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Nooma 017 Today & 018 Name (DVDs)Counselling-speakNOOMA 017 Today (DVD) Nooma lives up to its name — it’s very difficult to grasp exactly what these ten- minute films are seeking to achieve. The advertising blurb states: ‘We want spiritual direction, but it has to be real for us — and available when we need it. We want a new format for getting Christian perspectives. Nooma is the new format’. I suspect that is the nub of the problem. The Nooma films are brilliantly made to top professional quality (and budgets) and Rob Bell has a gift for communicating in an engaging way. But in my mind the questions ‘communicating what?’ or ‘communicating why?’ have not yet been answered. Scriptural issuesThis is clearly not a ‘one stop shop’ of biblical perspective on contemporary issues. There were several uses of Scripture in the episodes I viewed that sat rather fast and loose to the context of the passage and the whole biblical narrative. But the makers would say that Bible education is not their point. And that’s my frustration. I’d love to use the films in a discipleship group setting because they have an ability to communicate to people’s inner self, not just their mind (Ephesians 3.14-19), but can’t if I have to stand up after showing it and correct the exegesis! I showed the films to a group of Anglican pioneer ordinands — as trendy and edgy a bunch of church leaders as the Church of England have (finish that sentence for yourself…!). Interestingly, they concluded these were counselling-speak driven and could have been presented by anybody if the Bible verses had been left out. And maybe that’s the answer: these make great introductions to a discussion — helpfully bring people into an issue at an emotional and visual level, but must be marketed as ‘a curtain raiser’ and followed by a substantive look at Scripture. Maybe EN could commission some Bible studies to accompany the films? Andrew Baughen, © Evangelicals Now - September 2008 |