t started with the nickelodeon: a series of images strung together within a cylindrical container with slots between them through which a person could watch as the wheel spun and the images seemed to come to life. When people started losing jobs in the Great Depression, it didn't matter that they didn't have a dime to their name, because what they did have was a nickel. And it fit squarely into this little box that, for a moment, let them forget about their troubles.

The record album and the radio also allowed them to “portably” listen to any kind of music anywhere they wanted without a live band. Today we can fit an entire library of music and movies on an iPod, and there are those who work hard all week merely for the ability to settle down and gorge on a feast for their eyes and ears. Opening the Portal today, we visit these entertainment consumers.

It's fairly obvious that the best way to witness to an entertainment consumer is to produce entertainment. What seems to be not so obvious, however, is the way in which to do this. Veggie Tales will not cut it. That's not to say the vegetables aren't fantastic; we just need more meat in our diet as we grow older. Unfortunately, most of the more “grown-up” selections currently in stock for Christians are mere poultry at best ... and usually stink like fish.

The “meat” in this analogy is not the Gospel but entertainment value. The Gospel should be there, but in order for it to be effective in this context it must be just as subtle as it would be in everyday life. There are times when you actively proclaim the Word, but the best witnesses are always the incidental actions you take. Then one day you say something small like “God bless you,” which flips a switch in the person who was watching, and then it all makes sense.

When people go to the movies or listen to music, they expect to turn off their brains and be entertained. They will turn their brains back on later, and that is the proper time to talk about the subtle influences behind the art.

You talk about a movie when you're with your friends afterwards saying, for instance, “remember when he blew up the building?” This is when you — a friend who is “in the know” — can bring up “meat” such as the fact that the demolition symbolized the fall of Adam.

In any entertainment, the deep, significant meaning is the meat for which we must dig. Making the viewers read the Gospel between the lines and then giving them one short line of dialog that makes every other scene make sense is what gives any means of entertainment more reality, relevance and intrigue and will make them want to find out how you came up with this stuff.