{"id":88220,"date":"2025-06-28T16:19:58","date_gmt":"2025-06-28T21:19:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/?p=88220"},"modified":"2025-06-28T16:19:58","modified_gmt":"2025-06-28T21:19:58","slug":"is-acting-a-sin","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/is-acting-a-sin\/","title":{"rendered":"Is acting a sin?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\t

Question:<\/h2>\n

Dear Mr. Hamilton,<\/p>\n

I hope this message finds you well. I wanted to share a thought that has been on my mind lately, particularly regarding the world of acting and entertainment, and how it might be perceived within the church.<\/p>\nIt wouldn’t surprise me if one day I came across a sermon or article-perhaps even within our own fellowship-where a member of the Church of Christ condemns acting, movies, television, or live theater altogether. The argument might be made that these forms of entertainment are inherently deceptive: that actors are pretending to be someone they’re not, saying things that aren’t true, and therefore engaging in a form of lying. From that perspective, such art forms could be criticized as promoting dishonesty and deemed
\nunsuitable for Christians.\n

While I understand the concern about truthfulness, I also wonder if such a stance might overlook the intent and purpose behind storytelling. Fiction, after all, can serve to illuminate truth, stir the conscience, and inspire virtue-even if the narrative itself is imagined.\u00a0 Jesus Himself used parables-stories that were not literal events but were rich in meaning and truth.<\/p>\n

I would appreciate your thoughts on this topic. Have you encountered this perspective within the church before? Do you think it’s a fair concern, or does it stem from a misunderstanding of what storytelling and performance aim to accomplish?<\/p>\n

Thank you for your time and insight.<\/p>\n\t

Answer:<\/h2>\n

In answer to “Can a Christian be a serious actor when so many movies have intimate scenes?<\/a>” I pointed out that if a Christian is asked to portray sin, it is still sin. To claim that one was only pretending doesn’t absolve the person from responsibility.<\/p>\n

You are correct to note that Jesus used parables to illustrate his points. Those parables were descriptions about events from everyday life that could have taken place. The prophets were often asked to perform unusual acts to draw attention and convey a message from God. But again, what they did was moral.<\/p>\n

Even one of the books of the Bible, the Song of Solomon, is written in the form of a play.<\/p>\n

Fantasy stories are not wrong simply because they are fantasies. See “What makes some fantasy stories wrong?<\/a>” Always, the question is what is being taught and promoted by the stories.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Question: Dear Mr. Hamilton, I hope this message finds you well. I wanted to share a thought that has been on my mind lately, particularly regarding the world of acting and entertainment, and how it might be perceived within the church. It wouldn’t surprise me if one day I came across a sermon or article-perhaps…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[1821,1822],"class_list":["post-88220","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-answer","tag-acting","tag-actor"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":68260,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/when-am-i-acting-as-the-judge\/","url_meta":{"origin":88220,"position":0},"title":"When am I acting as the Judge?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"June 5, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hello Brother, I hope you're doing well by God's grace. Thank you so much for your time.\u00a0Please, I have a question. On one of the web pages of a church of Christ, the question is asked, \"Are my parents lost because they did not practice the things you teach?\"\u00a0The\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":63852,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/acting-from-compassion\/","url_meta":{"origin":88220,"position":1},"title":"Acting from Compassion","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 16, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"by Kirk Davidson","rel":"","context":"In "Audio"","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":91141,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/when-to-exercise-church-discipline\/","url_meta":{"origin":88220,"position":2},"title":"When to Exercise Church Discipline","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 9, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"by Kyle Ellison The question of when to exercise church discipline is both agonizing and grueling, one that elders and members must grapple with from time to time. Elders feel the weight of this without a doubt, since they are charged with watching for the souls of those under their\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":44977,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/is-it-biblical-to-have-camps-for-groups-within-a-church\/","url_meta":{"origin":88220,"position":3},"title":"Is it biblical to have camps for groups within a church?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 31, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hi, I would like to ask about fundraising activities for groups within the church, such as youths' meetings, men's meetings, and ladies' meetings. Would it be proper for the youths to have a car wash where the money would go into the youths' group account and not the church's\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":40582,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/what-is-the-difference-between-sin-iniquity-and-abomination\/","url_meta":{"origin":88220,"position":4},"title":"What is the difference between sin, iniquity, and abomination?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 10, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Is there any difference between sin and iniquity, and is there any difference between sin and abomination? Answer: \"Sin\" generally translates the Greek word\u00a0harmartia. It means to err, to miss the mark or the goal.\u00a0Harmartia\u00a0and its related forms are the most general word describing that which is sin. In\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":42605,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/are-things-like-youth-groups-camps-interns-fellowship-halls-etc-inherently-bad\/","url_meta":{"origin":88220,"position":5},"title":"Are things like youth groups, camps, interns, fellowship halls, etc. inherently bad?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 20, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Well, I have been reading through your site and it has made me question some things about my church. Right now I'm beginning college and I attend a church of Christ as I did when I was back home. I now have a much more solid understanding of why\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/88220","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=88220"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/88220\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=88220"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=88220"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=88220"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}