Today I visited the 509, and during the service, Professor Leeper read this story: http://www.angelfire.com/tx2/jbrown/ragman.html . It’s called “The Ragman,” and if you don’t feel like reading it, *SPOILERS* it’s an allegory for Christ and how he takes our sins upon Himself. It’s a great story, and everyone knows how great of a storyteller Leeper is, but one of the biggest things I got out of it was how good of a story it was while still being an obvious representation of Christ.
I say this because over the past week I've had a lot of conversations with people about how a Christian should tell stories. Most agree that we don’t have to make stories with a direct Christian message or Jesus reference, but many also think it would be wrong to create something without any content that’s God-honoring. “The Ragman” is an example of a well-written story with a Christian message. It doesn't end up becoming a sermon, but it remains an engaging series of powerful images all the way through.
There is a problem though, in that this work probably influences Christian readers more than others. As Christians we’re affected by this story because we expect the ending (Well, I did anyway). We are so interested because it makes the idea of Christ’s sacrifice, something we’ve already accepted as true but haven’t seen in reality, seem real to us. It gives us a picture of our faith, and I’m not sure if an unbeliever would appreciate the symbolism. Anyway, this conversation of Christian filmmaking is ongoing, and I’m sure we’ll hear about it a lot more in class.
ps i have no idea what i’m talking about
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