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Still Thinking Out Loud About the Passion
Let me be clear: I have no problem with “The Passion of Christ.” I have no doubt that Gibson has made an emotionally devastating and spiritually transforming movie.

Before I write my next thought, I need to make a disclosure. I have a cynical nature. I might even go so far as to call it a spiritual gift if it wouldn’t seem so presumptuous. Christians can be extremely gullible and overly sentimental. At times, my function in the community of faith is to provide a counter-balance to this. I’m not a “wild-eyed true believer.” I don’t readily go with the crowd. I’m not much of a “cheerleading preacher.” My faith is a bit more guarded, a tad more reserved than most. It has been shaped by seasons of overwhelming doubt. When others around me are getting excited about something, I’m usually looking for a curtain to pull back, a hoax to unveil. This trait drives my wife crazy.

Having said that, I say this. My only problem with “The Passion” is with the way evangelical Christians are marketing and promoting it. As a work of art, I believe “The Passion” has tremendous potential for evangelism. However, if we cover Gibson’s art in too much evangelical Christian cheese, then the full force of the movie’s message may be blunted, because to “normal” people, its going to take on the stench of just another right-wing evangelical ploy designed to “take our country back for God.”

This may sound completely absurd—and I’ll understand if you immediately file this post under “thoughts from a fool”—but I find myself wishing that Gibson’s project could have stayed underground and not gone mainstream. No English subtitles. No major distributor. Just a subversive, artsy movie about the death of Jesus made by a director as an expression of his love for his Savior. There is no chance of that now. Marketing packets have been sold to churches. Theatres have been reserved. People have been invited to see a movie that everyone is talking about. In the tradition of “big time American evangelical Christianity” we have taken this thing over the top. That may not be a bad thing. Because of the media coverage, millions of people will be hearing about Jesus’ death on the cross and the meaning behind it. Thousands of people may very well become Christ-followers because of this movie and the way churches are using it.

Here is where my cynical nature kicks in. How many people will find themselves, just after this movie is over, in the uncomfortable situation of having to rebuff yet another evangelistic appeal over coffee? How many people will feel taken advantage of when they realize that the reason they were invited to this movie is because they were someone else’s evangelistic project?

You know what I’d really like to do? I’d like to go to a showing of this movie that isn’t full of Christians. In Tulsa, that’s going to be hard to do. Maybe I should fly up to Seattle or Vancouver for a day and check it out there. I am very curious to see how people who have not been prepped by the evangelical community will respond to it.

...Don't get me wrong, I'll go see this film. I'll weep, I'll grimace, I'll leave the theatre with a greater love for God and appreciation for what Jesus suffered on the cross for my sins. I'll make reference to it in my sermons. I'll use it as an evangelistic tool if it seems appropriate to do so.

But I must admit that it strikes me as a bit odd or at least ironic that some Christians are hyping this movie the way they are. It is supposedly the most graphic and realistic depiction of the crucifixion ever captured on film. We're lining up to go see it, reserving theatres so that we can watch. What kind of crowd gathers to watch a man get tortured and die? What kind of people buy tickets in advance to witness an execution?

My guess is the same kind of people who cried "crucify him!" 2000 years ago. If we had been there when it actually happened, I wonder how many of us would have gathered to watch? If Rome sold tickets to crucifixions, how big a block would we have reserved? And for what reason? Would we have invited a friend to come along? "Hey man, come with me and watch this guy get tortured."

I wonder how many early Christians actually witnessed a crucifixion? When Paul said, "I preach Christ crucified," did they know EXACTLY what he was talking about?

If someone had caught Jesus' actual crucifixion on tape, I wonder if the first Christians would have replayed it every Sunday before communion?