Over
the years, filmmakers who have chosen to portray the life of Jesus have always been
challenged to achieve biblical accuracy while also framing the narrative and
characters in a way that conveys the message and ministry of Christ in an
understandable and entertaining way. Usually a film will contain a disclaimer to
explain how its creators have decided to portray the amazing life and ministry
of Christ. Even the inspired authors of
the Gospel accounts included only selected aspects of the life of Christ.
The Apostle John paused near the end of his epistle to include a purpose
statement for his Gospel (“Good News”) with an implied disclaimer. He writes, Jesus performed many other
signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. But these are written that you may believe that
Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life
in his name (John 20: 30-31).
The opening credits to Episode 1, Season 1 of Dallas Jenkins’ film production, The Chosen, includes
a disclaimer that reads very much like the above disclaimer written by John:
“The Chosen” is based on the true
stories of the gospels of Jesus Christ.
Some locations and timelines have been combined or condensed. Backstories and some characters or dialogue
have been added.
However, all biblical and historical context and any artistic imagination are
designed to support the truth and intention of the Scriptures. Viewers are encouraged to read the gospels.
In her review of The Chosen in WORLD
Magazine, Megan Basham notes that Jenkins “takes creative license by
asking intelligent questions then imagining stories that might answer them.” For
example, Episode 1 introduces viewers to a young man, Matthew, who will become
one of Jesus’ disciples and eventually write the Gospel of Matthew. But here Matthew is employed to do the Romans’
bidding and is hated by the Jewish people because he extracts exorbitant taxes
from their meager incomes.
Four other future followers of Christ are introduced: Peter and his brother
Andrew, and James and John. They are
among the Jews feeling the bite of taxation as they struggle to maintain their
small business—fishing in the Sea of Galilee.
Jenkins uses the threat of financial ruin under heavy Roman taxation as
a plausible backstory for why these rugged men had been toiling at their nets
all night until Jesus told them to “put out into deep water and let down your
nets for a catch (Luke 5: 1-11).”
But the first character we meet in The Chosen is an unlikely one to launch
a crowdfunded movie series on the life of Christ. She is Mary of Magdala, better known as Mary
Magdalene, and she appears in the first scene in the middle of the night as a fearful
little girl clutching her doll. Her
father comforts her with the promise from prophetic Scripture, written 500
years earlier, and they recite these words:
But now, thus says the LORD,
who created you, O Jacob,
And He who formed you, O Israel:
“Fear not, for I have redeemed you;
I have called you by your name;
You are Mine. – Isaiah 43: 1
Fast-forward 28 years, and we find Mary Magdalene who goes by another name and
is an abused, rejected, and demon-possessed woman. To her, the promise of God in Isaiah now
seems hollow and powerless. Nor does
Mary find assistance or hope from Nicodemus who represents the organized
religion of his day.
Many of us can identify with Mary as we struggle against the age-old temptations
of pride, power, materialism, depression, and addiction. But just when she reaches the depths of despair,
Mary hears a Man calling her by her real name, “Mary.” Then, He speaks those
same words from Isaiah that she had recited in the warmth and security of her
father’s arms—“…I have redeemed you; I have called you by name; You are Mine.”
We were deeply moved and impressed by the first episode of The Chosen. So we purchased the first season and in so doing,
are “paying it forward”
to assist writer/director Dallas Jenkins and VidAngel in the making of eight additional
episodes for Season 2. I hope you will
take time to view online the first episode, “I Have Called You by Name.” Subsequent episodes are available at VidAngel.com.
The
recent mass shootings in El Paso and Dayton deeply saddened me and stirred my sympathy
for all who were affected. Admittedly,
this news also made me angry at the shooters.
Then, I began to reflect on the depravity that exists in my own heart. Times of tragedy serve to remind us all of
our need for repentance and forgiveness.
But sadly, our necessary reflection on universal human depravity is quickly
interrupted by personal distractions and the noisy clamor and rancor of our
culture in response to yet another tragedy.
On a social and political level, some argue that hate speech and racism incite
mass shooters to act. Others point to
guns as the responsible tools that should be banned. Still others point out that guns only fire
when angry persons pull the trigger. And
anger arises from personal turmoil from within the hearts of shooters, often
promoted by mental illness and/or drug addiction. Violent tendencies are particularly common among
young men who grow up without fathers and without supportive networks provided
by good schools, churches, and community organizations.
Reasons for horrific tragedies are complex and multifaceted, so I don’t mean to
oversimplify. However, it should be
obvious that finger-pointing and hateful rhetoric will not solve the deeper
problems. Nor will it be easy to “Red Flag”
potential threats without an understanding of the origin and growth of anger, hate,
and murder. Therefore, I must begin by
addressing the potential for hate and hateful responses within my own
heart.
From God’s Word, I am learning that the only difference between horrific
atrocities and the “hidden sins” of hate and pride in my heart is a matter of scale.
