Jesus Camp?
For those of you who don't know me, my husband joe and i work at Calvary Church in Valparaiso, IN. He's the Pastor of Youth and Worship and we both love to see movies and keep up on what's hot in teen culture. naturally we go to a lot of movies, especially those that have been recommended to us by parents. What we saw last weekend was a real shocker...When someone at church gave us free tickets, we called up some friends last weekend to go see Facing the Giants. Anyone seen it yet? Personally I thought the movie was extremely lame, but what got me more than the terrible recording, horrible actors, predictable plot, lame storyline, and "health-and-wealth" message was one of the previews before the film: Jesus Camp. Has anyone heard about this movie?? (not sure what the restriction are on campus, but as soon as you can get onto YouTube.com you have to see the preview). Talk about a disgrace to the name of Christ...not to mention one of the mainstream "Christian" movies coming out. I found myself slumping down in my seat...hoping that only Christians were in the theater watching this terrible preview. The trailer consists of an annoyingly pushy older woman talking about how Jesus Camp has changed the lives of all these children, who are THEN seen rolling in the aisles being slain in the Spirit and preaching into a cordless mic to hundreds of hysterical, young worshippers.
all that to say that it's going to be OUR generation that changes the face of Christian media. it's no longer about bashing people with the Bible, calling out "Ye must be born again" from the street corners--it's about the example we see from Christ: being relevant to those we're witnessing to. I can't imagine a single unsaved person seeing that film and being swayed toward Christ.
I'd love to hear what everyone else has to say...
ashley wittmer
posted by ashley at
9:03 AM
10 Comments:
Ashley,
I'm pretty sure the film is an intentional and sarcastic characature. Did you get the impression that they are putting out this movie to promote such strange forms of Christianity? I heard an interview on NPR with the writer (I think it was the writer--I only heard a little snippet), and he seemed to be trying to expose the lunacy of this type of "worship".
The sad thing is, though, that some people will, and probably already do, think that Jesus Camp is what Christianty is... Even more sad is the fact that, from what I've seen, there's not much hyperbole to it; there really are people like that.
It's a good chance for real Christians to respond with a lived faith that makes it obvious that Jesus is no rolling-in-the-aisles lunatic, but God himself.
By
Matt H, at 7:48 PM
I did some serching online and it looks like the film was filmed by people who are not 'insiders' with the movement. They were trying to capture this "odd subculture".
Being 'relevant' is a word being tossed around a lot today. If by being relevant one seeks to make the gospel less offensive that person must understand they are not presenting the gospel. The gospel is very offensive. We need to make sure WE are not the ones doing the offending.
By
David, at 8:14 PM
yo haeck, i just watched the preview and it looks like it wants to be taken pretty seriously
By
Josh Huizing, at 8:18 PM
i'm talking about the truest sense of the word relevant: "bearing upon or connected with the matter at hand" this being our culture. i'm not saying in anyway that the gospel message should be lessened, but there's nothing in this preview that would impact people for Christ except to convince them that he's a joke.
and matt--like i said, i saw this preview IN a regular Cinaplex 12, along with other serious movie previews. i didn't get the impression that this was a farce.
By
ashley, at 11:02 AM
I agree. I just needed some clarification. I'm not too sure about you people from Indiana. they can be a bit crazy;-)
By
David, at 1:17 PM
i'd call it balanced and Biblical.
;)
By
ashley, at 2:24 PM
Rich Mullins was from Indiana!
By
Matt H, at 4:12 PM
True
By
David, at 7:00 AM
So was Orville Redenbacher.
By
ashley, at 12:08 PM
So is my mom.
By
David, at 10:33 PM
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