So here's the place to put columnists reviews on Mel Gibson's "Passion" movie and other burning items of the day.

by Barry Newton

A few weeks ago I was talking with someone who has embraced an American Indian philosophy. He told me all about sweat lodges and the symbolism involved in them. He excitedly claimed that the trees and the animals are our brothers. On the one hand, he expressed his suspicion of Europeans and "their religion" because of their track record. On the other hand, he appeared to make an attempt to be magnanimous and to build legitimacy for his Indian philosophy by claiming that we are both working for the betterment and healing of people. He said he could accept me as being in a different path toward the same goal.

While many people today might not share all of his beliefs, I suspect that a large number of people do evaluate just about everything based upon whether it is broad-minded. Accordingly, I would suspect that many would gravitate to his claim that different religious paths can be equally viable. As we dialogued, a number of thoughts and questions cascaded through my mind. A couple of these were:

"I wonder how my fellow Christians would have responded to him?"

"How can I show this person, who is obviously sincere, that true Christianity is not just another philosophy of life among equals?"

At the onset, we should at least acknowledge what the Scriptures claim. The message they were intended to communicate do not permit a view of Christ and serving him as simply being another ethically beneficial philosophy among equals for living life. You can start with the crucifixion of Jesus.

Scripture claims that all the peoples of the world are guilty and stand in need of being declared righteous before God. And furthermore, there is only one solution to this problem - Jesus' death on the cross on our behalf and our subsequent incorporation into Christ (Rom. 3:23-25).

The story of Jesus presented in the Bible is not a tidy little message which can be contained in a box that will sit nicely on a shelf as merely being an equal among other religions. The gospel calls people to respond to Jesus or be lost. Clearly, the gospel's intended message is that whether someone admits its truthfulness or not will not alter the fact that Jesus is the only way to the Father and our only hope (John 14:6; Acts 4:12).

But do these claims have any teeth? Are they merely assertions or is this the way that things really are? The shackles of merely being another ethically viable philosophy fall off of containing Jesus and his message by his resurrection from the dead. This was God at work! His resurrection verified that his death was indeed a sacrifice for all of humanity. From a human perspective, Christianity either rises above all other religions or falls down to simply being another humanly contrived path among equals depending upon whether Christ historically rose from the dead. The evidence reveals that the tomb was empty Sunday morning, not because someone stole his body but because death could not hold him. (See www.sjchurchofchrist.org/redeemerlv.shtml)

Since the message proclaimed by Christ and about Christ is reliable, all of humanity has a responsibility to respond to it, since God will judge the whole world by the One whom God raised from the dead (Acts 17:30,31). What will matter for my Indian friend, and for all other people one day, is whether they have trusted in Jesus by obeying the gospel.

A review of some spiritual issues surrounding the film by J. Randal Matheny, editor

The great hulabaloo in the U.S. now is the February 25 release of Mel Gibson's film, "The Passion of the Christ." Most of us have read articles and reviews over the past months. Religious people have rallied to the film's defense in light of unfair criticisms, and properly so, I supppose. It is touted as an exceptional opportunity to strengthen faith and evangelize the lost. Gibson himself has suggested the latter purpose.

I will go see the film when it comes to Brazil. I will probably recommend it to others, if it's as good as they say it is. But I might add a word of caution to the wave of enthusiasm that has washed over most people in American Christendom.

First, it is a movie. Let us never forget that. As accurate as it may be, as sacred as its subject is, it is still a movie. As good as the director's motives are, and I have no reason to question them, he still is using the techniques of acting, directing, producing, and distributing "The Passion of the Christ" that all other good movies use. As such, there are liberties with the story. There are "holes" that must be filled in, dialogue supplied, perspectives assumed that go beyond what is written in Scripture. Though these may not contradict the Word, they do interpret it in a certain direction.

Second, taking this thought a bit further, the director will show his religious bias, even as the title indicates. In spite of consultations with religious and biblical experts, his worldview will show through. Linda Chaves, of CNSNews.com, wrote:

"Gibson's film is an intensely Catholic account of the Passion. Indeed most of the scenes depicting Christ's journey along the Via Dolorosa on the way to Golgotha seem inspired by the Catholic devotional ritual the 'Stations of the Cross,' which dates back to the 14th century. A scene in the film depicting Jesus' encounter with Veronica, who wipes his face and is left with Christ's image on her veil, is part of Catholic tradition, for example, and may be totally unfamiliar to non-Catholic viewers."