Jesus alludes to this in His teaching as
recorded in Matthew 5: 22 (emphasis mine):
But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother
shall be guilty before the court; and whoever says to his brother, 'You
good-for-nothing,' shall be guilty before the supreme court; and whoever says,
'You fool,' shall be guilty enough to go into the fiery hell. Notice that Jesus takes the sixth
commandment, “Thou shall not murder,” and goes to the source within the human
heart where the underlying sins of pride, hate, and envy are rooted. Sin within the heart triggers the sins of the
tongue such as hateful name-calling. And
one who speaks hatefully is capable of murder.
Christ takes very seriously this outward progression from the sinful
heart to hateful words to murder. So
seriously that He considers sins of the heart as equivalent to murder.
Thankfully, when our souls become frustrated and fearful, God stands ready with
a three-part prescription from His Word.
I am now considering them as my
basic “three R’s”—not “Readin’, ‘Ritin’, and ‘Rithmetic;” but instead, REPENT,
REJOICE, and RECONCILE.
REPENT
When I am becoming frustrated, fearful or angry toward others or in
response to the daily news, I must look within my own heart, the seat of my
personality. There, I will find the
cause of my unkind words and actions. And
there I should stop and repent.
According to Charles Spurgeon,
“Repentance is a discovery of the evil of sin,
a mourning that we have committed it,
and a resolution to forsake it.
It is, in fact, a change of mind of a very deep and practical character, which
makes the man love what once he hated, and hate what once he loved.”
Notice the emphasis on permanence in Spurgeon’s definition: “resolution to forsake...change of mind…very
deep and practical….” Along the same
lines, my former pastor, Dan Wingate calls us to adopt a “lifestyle of
repentance.” Such a humble, daily disposition
helps us to recognize our own depravity and our tendency to wander like sheep
away from God our Shepherd (Isaiah 53: 6).
Until we as individuals and as a society realize that sin is ultimately
a rebellion against God who created us and therefore, owns us, we will not realize
the seriousness of sin as the primary cause of our problems—individually and institutionally. We will go on hating others instead of hating
our own sin.
Don’t Substitute “Religion” for Repentance
Instead of recognizing that we are prideful rebels, we tend to focus on
external problems that are not the primary cause of our broken world. For example, the religious leaders of Jesus’s
day criticized Jesus an
d His followers for not ceremonially washing their hands
before they ate. But Jesus said the
primary problem is not what we do with our hands or even our tongues—but out of
our heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft,
false witness, slander. These are what defile a person. But to eat with unwashed hands does not defile
anyone (Matthew 15: 18-20).
Emphasis on the externals leads to a religion of ceremony and legalism. Rather than cultivating a love relationship
with God, we rely on check-lists of our good deeds. Both Christian and non-Christian alike can fall
into this error. Going to church,
tithing, and abstaining from alcohol or meat, or rejecting plastic straws and
gas-guzzling cars—none of these can make one person any more righteous in God’s
eyes than another. The Apostle Paul condemned external comparisons as selfish
and prideful when he wrote: When they measure themselves by themselves and
compare themselves with themselves, they are not wise (2 Corinthians 10:
12).
Our Strongholds to Resist Repentance
The alternative to a repentant heart is a heart that becomes increasingly calloused
with thick walls reinforced by pride and self-righteousness. Calloused hearts become insensitive, cold,
and hateful toward others. When we watch
the news, I see anxious and fearful people and hear angry words. Unrepentant, prideful people make arrogant
and woeful predictions that the sky is falling and despise anyone who disagrees with their philosophy
of government, ethnic relations, economics, and energy usage. Of course, we should exercise morality and
good stewardship in all of these areas.
But our pursuit of happiness is a fruitless effort unless we submit to God’s
plan and purpose through repentance. Repentance
frees us from the wages of sin and moves our focus from a life of pride,
comparison, envy, and fear to a focus on God who alone is perfect and judges
rightly. When the eyes of repentant souls
are focused on God, He brings rest to their souls.
Repentance must be my “first stop” before I can experience the other two R’s, rejoicing
and reconciliation. Yet it is
hard for me to read the Gospel accounts and imagine the ugly spectacle of the bleeding,
sinless Jesus Christ I helped to nail to a Roman cross. It was my sin that did this to Jesus! Yet my pride—our pride as humans can cause
us to turn away. We avoid godly counsel,
church, and God’s Word when we know they can help us. The prophet Isaiah, over 500 years before
Christ, prophesied how we would “despise and reject” the Suffering Servant whose
sacrifice in our place would cast a spotlight on our sin and depravity.
So, I have a choice, and you have as well.
Either we focus on justifying ourselves before God and others by the
good works we do, or we focus on what Christ did for us, dying in our place so
we can claim His righteousness (right standing before God). If we individually choose to reject God’s
“love gift” of salvation through repentance, then God can offer neither of the
other two R’s-- rejoicing and reconciliation.
Jesus warned: Unless you repent, you will all likewise perish (be
separated from God for eternity) (Luke 13: 3).
