Well, the first day of the movie, “Son of God” is over, and the reviews are in. Some are saying that the movie presents another Jesus that faintly resembles the biblical Jesus. Other ones are saying that people were saved after watching the movie. I certainly hope they were genuinely saved. If they were, then one day when (if) they learn about the true Jesus, they will have questions. They will wonder which Jesus is the one that they should follow. Someone has to explain that to them. While they are at it, they may have to explain why a false Jesus convicted them when they were not convicted by the true Jesus. An experience that I had might help to shed some light on this conundrum of having more than one Jesus.
An evangelist once came to our area that had a sordid reputation. There was no doubt to his guilt in matters of breaking the secular law and of his sinfulness. In fact, while an evangelist he had been sent to prison for arson. We also had a woman in the church who’s stepfather worked with that evangelist. She shared some information about the shenanigans that they had pulled. Additionally, I watched a video of his meeting, and it was very disturbing to say the least. However, hundreds attend nightly including a close friend. The evangelist prophesied over my friend and informed him that his leg was going to be healed. My friend gave a good amount of money in the offering. He asked me what I thought, and I told him that God was not going to heal his wooden leg, and certainly not by that evangelist. He was a bit offended and did not talk to me until after the tent meetings were over. Of course, God could have given him a new leg, but that didn’t happen either.
One family in our church also began attending the meetings. I was asked what I thought about the evangelist, and I told the truth. He was a convicted swindler and a man with few Christian qualities. I was not prepared for the backlash from my remarks. The family left our church and never came back. It seems that this evangelist had convinced the mother’s alcoholic husband to quit drinking. The husband stopped getting drunk and attended the evangelist’s tent meetings every time he came into the area. However, he never grew as a Christian, was never faithful to a church, and to my knowledge never expressed any Christian virtues. However, his wife was convinced that he was saved because he had stopped drinking alcohol. She had been supporting the evangelist for years and never missed his tent meetings when he was in the area. The evangelist had delivered her husband when no local pastor could do so. Thus, in her mind he was the real messenger of God and I was like the rest of those pastors that had failed.
I cannot provide statistics of how well people have fared after being converted under the preaching or teaching of hypocritical or wicked people. I do not know the present status of individuals saved in Christian music concerts (Death Metal, Punk, Rock, and etc.) or from watching religious movies. I do remember yeas ago in an Assemblies of God camp-meeting, Evangelist Don Brankal asked for a show of hands from everyone who had been saved in a church meeting, and nearly every hand went up. Apparently, at that time most people were saved in church meetings and they tended to remain faithful. It is true that God can use various means and methods to bring people to Him. However, I believe that we should be careful that we do not abandon the means He has provided in His word. We must not be so quick to marginalize preaching, teaching, and personal soul-winning in favor of a movie fraught with error and produced by New Age pseudo-Christians for their stated purpose of global ecumenism.
There are a number of questions that need to be answered. If preaching the true Jesus is not powerful enough to bring them to salvation, why is it that a false Jesus appeals to them so powerfully that they will become Christians? In my opinion, the Jesus presented at Christian Death Metal concerts is not the true Jesus either. I wonder how many false conversions have occurred because of a false Jesus presented with lower standards or emotional candy to entice people to convert. If nothing is said about sin, repentance, and the atonement, in the movie “Son of God”, why did those people want to be saved? Were they reacting to the emotion as a result of the imagery they had just ingested? Is salvation now not a matter of presenting God’s anointed word with conviction by the Holy Spirit? Do we now need smoke and sensational music, sentimental movies, and other assistance? What type of conversions are actually occurring by these unbiblical means? Does it matter where we get spirituality and by whom or what means? Are they really being saved or are they simply saying the “sinner’s prayer” without a complete commitment of the heart? Those are questions that every Christian should ask and expect answers to.
Maybe there are some scriptural answers and explanations to these questions. But maybe we are in the last days filled with all satanic power, lying signs and wonders, and all decieveableness of unrighteousness. And just maybe the people who are rushing to the altars of the “angels of light” are the very ones that have not been paying attention. They could be the ones that have ignored the encroaching darkness, the deception by degrees, and apostasy by increments. If so, then when the False Prophet begins his dazzling signs and wonders show, they will be drawn right in like moths to a flame. Such individuals would see nothing wrong with submitting to the hypnotic effects of a clever Hollywood production. They are not alarmed that it was produced by a New Age necromancer that believes she is a Divine Being, and her heretical husband. To them it is a minor issue compared to the pleasure of watching a movie and getting their fix of religious emotion. It could very well be that they are the ones who will one day find themselves without a reserve of oil when they need it the most. After all, if they have no compunction about feeding at a trough filled with cleverly disguised Hollywood heresy/truth mixture, how could they be successful collectors of oil?
I feel that we should not discourage anyone from seeing this film. Although it may possibly be an inaccurate representation of the biblical events that occurred, it is simply your opinion. Facts are facts, but everyone interprets the Bible differently. I, for one, did not agree with any of the claims that you stated in your article. And that is ok. A relationship with Christ is a personal one. Key word: personal. With all of the, for lack of a better word, trash that is constantly in theaters I think that this is a keeper. Let people use this as a stepping stone in attaining a relationship with Christ. This movie is one piece in that process. They will, hopefully, read their Bibles, attend church and fill in those gaps that are missing or clear any representations. Being a Christian is a constant learning process. We can’t expect a lifetime of miraculous, life-changing events to be included in a 90 minute Hollywood film. I think that the producers deserve credit for straying from the pack and being an active participant in the many that will pursue Jesus from watching this film.