Showing R Rated Movie Clips in Church

I heard from an arts leader in California this week who was struggling with whether it’s advisable or not to show a scene from an R-rated film in church, assuming the scene itself is appropriate.  Would the church be seen to be endorsing the entire movie, and is that ok?  I thought back to some of these decisions at our church, and remembered that we showed clips from We Were Soldiers and Saving Private Ryan, and I think those are R-rated.  My friend wondered if the decision was to go ahead, do we need some kind of verbal or written disclaimer, stating that we are not necessarily recommended the film, acknowledging its rating, and leaving the decision to the discernment of each attender?

So what do you think?  How have you handled this in your church?  I would love to hear from you, and so would my friend…

Comments

[Paul J.]

Hey Nancy,
We have used R-rated clips many times. And if its a movie that is questionable, we always mention that we're using the clip to illustrate a point, but we don't recommend viewing the entire movie. We've even had to use that disclaimer for some PG-13 films we've used too.
Even with that disclaimer, there are still people in our church that are uncomfortable with the use of R-rated clips. We just try to deal with those conflicts on a case by case basis.

[Bill]

Nancy,
We've usually given some context or warning about the movie, especially if our clip doesn't indicate that the movie may be questionable otherwise.
From a different angle, we've also had a few services that we rated as PG13 due to subject matter, regardless of any clips that may or may not of been used in those services. For example, we recently participated in National Porn Sunday and warned people that this content may not be appropriate for children under age 13.

[Ben Dubow]

Nancy

We have used R-rated clips before, but generally only from movies I would be OK with people watching. We have also "rated" our services as PG-13 on some weeks (as stated above).

One of the reasons we don't do the "here is a clip from an R-rated movie, but we don't think you should watch the whole thing..." concept is because it can sound a lot like the pastor saying "It is OK for me to watch this stuff, but not you..." which just sounds weird on a lot of levels.

Those are my thoughts...

[aarondewinter]

I think life is sometimes "Rated R." Meaning, not everyone is living in Rated G or PG lifestyles. If we're to go as Christians and reach all types of people, we must be frank about how everyone talks, lives and acts. It doesn't mean the church endorses the movie as a whole. But, it can be used as a teaching tool. I think Jesus would be in a lot of "rated R' situations, interacting with the brokeness in people if He were physically walking the earth today. If we could get over the fear of feeling awakward in our seats, we'd be better educated, more able to reach out and more realistic about real issues and events in society today. But, that's just my opinion. Aaron

[Nancy Beach]

Thanks for these helpful comments...
Nancy Beach