In 2 Corinthians 7: 10, Paul describes repentance that leads to
salvation. The Apostle Peter
summarized the Gospel when he wrote, For Christ also died for sins once for
all, the just for the unjust, so that He might bring us to God, having been put
to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit… And, again Paul wrote that he was not ashamed
of the Gospel because it is the power of God at work, saving everyone who
believes—the Jew first and also the Gentile (Romans 1: 16). That is “Good News” indeed; enough to bring
rejoicing!
REJOICE
To rejoice is to express joy and delight. True joy comes from within our hearts. Joy is one facet of the fruit of the Holy
Spirit who comes to abide in the repentant sinner. The Apostle Paul wrote, Now He who
prepared us for this very purpose [to live for eternity in resurrection
bodies] is God, who gave to us the Spirit as a pledge (2 Corinthians 5:
5). Salvation from sin (John 3: 16),
freedom from the condemnation of sin (Romans 8: 1), and the gift of God’s
Spirit to abide within us (Ezekiel 36: 27) is reason for rejoicing. The psalmist wrote, The LORD has done great
things for us; we are filled with joy (Psalm 126: 3). The Spirit-filled, Christ-follower cannot
help but rejoice! What’s more, according
to the prophet Zephaniah, God our Creator and Savior rejoices over us as His
redeemed children! Imagine that! The LORD your God is among you; He is
mighty to save. He will rejoice over you with gladness; He will quiet you with
His love; He will rejoice over you with singing.
As a sinner saved by God’s grace, I experience joy and consolation when I
reflect on God’s presence within me though His Holy Spirit. The contrast of what I was before I came into
a personal relationship with God through repentance and faith in Christ’s
substitutionary death and who I am afterwards is described accurately by the
Apostle Paul. In Galatians 5: 16-18, we learn how our sinful
nature (“the flesh”) sets itself against the work of the Holy Spirit in us. After these words, Paul describes our lives “before”
(5: 19-21) and “after” we submit to the Holy Spirit’s work in our lives (vv.
22-23).
Repentant Hearts Exude Joy in a Troubled World
Repentance prepares us to humbly invite God’s Holy Spirit to enter our lives. The Spirit’s presence enables us to bear the
fruit of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, and
self-control. But you may ask, how can I be joyful when so
many bad things happen? Answer— we must
remember that Joy and its expression of rejoicing springs from within and is
independent of things that happen to us.
Bad happenings in our culture of hate and violence will not overcome the
Christ-follower who relies on God’s Spirit and His Word.
After Jesus instructed His disciples about things that would happen in the
future, He said, These things I have spoken to you, so that in Me you may
have peace. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have
overcome the world (John 16:33).
Jesus promised not only joy in the midst of a troubled world, but also
that He would empower His followers to be ambassadors of reconciliation.
RECONCILE
By now, the importance the sequence of the three R’s, REPENT, REJOICE,
RECONCILE, should be evident. Repentance
is the gateway to salvation and Eternal Life.
Where sin had once reigned within our unrepentant hearts, now God’s
Spirit enables us to overcome sin and have victory. Anger, hate, fear, envy, and lust are
replaced by love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, and self-control.
We Are Reconciled… to Be Reconcilers
The Apostle Paul wrote (emphasis mine), Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he
is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have
come. Now all these things are from God, who reconciled us to Himself
through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation, namely,
that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting
their trespasses against them, and He has committed to us the word of
reconciliation. Therefore, we are
ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making an appeal through us; we
beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God (2 Corinthians 5:
17-20).
This Scripture makes it clear that reconciliation between the sinner and God
through faith in Christ gives birth to a new creation that in turn can become a
force for reconciliation among the hurting and rejected of this world. But you might say, how does the Bible address
my friend or family member who is trapped in addiction or mental illness as a
result of emotional and physiological problems.
Please realize that there is no human condition that cannot be helped by
the care of loving friends and family combined with professional counseling and
medical care. Counseling and medications
alone are weak and ineffective. However,
biblical witness and counseling by loving family, friends, and professionals are
necessary to give purpose and desire within the hurting person,
helping them to want to change.
In conclusion, if you have chosen the path marked with the signs of REPENT,
REJOICE, and RECONCILE, you know from experience how this sequence brings joy
and reconciliation with God and other people.
You know from experience what it means to have victory over the sins of
anger, hate, fear, and envy that once infected your heart and soul. You may also be serving as an ambassador of
reconciliation to hurting people around you as you humbly remember your
struggles without Christ.
Reconciliation Involves Both Spiritual with Mental Health
On the other hand, if you are hurting and in despair, feeling trapped in
addiction and emotional turmoil, you can find help and hope. For example, you may be familiar with the “Twelve-Step
Program” of Alcoholics Anonymous. This
program is consistent with biblical teaching and the “three R’s” beginning with
REPENT.
Please check out the link to the “Twelve-Step
Program” and
notice how the first seven steps can provide instruction on how to acknowledge
God and come to Him in a spirit of repentance.
This program is very effective when used in the presence of loving
family and friends. If you are hurting
emotionally or struggling with addiction, I hope you will seek help from
trusted individuals or organizations that can point you onto the path to recovery
through the “three R.’s.” If you wish to
contact me with questions, I would be glad to assist you: silviusj@gmail.com
