Blog on the Lillypad
Wednesday, November 10, 2004
An instance of Evangelicals missing the point---AGAIN!
Somebody named George Barna has concluded that the movie, THE PASSION OF THE CHRIST has had only a limited evangelical impact. How like Evangelicals that even a great work of art is evaluated for its evangelism! For decades, Evangelicals have run after many forms of expression and every latest fad to try to pin it to Christianity and thereby make Christianity more pertinent, more timely, more young and daring and extremely cool. In this massive effort they have, of course, obscured the very timeliness and pertinence of Christianity. When the greatest doctrines of human existence, and that which is spread across the heavens in bold and unending declaration is made subject to fads and styles and hype, it is trivialized, not made pertinent.
And so, it is a commentary on the shallow cultural mores of Evangelicals that the primary concern over a *film* is its prominence as an evangelical tool. Oh, Evangelicals don't like it, and even many Calvinist Evangelicals will say I am being too narrow, but in the Bible, there is only ONE evangelistic tool that is sanctioned and blessed by God, and that is the forthright preaching of the Gospel. God is pleased by the foolishness of preaching to spread Christianity to every land.
If THE PASSION had no more effectiveness as an evangelistic tool than a bottle of shoe polish, that's fine, because THE PASSION is an artistic work. And many Evangelicals may think such a remark diminishes the weight of serious consideration and reflection that THE PASSION gave so many of us. But the reverse is true. When I recognize that THE PASSION is a work of art, then as a Christian I am freed to enjoy it as a part of human expression and heartfelt response to what Christ did for us. It remains the moving, thought provoking, uplifting declaration of the magnificence of Christ's suffering. When I try to make it do what a sermon has been intended to do, I start putting it in a context where it is less appreciated and less powerful, and it will soon vanish from the scene.
What I am saying leads to this conclusion: Barna shows that THE PASSION had only limited effect as an evangelistic tool. Well, so what? We can relegate it, in terms of being an evangelistic tool, to that big cabinet full of other only-slightly successful evangelistic tools: gospel comic books, "I Found It" buttons, finding out you have cancer, graffiti on overpasses that say "God Loves You, John 3:16," etc. A lot of incidentals have been used by God to bring people to Christ. But the reliance of our expectations must be on the straightforward preaching of the Gospel. THAT is the means God has ordained to spread Christianity. Conversion of the soul does not come about by emotional high or low, or intellectual recognition, but by the work of the Holy Spirit.
On the other hand, as a cinematic work of art, THE PASSION has made a lasting and profound statement about the meaning and significance of the passion of our Saviour. Evangelicals just need to get clear about what makes a work of art significant, and it's not (and never will be) the evangelistic impact of the art. That's what Preaching is for. Art is for something else.
[The reference to Barna is taken from The Jolly Blogger]
Somebody named George Barna has concluded that the movie, THE PASSION OF THE CHRIST has had only a limited evangelical impact. How like Evangelicals that even a great work of art is evaluated for its evangelism! For decades, Evangelicals have run after many forms of expression and every latest fad to try to pin it to Christianity and thereby make Christianity more pertinent, more timely, more young and daring and extremely cool. In this massive effort they have, of course, obscured the very timeliness and pertinence of Christianity. When the greatest doctrines of human existence, and that which is spread across the heavens in bold and unending declaration is made subject to fads and styles and hype, it is trivialized, not made pertinent.
And so, it is a commentary on the shallow cultural mores of Evangelicals that the primary concern over a *film* is its prominence as an evangelical tool. Oh, Evangelicals don't like it, and even many Calvinist Evangelicals will say I am being too narrow, but in the Bible, there is only ONE evangelistic tool that is sanctioned and blessed by God, and that is the forthright preaching of the Gospel. God is pleased by the foolishness of preaching to spread Christianity to every land.
If THE PASSION had no more effectiveness as an evangelistic tool than a bottle of shoe polish, that's fine, because THE PASSION is an artistic work. And many Evangelicals may think such a remark diminishes the weight of serious consideration and reflection that THE PASSION gave so many of us. But the reverse is true. When I recognize that THE PASSION is a work of art, then as a Christian I am freed to enjoy it as a part of human expression and heartfelt response to what Christ did for us. It remains the moving, thought provoking, uplifting declaration of the magnificence of Christ's suffering. When I try to make it do what a sermon has been intended to do, I start putting it in a context where it is less appreciated and less powerful, and it will soon vanish from the scene.
What I am saying leads to this conclusion: Barna shows that THE PASSION had only limited effect as an evangelistic tool. Well, so what? We can relegate it, in terms of being an evangelistic tool, to that big cabinet full of other only-slightly successful evangelistic tools: gospel comic books, "I Found It" buttons, finding out you have cancer, graffiti on overpasses that say "God Loves You, John 3:16," etc. A lot of incidentals have been used by God to bring people to Christ. But the reliance of our expectations must be on the straightforward preaching of the Gospel. THAT is the means God has ordained to spread Christianity. Conversion of the soul does not come about by emotional high or low, or intellectual recognition, but by the work of the Holy Spirit.
On the other hand, as a cinematic work of art, THE PASSION has made a lasting and profound statement about the meaning and significance of the passion of our Saviour. Evangelicals just need to get clear about what makes a work of art significant, and it's not (and never will be) the evangelistic impact of the art. That's what Preaching is for. Art is for something else.
[The reference to Barna is taken from The Jolly Blogger]
