Nicholas Cage, upon the urging of his pastor-brother, is starring in a remake of the Left Behind story, which returns to the screen this weekend.

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It seems the world is full of apocalyptic-themed entertainment offerings these days, from The Hunger Games to off-color comedy movies (Rapture-Palooza, This is the End, The World’s End) to TV series (Lost, Jericho, The Leftovers, The Walking Dead, and maybe even Breaking Bad) that reference biblical ideas that paint dystopian future visions.

All these are mere branches that grew out of the dystopian trunk of biblical apocalyptic literature.But such stories, though popular, are not new. I'm thinking of classics like Lord of the Flies and 1984. And often we in the church misunderstand the genre, decrying their negativity and seeming fixation with violence.

But in doing so, we misunderstand the genre. Its pointis not to glorify violence (or not much) or negativity, but ultimately to point to a better reality. Stories set in unideal worlds show the logical end if events continue as they are. The writers of such works intend to offer hope, actually, because their message suggests it’s not too late if only we will wake up.

And that is the whole point of Left Behind, and its inspiration, the Book of Revelation. Whatever the Bible's complex imagery means with its trumpets and bowls and scrolls, we can all affirm that the world is messed up, but God loves it and has sent warnings so that those who hear might turn and find life.