Pastors begin preparing for Gibson’s ‘Passion’

Sometimes the mere mention of Jesus sparks controversy. It is no surprise that Mel Gibson’s latest film, “The Passion of The Christ,” depicting the final hours of Jesus’ life, has drawn criticism from various religious groups. Yet it is hard to find an evangelical Christian leader who has previewed the film and does not endorse it. Many believe the movie presents the church with an unsurpassed opportunity for evangelism.

On Jan. 5, pastors and church leaders from all 50 states packed out the 3,200-seat worship center at Saddleback Church for an advance screening of the film, followed by an interview with Gibson and message from host pastor Rick Warren. The invitation-only event was a joint effort between Gibson’s company, Icon Productions, and Outreach Inc, a non-denominational resource ministry that is helping promote the film to churches.

“It is going to grab you by the throat and it’s going to grab you by the heart like no movie you’ve ever seen,” said Lee Strobel, a former journalist and author of “The Case for Christ,” who introduced and interviewed Gibson following the preview screening.

“I believe God is opening up a window of opportunity for the church through this movie,” Strobel said. “People are going to come out of this movie full of questions.”

The Monday afternoon event provided pastors with a resource packet to help their churches be ready with answers. It included a DVD with a preview of the film, ideas for outreach and question-and-answer sessions with Gibson and Jim Caviezel, the actor who portrays Christ.

Strobel’s interview with Gibson revealed the actor to be a man of faith whose own spiritual journey compelled him to make the film. He hinted that a crisis point in his life forced him to seek answers to ultimate questions.

“You don’t really want to know until you really want to know,” Gibson said as he described his spiritual pilgrimage. “Usually that is accompanied by some sort of pain. I used the wounds of Christ to heal my own wounds, and this is my meditation on that,” he said of his film.

A long odyssey
Gibson told the audience he spent 12 years contemplating the film.

“It’s about faith, hope, love and forgiveness,” he said as he summed up the movie’s thematic elements. Gibson also emphasized that the film is about what really happened. It is about history.

The filmmaker, who financed the project himself, explained that his decision to use Aramaic, Hebrew and Latin dialogue accompanied by subtitles was a way to express the written word and provide reality that is lacking when Bible characters speak English.

“When you make a film using ancient, dead languages they’re not exactly rushing to sign the check,” he commented. “I tried to make something that wouldn’t be faddish and just fade out.”

Gibson has no quarrel with the film’s R-rating, granted for the graphic depiction of Christ’s suffering, and said he doesn’t think children under 13 should see it.

“The Bible is R-rated,” he noted.

During the interview Gibson admitted that nothing about making the film has been easy.

“It was like bows and arrows every day,” he said as he described how he often felt he was being attacked.

The experience, he said, convinced him that prayer is “the most powerful thing anyone can do.”

Following the interview with Gibson, Rick Warren challenged the audience to seize the opportunities for evangelism that the film will create. He encouraged pastors to answer the questions “What did Jesus do?” and “Why did Jesus have to die?” in special messages prepared for the Sundays before and after the film’s Feb. 25 release. According to Icon Productions, the film is expected to open on 2,000 screens, a strong showing for an independent film.

“Critics are going to try to turn this into ‘us’ vs. ‘them,’” Warren said.

Making it personal
He suggested one possible approach is for Christians to acknowledge that their own sin put Jesus on the cross.

“It wasn’t ‘them,’ it was me,” he said. “Jesus crucified, that is our message and that is the passion of Jesus. This is not a movie you take a date and popcorn to.”

Warren invited pastors to use his sermon outlines and/or other material on his Web site that would help them use the film as an evangelistic tool.

The program concluded with closing comments from Scott Evans, president of Outreach Inc. The audience of pastors and church leaders appeared sobered by the film’s hard images, but enthusiastic about the possibilities the film presents to them and their churches.

Jim Adkins, associate pastor at Grace Church of Orange, said that after previewing the film he went home and read over the gospel accounts of Jesus’ final hours.

“I think what this movie does is portray what is between the lines,” Adkins said. “It brings reality to what Jesus went through at the end. I think every Christian should see it.”

Dave Enns, small groups pastor at North Coast Church in Vista, agreed that the film would have a powerful impact on a Christian audience.

“I think it’s going to remind Christians what Jesus did for them,” he said. “It showed how much Jesus loved us.”

Enns also commented that the film could be used as a tool to help answer people’s questions.

“But that’s not going to happen outside of relationships,” he said.

For more information visit the Web site thepassionoutreach.com or thepassionofthechrist.com or call 1-800-991-6011.

Published, February 2004

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