Resources/Articles
Jesus And Church Recreation
“Jesus of Nazareth”, “The Passion of the Christ”, “The Last Temptation of Christ”, “The Greatest Story Ever Told”, “Jesus Christ Superstar”, and “Son of Man” are all movies dramatizing the life of Jesus Christ.
Depicting Bible characters on the movie screen makes producers a lot of money. Moses and Jesus have been depicted on the “silver screen” more than John Wayne or Robert Redford. Why can people not open up the Bible and learn something about these characters and events directly from the mouth of God? Why do people flock to a Hollywood interpretation of scripture rather than the direct statement, example, or logical conclusion expressed in the Word? With all the hype these movies achieved from the public (world), Christians should exercise caution. Each of these movies has presented some issues which should create some interesting discussions with those who talk about having seen them. Issues like what it means to be converted versus a “spiritual experience”, adding to or taking from the scripture to depict a Bible event, what is worship, and dramatization as a divine method of teaching.
Another issue is church recreation. Theaters across the country sold tickets to see these movies to private church groups of 50 or more. Some churches rented the auditoriums and moved their church services to the movies. Such a move meets approval of the church because it is considered a religious experience. Mel Gibson told interviewers his movie “Passion of the Christ” was aided by the Holy Spirit. Does Gibson’s “divine assistance” give approval to a church’s moving their worship services to a movie theater to see Jesus crucified? What many churches want their members to see is no different than the productions they put together for Christmas or will put together for Easter in a few weeks from now.
Where do these churches find scriptural authority to buy tickets to these movies from the treasury and distribute them to the members? Does this mean churches approve of all the movie material and are simply purchasing this as one might purchase a film for a Bible Class? Does it include popcorn? This is just one more attempt by churches to attract people’s attention to God through entertainment. Entertainment and recreation has the intent of drawing a crowd. What a shame it is that people believe the best “religious experience” is in a movie rather than reading the text in the Bible. Those words provide eternal life (John 6:66-68), not a movie about Christ. Just skip the movies and read THE book.
