The Gospel in the Movies

Jason Janz from Sharper Iron has written a wonderfully crisp article on the movie End of the Spear in how it presents the Gospel. I’ve attempted to track this story here and here. My primary concern was the lack of discernment of the production company, Every Tribe Entertainment, for the decisions that it made while making this film. Having never seen the movie, I obviously could not criticize the content and presentation. Jason Janz has been the one name in the blogosphere who has tirelessly covered the ETE controversy. He has written an article, after watching the movie, that criticizes ETE in its attempt at displaying the life of the five missionaries who gave their life to share the Gospel of Christ. His sobering article brings to light the greater problem of evangelicalism which is the failure to properly define and proclaim the Gospel. He lists three essential things that are required in order to at the very least present the Gospel accurately:

1) The Gospel is good news about events. Quoting 1Cor 15:1-4, the two events would be Christ’s death and resurrection. Events however must be properly interpreted and not told as mere story, but events that require explanation as to why the events occured – primarly due to the sinfulness of man and the righteousness of God.

2) The Gospel is required because of the sinfulness of man. How can there be good news if we don’t know what the bad news is first?! Why did Christ die, is a good question. A sufficient answer would be to satisfy the righteous demands of a holy God. Christ’s death in effect was a penal substitution whereby He took on the wrath that we deserved and we received the righteousness that God required (2Cor 5:21).

3) The Gospel is applied through the justification of the sinner before God by faith alone. The means as defined in the NT that justification is through faith alone in Christ alone.

He summarizes these points by saying:

Without human sin and condemnation, there is no Gospel. Without the death and resurrection of Jesus, there is no Gospel. Without the substitutionary atonement, there is no Gospel. Without justification through faith alone, there is no Gospel. These are not merely peripheral truths. They are rather the irreducible minimum that must be grasped in order for the Gospel to be proclaimed and received.

I am grateful for the grace and the truth that Jason Janz has offered in the past month over the End of the Spear controversy. Read this article, it is a good reminder to stay the course in the work of sharing the glorious Gospel of Jesus Christ.

[update: My good friend Dan Arcilla at the Filter shared with me that Jason Janz is a student of The Cornerstone Seminary]

[update: 02/09/06 - Just read a great response from the Pyromaniac himself.]