Welcome to twenty-first century American culture, where a myriad of voices speak a multitude of messages, through a multiplicity of media. This week we will look at several media forms and their prophetic power.

Film. First, let's look at the Hollywood film industry. Is Hollywood a mirror or a shaper of our culture? Hollywood's producers and directors would have us believe that their films merely reflect our own values back to us. But do they? Imagine yourself in a movie theater. The year is 1962. You and your family settle into your seats. Your left hand grasps a box of popcorn. Your right hand clutches a soda. The film To Kill a Mockingbird begins to roll. If you have any conscience at all, your heart will soon be pricked as you consider the ugly power of racial bigotry.

Other films, too, have explored the subject of America's unique struggle with racism. In 1967, "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner?" burst open the taboo subject of interracial dating and courtship. Another 1967 film, "In the Heat of the Night," explored the changing relationship between a white, Mississippi sheriff and a black Philadelphia police detective, as they worked together to solve a murder. More recently, films like "Glory," "Mississippi Burning," and "A Time to Kill," continued to examine the fragile theme of racism in the collective American psyche.

Hollywood has imparted many values to American moviegoers through the years. Sometimes American-made films reinforce our long-held values of family, hard work, and integrity. But quite often, Hollywood's offerings cut against the grain, foisting upon us a world view that runs counter to our traditional ways of looking at things. Sometimes this is good, as with Hollywood's mostly positive impact upon racism in our culture. But frequently, especially in the last 35 years, the values which Hollywood has imparted have been anti-Christian and anti-gospel. Films can be a very effective outlet for Prophetic Voices to speak into the stream and flow of our culture.

Television. If films are powerful voices, speaking into our lives, then television packs even more power, invading our homes and hearts with daily words, images, and sounds. In the fifties and early sixties, we watched, among others, "Leave it to Beaver," "The Andy Griffith Show," and "My Three Sons." Who could forget Ward Cleaver, Andy Taylor, and Steve Douglas, imparting their fatherly wisdom to their young charges? These first generation television programs reinforced wholesome family values.

As the medium of television matured, its messages slowly degenerated. Today, characters in soap operas, sitcoms, and television dramas frequently engage in fornication. The act itself is rarely shown but often implied. And recently, homosexuality and lesbianism have been working their way into mainstream television programming. What's next? How profoundly have our values been impacted by television? Television programming is a powerful medium for Prophetic Voices to speak into the stream and flow of our culture.

Literature. For centuries before film and television began impacting our view of the world, literature has been shaping our values. In addition to many non-fiction works, written specifically to instruct and inform, many fictional works have dramatically impacted our culture as well. Uncle Tom's Cabin, the pre-Civil War classic by Harriet Beecher Stowe, fueled abolitionist passions in the North in the years preceding the war. During the conflict, Lincoln met Stowe and remarked about the power of her story: "So you're the little lady who wrote the book which started this big war!" Lincoln understood the power of a good story to shape and mold the values of a culture.

Charles Dickens' books portrayed the poor and underprivileged classes in England during the nineteenth century - particularly the children. His writing stirred hearts and fostered changes in child labor laws.

Have you read Frank Peretti's novel, This Present Darkness? Imagine again the writer's images of prayer warriors praying and angels in battle. After reading Peretti's book, did you commit yourself to be more spiritually aware and prayerful? His book made a deep prophetic impact upon the evangelical Christian community in America. Like television and film, literature has also been one of the powerful media for Prophetic Voices in our land.

Music. Music has always been an important part of the American cultural landscape. From early colonial folk tunes, to the music of Stephen Foster, to gospel, to jazz, to big band, to rock and roll, r&b, and rap, music has been both a reflection and a shaper of the American experience.

In the 1960's, a wave of singer-songwriters broke across the scene and helped to steer our nation toward a new course. In that decade, music seemed to pack more power than in any previous American era. The sixties witnessed a wave of supergroups - the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, and the Beach Boys are but three of countless names that still ring in the minds of those who grew up in that period.

One writer in particular stands above the rest as a prophetic voice for his time. Bob Dylan, a prolific voice in the sixties, wrote many songs with a prophetic edge. His early albums especially, with tunes such as Masters of War, A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall, Oxford Town, and The Times They are A-Changin', set the tone for the decade. The sixties was a time of great change, a massive cultural shift. We moved away from the Judeo-Christian roots of our past and toward a nihilistic, relativistic world view.

Dylan, Joan Baez, and many lesser known figures, sang of civil rights struggles and anti-war protests. Later in that era, in the early seventies, Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young wrote and popularized a song titled Four Dead in Ohio, a tribute to the four anti-war protesters slain at Kent State University in 1970. But David Crosby also said this about his cultural motivations in a Rolling Stone interview: "I figured the only thing to do was to swipe their kids, I still think it's the only thing to do. By saying that I'm not talking of kidnapping, I'm just talking about changing their value systems, which removes them from their parents' world very effectively." His music, and other music of that generation, did just that, propelling our culture toward open rebellion, culminating in drug use, sexual freedom, and all sorts of ungodly philosophies. Music has done much to shape our society and in so doing, is one more means whereby Prophetic Voices deliver their powerful and potent messages into our society today.

We must not forget magazines, newspapers, and television news. They are also powerful media for Prophetic Voices in our culture. Everywhere we turn, people are speaking, communicating messages, and shaping values.

Education. The aforementioned areas are all voluntary and subtle. In our free society, no one is compelled to view films, watch television, read literature, or listen to music. But few of us have escaped some degree of formal education. Schools, be they public or private, exist for the sole purpose of shaping our minds. "Values-free education" is a myth. Education is, by its very nature, a mechanism created to impart values.

Where does the Church and its message come into play? Are we actively engaged in The Marketplace of Ideas? Christian education continues to grow in influence, in primary levels, secondary levels, and beyond. Christian fiction has come on strong in the last 15 years. And Christian music has been slowly gaining strides over the last 30 years. We do have a good share of magazines and printed literature. But we have been very weak in television and film. Should we be doing more? Why don't Christians produce programs with cultural emphases, like those on National Public Radio? And, in what we are already doing, do you think that the values promoted by Christian arts and education truly promote Christ? Or are they just another means of making money? What are your thoughts?

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Next week, we will look at how prophetic Voices Launch Nations into existence.