had with the filter we try to place on our kids is that for some reason it does not seem to apply to us adults. I suppose we think that now that we are grown we can handle the things that make a movie have a higher rating. I have heard it said, “I just filter those things out,” or “It was a great movie; it did have some things I wish were not in there, but you should go.” Honestly, compared to 50 years ago, it is hard to see any movie other than one rated “G,” that will not have something said, done, or shown that a Christian would not approve of. Just ask how many of us would take our grandparents to the last movie we saw? What would they think of it? 
What if the apostle Paul went with you to the movies tonight? Which one would you choose? Suppose just before you left he said, “’Therefore be imitators of God…but sexual immorality and all impurity…must not even be named among you, as is proper among saints. Let there be no filthiness, nor foolish talk, or crude joking, which are out of place. For you may be sure of this, that everyone who is sexually immoral or impure…has no inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God. Walk as children of light…try to discern what is pleasing to the Lord. Look carefully then how you walk.’ Okay, let’s go. What movie have you picked out that you think I will like?” Would it have been the last one you went to see or any others before that?   
Fathers, parents, Christian brothers and sisters, we have all been forced to make a decision because our culture has made movies a part of our lives. Let me recommend www.screenit.com as a stop you always make to decide if you want to take Paul or Jesus with you to the movies. Certainly know what is in a movie if you are still deciding this for your own children. This website will provide that. I can promise you the Musical/Comedy The Chartroose Caboose would be appropriate. Unfortunately, it has become a “lost movie.” God help us not to become “lost” in this world of outside influences, but to discern what is pleasing to the Lord.