ASSIST News Service (ANS) - PO Box 2126, Garden Grove, CA 92842-2126 USA
Web Site: www.assistnews.net - By permission
"THE MOVIE IS GREAT!", - (BUT THAT'S NOT THE ESSENTIAL GOSPEL!)
By Tim Timmons
Special to ASSIST News Service
IRVINE, CA (ANS) -- THE PASSION OF THE CHRIST is a wonderful production of the last few hours of Jesus up to His death. Some of the most powerful dimensions within the film are…
the use of the original languages by the actors
the attention to detail with respect to the stations of the cross
the portrayal of the key players—Jesus, Mary, Peter, Judas, Pilate
the indelible portrait of evil throughout
the intensity of the suffering of Jesus, the Christ.
You cannot watch this film without being affected! In my opinion, it is, indeed, a great movie! But to say or promote it as the greatest evangelistic tool—the greatest gospel message—in the last century or in the last 2000 years is a bit strong and very misleading. It’s a movie…a good movie, but just a movie! (Pictured: Tim Timmons).
To place the credibility of Jesus and His Gospel upon a movie is not what I am willing to do. Whether someone likes the movie or not is not equal to accepting or rejecting Jesus’ claims to be the Christ.
TENDENCY TO OVERSELL
“This movie will change your life!” “You will never be worked as dramatically as this!” When you’re excited about something, there is always a tendency to oversell. Whenever you take your experience and project it upon another, you run the risk of “over-sell and under-deliver”… It’s the same as having unrealistic expectations. This will produce disappointment every time!
To oversell this movie is to set people up to be disappointed! If it is so powerful, it doesn’t need your holy hype!
TENDENCY TO OVEREMPHASIZE A METHOD
The Christian church seems to be lovers of the latest and greatest methodologies—especially when it comes to evangelism. Revival meetings and evangelistic crusades, books and booklets, radio and TV shows or an evangelistic system of training all promise to be easy, sure-fire methods of evangelism that will reach your neighbor. Now we have a movie!
The New Testament doesn’t include any of these methods as the divine or most effective ways of reaching your neighbor.
To overemphasize a method is to short-circuit what is really required for effectively introducing your neighbor to Jesus.
MOVIE IS GREAT…MEL’S STORY IS THE GOSPEL
In every pre-showing of The Passion of The Christ there has been an overwhelming response!
But that response was not just to the movie or to being one of the “chosen” few who are able to see it before it hits the big screen.
The enthusiastic response to this movie has been generated by the personal testimony of Mel Gibson -- how God has sent him on a mission to produce this movie…how he faced some major pain in his life which made him turn to Jesus as his only way out (to avoid “jumping out of the frying pan into the fire…literally”
ONLY 4 WAYS ATTRACT PEOPLE TO JESUS
LIFESTYLE—Matthew 5…Let your light shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your Father who is in heaven.
LOVE ONE ANOTHER—John 13 & 17…If you love one another, then they will know that you are my disciples…that you might be perfected in unity, so that the world will know that Jesus was sent by God.
BLESS WHEN INSULTED—I Peter 3…Bless those who insult you…then they will ask you for the reason for the hope that is in you.
PERSONAL TESTIMONY—Romans 10…How shall they hear without someone to proclaim the message—someone who speaks his testimony.
I grant you that it is so much easier to show a movie than it is to show Jesus in how you walk, think, love and talk…easier to demonstrate your faith by rallying behind the latest evangelistic tool rather than to demonstrate the love of Jesus through your testimony. HOWEVER, your testimony—your personal story about your personal relationship with Jesus—is more powerful than any movie or book or meeting that will ever be produced!
The Passion of The Christ will surely generate lots of talk about Jesus! So, let’s be ready to do something powerful and effective—be ready to share your personal story with anyone who asks. No one can argue with “once I was blind, but now I see!” Now that’s the gospel!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
** You may republish this story with proper attribution.
Send this story to a friend.
Web Site: www.assistnews.net - By permission
"THE MOVIE IS GREAT!", - (BUT THAT'S NOT THE ESSENTIAL GOSPEL!)
By Tim Timmons
Special to ASSIST News Service
IRVINE, CA (ANS) -- THE PASSION OF THE CHRIST is a wonderful production of the last few hours of Jesus up to His death. Some of the most powerful dimensions within the film are…
the use of the original languages by the actors
the attention to detail with respect to the stations of the cross
the portrayal of the key players—Jesus, Mary, Peter, Judas, Pilate
the indelible portrait of evil throughout
the intensity of the suffering of Jesus, the Christ.
You cannot watch this film without being affected! In my opinion, it is, indeed, a great movie! But to say or promote it as the greatest evangelistic tool—the greatest gospel message—in the last century or in the last 2000 years is a bit strong and very misleading. It’s a movie…a good movie, but just a movie! (Pictured: Tim Timmons).
To place the credibility of Jesus and His Gospel upon a movie is not what I am willing to do. Whether someone likes the movie or not is not equal to accepting or rejecting Jesus’ claims to be the Christ.
TENDENCY TO OVERSELL
“This movie will change your life!” “You will never be worked as dramatically as this!” When you’re excited about something, there is always a tendency to oversell. Whenever you take your experience and project it upon another, you run the risk of “over-sell and under-deliver”… It’s the same as having unrealistic expectations. This will produce disappointment every time!
To oversell this movie is to set people up to be disappointed! If it is so powerful, it doesn’t need your holy hype!
TENDENCY TO OVEREMPHASIZE A METHOD
The Christian church seems to be lovers of the latest and greatest methodologies—especially when it comes to evangelism. Revival meetings and evangelistic crusades, books and booklets, radio and TV shows or an evangelistic system of training all promise to be easy, sure-fire methods of evangelism that will reach your neighbor. Now we have a movie!
The New Testament doesn’t include any of these methods as the divine or most effective ways of reaching your neighbor.
To overemphasize a method is to short-circuit what is really required for effectively introducing your neighbor to Jesus.
MOVIE IS GREAT…MEL’S STORY IS THE GOSPEL
In every pre-showing of The Passion of The Christ there has been an overwhelming response!
But that response was not just to the movie or to being one of the “chosen” few who are able to see it before it hits the big screen.
The enthusiastic response to this movie has been generated by the personal testimony of Mel Gibson -- how God has sent him on a mission to produce this movie…how he faced some major pain in his life which made him turn to Jesus as his only way out (to avoid “jumping out of the frying pan into the fire…literally”
ONLY 4 WAYS ATTRACT PEOPLE TO JESUS
LIFESTYLE—Matthew 5…Let your light shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your Father who is in heaven.
LOVE ONE ANOTHER—John 13 & 17…If you love one another, then they will know that you are my disciples…that you might be perfected in unity, so that the world will know that Jesus was sent by God.
BLESS WHEN INSULTED—I Peter 3…Bless those who insult you…then they will ask you for the reason for the hope that is in you.
PERSONAL TESTIMONY—Romans 10…How shall they hear without someone to proclaim the message—someone who speaks his testimony.
I grant you that it is so much easier to show a movie than it is to show Jesus in how you walk, think, love and talk…easier to demonstrate your faith by rallying behind the latest evangelistic tool rather than to demonstrate the love of Jesus through your testimony. HOWEVER, your testimony—your personal story about your personal relationship with Jesus—is more powerful than any movie or book or meeting that will ever be produced!
The Passion of The Christ will surely generate lots of talk about Jesus! So, let’s be ready to do something powerful and effective—be ready to share your personal story with anyone who asks. No one can argue with “once I was blind, but now I see!” Now that’s the gospel!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
** You may republish this story with proper attribution.
Send this story to a friend.