Few movies have ever drawn as
much attention from both the secular media and the religious communities
as the movie, "The Passion of the Christ. Generally, religious
movies produced by "hollywood" have been for the most part
immediately criticized and rejected or just ignored. But this one is different.
The question as to why this religious movie has gained so much immediate
recognition and acceptance is both unusual and concerning. The
fact that a significant part of the "Christian" community has embraced
this movie as an tool of evangelism and focused attention is even
further disconcerting. Many noted Evangelicals
including James Dobson and Billy Graham have also come forward to
endorse The Passion of the Christ and recommend its use as a
teaching tool. Billy Graham in his endorsement of The Passion
of the Christ said, "Every time I preach or speak about the
Cross, the things I saw on the screen will be on my heart and mind."
But before we seek to understand Christ's True Passion, I
believe some basic questions need to be addressed.
1. Can a 1self proclaimed
conservative catholic (Mel Gibson), portray a biblically &
spiritually accurate picture of the life of Christ and the meaning of
the crucifixion? Do we forget that the natural unregenerate man
cannot discern the things of God? (I Cor.2:14) Scripture
plainly asserts that an unregenerate person cannot know the truth since
he has rejected Jesus Christ who is "the way, the truth, and the life."
(Jn.14:6) That's why Nicodemas (a Pharisee and a ruler of the
Jews) was told by Christ, no matter how religious you are, "you must be
born from above" (Jn.3:1-5). Now, I know many at this point would
say that Mel Gibson IS a Christian and that's why we can embrace this
movie. Well, we can't judge anyone's heart, but we are told to
evaluate the fruit of the life to discern whether we can fellowship with
that person and follow their teaching. (Mt.7:15-23; I Jn.4:1; II
Pet.2:1f, etc.) When Mel Gibson calls himself a catholic, and
consistently practices his catholic faith, (participating in mass, etc.)
we begin to see the fruit of his life. In an interview with
Christianity Today, posted on February 20, 2004, Mel said, "I've
been actually amazed at the way I would say the evangelical audience has
– hands down – responded to this film more than any other Christian
group." What makes it so amazing, he says, is that "the film is so
Marian." If Mel Gibson is a born again Christian, why does he
identify the focus and design of this film
to be distinctively Marian (Roman Catholic), and not Christ centered?
Can a true Christian be both Mary centered and Christ centered
especially when Christ himself said, "He who loves father and mother
more than Me is not worthy of Me," and "No one can serve two masters;
for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will hold to
the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money"?
(Mt.10:37; 6:24)
If he is a "true christian",
why does he continue to act in many 2blatantly un-christian
films? Films full of violence, sex and/or nudity and obscene
language? If anything, these issues should at least raise SERIOUS red flags
in our mind. Do I judge his
motives or sincerity? NO! I'm sure Mel Gibson was sincerely trying to
produce what he thought is the best movie possible on the last days of Christ.
What I am concerned about is whether or not this film is a biblically &
spiritually accurate portrayal of the last days of the life of Christ
and then whether it is a valid tool for evangelism as it portrays the
heart of the gospel.
I therefore present my comments of this
extremely popular "christian" film realizing that what I say may not be
taken in the spirit in which this is given. My concerns are
founded on only remaining true to Christ and the scriptures. My
comments are not based on any denominational bias, nor any
particular religious background. I will appeal only to the pages
of scripture and it's understanding as revealed by the Holy Spirit as I
humbly understand his will and ways. I encourage questions that
center around our understanding of the scriptures as they relate to this
issue.
A few more questions need to be asked. Have I
personally viewed the film? No, I have not seen the film other than a
few commercials for it. If I haven't seen the film, what will my
observations be based on? I am attempting to address the basic
message of the movie (the meaning & message of the crucifixion).
My concerns center only on the portrayal of Christ, Satan and the
primary message and meaning of the film. I have also used the
review material found on www.screenit.com
to provide further details about the movie. Why don't you want
to see the movie? Movies present powerful visual images that can
stay with you for a extremely long time. I don't want any
erroneous images distorting my understanding of the last days of Christ
and the meaning of the crucifixion.
Here are my concerns:
1. First, I'm concerned about the films' portrayal of Satan.
This movie presents Satan as a female.
Both in the old and new testament, Satan is referred to as a male
(Gen.3:1; Mt.4:7, Rev.20:2, etc). Secondly, This film
characterizes the devil as the typical Hollywood stereotyped image. Satan wants
you to think he is a red fiend with a pitchfork or an androgynous freak
under a black cloak; but that is crucial to his deception of men, and
Mel assisted this design of how Satan would appear in the movie. Is this really how the
Bible portrays Satan? Ezek.28:17 says concerning Satan that he was beautiful, and
proud of that beauty. II Cor. 11:14-15 says Satan & his
servants disguise themselves as an "angel of light". Satan always
presents himself and his temptations as beautiful, good, sensible and
right. That's why we fall for his lies. We see them as good.
When we view the devil as anything other than an angel of light, we
increase the likelihood that we will be deceived because we are looking
for the wrong thing. This wrong portrayal of Satan is very
dangerous. It reinforces the primary deception of Satan.
Remember the devil tries to convince us he is something other than what
he really is. That's why the Bible calls him an anti-Christ.
He is seeking to persuade and deceive people into thinking he is the
good God of the Bible when in actuality he is just the opposite.
