Rejoicing that Christ is Preached
I recently had a conversation with a friend and he brought up this Scripture:

"It is true that some preach Christ out of envy and rivalry, but others out of goodwill. The latter do so in love, knowing that I am put here for the defense of the gospel. The former preach Christ out of selfish ambition, not sincerely, supposing that they can stir up trouble for me while I am in chains. But what does it matter? The important thing is that in every way, whether from false motives or true, Christ is preached. And because of this I rejoice. " Phil. 1:15-18

The discussion was about my views on the church™'s handling of the The Passion. Can I be content to know that Christ is preached? I think the issue for me is that I'm not sure that I believe that Christ is being preached. The method and the message cannot be separated in people's hearts and minds. What if the methods are actually detrimental to a majority's understanding of the Gospel?

Another friend of mine saw a preview of The Passion. He said it was amazing. The best movie he has ever seen. So overwhelming that when you leave you just want to be in silence, to take it in and ponder the violence, the message, and the life of the story just experienced. I imagine it is much like my experience after leaving Schindler's List. I was with my wife and we just walked to the car in quietness. I think the most we said were things like, "Man..." and "Terrible....terrible...." I believe that is the mood with which many will leave The Passion. How terrible for that mood to be broken by people handing out information packets?

I am rejoicing that Christ is being preached through this movie. I love to hear people like Diane Sawyer mentioning how she and her co-workers have "gotten to know each other much better" through discussing this movie. It apparently causes people to feel the need to respond in some way and talk about it...and most of the time I assume the center of the conversation centers on Christ--his life, message, and death. However, we have to use wisdom so we don't (as my friend who saw the movie put it) "spiritually rape" people. Good intentions do not negate the possibility of error and bad taste. I mean, what's next, handing out tracts after funerals because that's the most opportune time to talk to them about death and eternal life?

I'm not sure I could rejoice that Christ was preached using such methods.
posted by Jimmy at 12:12 PM | |