Third, the medium is the message, or so wrote Marshall McLuhan in his 1964 book, Understand Media: The Extensions of Man. Though one can overdraw the case, the medium chosen by God to communicate the gospel is the spoken and written word, not powerful images which provoke, above all, emotional responses. The emotional responses God wants are based upon mental comprehension of truth, as can be seen in Acts 2:37. A movie cannot sustain the emotional reactions, so some people will return to see it repeatedly. All this is to say that a film is not God's means of communicating the Good News and will fall short of the needed process for one's perception of and proper response to the message. "The Passion of the Christ," as good as it may be, replaces the written word with the image.

Fourth, from the reviews and descriptions, the movie apparently plays to modern religious tendencies for maximum emotional impact that bypasses the mental processes. Consciously or no, it may well reinforce the individualistic, personal religion that makes little difference in the way one lives, as surveys show is the case in the U.S. today. One takes away from the film one's own impressions and conclusions.

Fifth, the movie is incomplete. The gospel means showing people the way to respond appropriately to Christ and receive the merciful salvation he gives. Perhaps we cannot fault it greatly for this, but it may also feed the general view that it matters not how one responds to the Gospel story, just so you make some response. Some will try to "tack on" in public viewings and small group discussions how people should accept the gospel, but it's possible the movie may shortcircuit those attempts. Time will tell.

The movie has had a positive effect of focusing attention on Jesus and what he suffered. Unfortunately, it has been greatly politicized, and many people will attend -- and they have so stated -- as a way of showing support to the "conservative" Mel Gibson against liberal efforts to supress it.

Gibson and company have done an excellent job of working the denominations to gain support for the film. Conservative groups praise it with few restrictions. Articles by my own brethren have tended toward support, though some are taking a wait-and-see attitude.

These concerns expressed above have briefly mentioned not only questions directly concerned with the film, but larger cultural and religious issues as well that could possibly injure the faith once for all delivered to the saints.

by Mitchell Skelton

The parents of a ten-year-old public school boy who was failing fifth grade math decided to enroll their son in a private Christian school after exhausting all methods. The young boy stormed home the first day of school, walked right past his parents, charged straight to his room, and locked the door. Two hours later, he surfaced for a quick meal, announced that he was studying, and went straight back to his studies until bedtime. This pattern continued until the end of the first quarter. After school, the boy walked home with his report card, dropped the envelope on the family dinner table, and went straight to his room. His parents cautiously opened the letter, saw a bright red "A" under the subject, MATH, and rushed excitedly into their son's room! "Was it the teachers?" the father asked. The boy only shook his head and said, "No." "Was it the one-on-one tutoring? Peer-mentoring?" asked the mother. Again, the boy shrugged, "No." "The textbooks? The curriculum?" asked the father. "No, no, no." the son finally spoke. "From the very first day of school, I knew that these folks were serious about math. When I walked into the lobby, and I saw a guy nailed to the PLUS sign, I knew they meant business!"

The cross of Christ is "the" sign to the world that God meant business! And His business was that of salvation and forgiveness of sin. "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him" (John 3:16,17).

A popular Christian writer said concerning the cross, "It rests on the time line of history like a compelling diamond. . . History has idolized and despised it, gold plated and burned it, worn it and trashed it. History has done everything but ignore it." Christian, Atheist, Moslem, Buddhist, Agnostic, or Jew no matter what you believe the power of the cross lies in the fact that you must decide what you will do with it.

How important is the cross? The cross has a very special meaning to those who are in Christ. To us, the cross is neither a source of shame nor an offensive symbol. It is a symbol of grace, mercy and forgiveness. The cross is the promise of eternal life!

Salvation is based solely in the power of the cross. "For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God" (1 Cor. 1:18). The idea of God in human form dying a criminal's death in such a heinous manner is foolishness to the majority of the world, but one day all men everywhere will acknowledge Jesus Christ as Lord!

"Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death — even death on a cross! Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father" (Phil. 2:5—11).

On the outskirts of London stands a prominent landmark in the form of a white cross. One day, in the heart of the city, a policeman heard a little boy crying. He found the little boy and asked him, "What's the matter? Can I help you?" The little boy replied, "I am lost." The officer said, "Well, don’t cry. We can fix that. Where do you live?" The little boy said, "If you will take me to the hill where the white cross stands, I can find my way home."

It’s as simple as that, THE WAY OF THE CROSS LEADS HOME!