Are we blind & ignorant to his deceptions & schemes? II Tim.3:1-13
says that in the last days, many will be deceived by Satan. Will
you or I be one of them?
For example, we
really don't believe that a great spiritual leader who prophesies in the
name of the Lord, casts out demons in the name of the Lord and performs
many miracles in the name of the Lord, can himself be cast into hell
(along with Satan & all his demons),
even though he looks good, spiritual and holy and does so much good. But that is
exactly what Jesus warned us about in Mt.7:21-23. If we are not
known by God, intimately & personally based on a deep serious
relationship with Christ where we daily prove our love for Him by
obeying His every commandment, we will hear these terrible words, "I
never knew you, Depart from Me you who practice lawlessness."
2. Finally and most importantly, to believe that
Christ's struggle in the garden was over the
physical pain & suffering He would experience over the next few hours is to TOTALLY
misunderstand the heart of Christ. How do we know that Jesus was
not the least grieved over the inevitable pain and suffering He would
face in the next few hours. History tells us that many Christians
over the centuries have cheerfully marched to their death without as so
much as a complaint or wimper. Christ surely could at least do the
same, right? John Huss was burned at the stake singing praises to
the Lord.
If Jesus was not grieved over the impending pain &
suffering, what was he grieving over? To answer this question, we
must understand the true heart & passion of our Lord. Jesus' heart is
described for us in Heb.1:9 where is says, "He hated sin and loved
righteousness more than his brethren".. . The Old Testament
confirms that He was not only filled with the "Fear of the Lord,"
but delighted in it (Is.11:2-3). What is the Fear of the Lord? Prov.
8:13 tells us
that "the Fear of the Lord is to hate evil..." Jesus hated evil more
than any other person, yet was also the most loving, non-condemning man
that ever walked on the earth. Sinners even felt comfortable
around Him (Mt.11:19). The point is this; Christ knew that he had
to become what the Father and He hated most, he had to become sin (II
Cor.5:21).
We can now begin to understand that what grieved
Christ the most, was to be separated from His Father because of taking on
the sin of the world. He had
fellowshipped with His Father from all eternity. There was never a
single moment in time where anything or anyone had broken His fellowship
with the Father. To provide salvation for the world, Christ would
have to become like the sacrificial lamb and take on the sin of the
world. For Christ to take upon Himself the sin of the world, His
heavenly Father would be forced to turn his back on sin and therefore
break fellowship with His Son. The reason is this, our heavenly
Father, the Holy God of
this universe cannot even look at sin (Hab.1:13) Christ valued fellowship
with His heavenly Father so much, that the idea of losing that
fellowship even for one second was enough to make him sweat great drops
of blood. He struggled with submitting to the will of the Father
only because He did not want anything to come between the Father and
Him. Jesus knew that to become sin for us, He would lose
fellowship with the Father.
Nonetheless, as always, He submitted His will to the will of the Father,
realizing that this was the only way to bring salvation to the world,
even if it meant breaking fellowship with the Father to accomplish it.
Do we value fellowship with the
Father as highly? Do we hate sin so much that we will practically
do anything to not sin and therefore not lose fellowship with the Father?
Remember, even the smallest sin severs our fellowship with the Father. Psalms.66:18 says
"If I see mischief in my heart, the
Lord will not hear." Only genuine repentance and confession
restores fellowship with the Father. (I Jn.1:9) Are we concerned
over one little sin that breaks fellowship with not only our
heavenly Father, but your wife, your husband or another brother?
Why do we go hours, days or weeks in broken fellowship before we
make things right with God and man? Let's follow Christ's command
to "... first be reconciled to your brother..." (Mt.5:24).
Let's get serious about the real passion of Christ - His
hatred for sin and His unquenchable desire for unbroken fellowship with
His Father. These two elements make up the true passion of Christ.
Unfortunately, in Mel Gibson's movie you'll find neither of these.
So, you may be asking,
why am I making such a big deal about what many claim to be a good movie about the last
days of the life of Christ. Here's why; if we miss the main point of the
message of the Crucifixion, or if the meaning & message of the
crucifixion of Christ is distorted, what happens to our presentation of the
gospel? Will not our gospel message be also distorted? With
so many church's using this film as an evangelistic tool, won't the
gospel message be distorted if the message of the film is inaccurate and
distorted to fit a certain religious viewpoint? How then does the true gospel message of the Bible differ from
the message of Roman Catholicism, or are they essentially the same as
many are claiming? If the gospel (of which the meaning of the
crucifixion of Christ is central) that we are presenting to the world is
distorted, what happens to those who then believe a false gospel?
Isn't it our responsibility to make sure we present an totally accurate
gospel to the world? Does the "church" have to settle for a
hollywood version of the life of our Christ? I pray the Lord would
open our eyes to see the difference between the "angel of light" and the
true light of the world. The souls of mankind hang in the balance,
ours, and our neighbors.
1 See the below attached links for
specific documentation concerning the claims of Mel Gibson and his
catholic views on the making of this film.
2 Here is a sample of one of Mel Gibsons'
more recent films: What Women Want (2000) Rated PG-13 for sexual
content and language. Would a true Christian participate in such a
film?
Other important articles on the movie: The Passion of the Christ
- Showtime for
the Sheep,
The
Purpose and the Passion
Other Related web Sites:
www.LetGodBeTrue.com,
www.thebereancall.org
Your comments are welcome,
send to: vrstorkel@yahoo.com
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