Mel Gibson’s Passion
I can’t say that I was ever a huge fan or follower of Mel Gibson but I do love the Passion of the Christ (“the Passion”), a movie that he fully funded, produced, directed and co-wrote. In the midst of controversy that surrounded the film and the ridicule that he endured because of the film, he successfully brought the message of the Gospel to a mainstream audience. In spite of the criticism that surrounded the film, it became the 8th highest grossing film in US box office history (a), proving to Hollywood that there is a large market for Christian movies. The success of the film, however, pales in comparison to the countless lives that it has touched. The message of hope and love that emanate from this film has transformed and saved lives worldwide because Gibson had the courage and took the necessary risks to share it on a global scale.
It’s no secret especially lately that Mel Gibson, the messenger of the Passion, has behaved in a manner that totally contradicts the message of the Passion. While I am very disappointed by Gibson’s behavior, I have decided not to feed into the bashing frenzy that has unleashed on him. I truly feel that in keeping with our faith, we should pray for him and leave the rest in God’s hands. The saddest part of this debacle is that the message of the Passion is in jeopardy because of the offensive public behavior of its messenger. Many non-Christians are using Gibson’s actions to discredit the message he brought through the Passion. Furthermore, many Christians, though they may not realize it, are fueling the effort with aimless gossip that only further denigrates the message of the film.
The spotlight on this spectacle has shed light on a valuable lesson that Christians, especially those in service/ministry, should heed. A message loses credibility when its messenger loses credibility. In this case, some may ask: how can a message of love, delivered by someone that is spewing hateful words, be credible? Saint Francis of Assisi was a credible messenger and lived it well when he said “Preach the gospel at all times — If necessary, use words.” As Christians tasked with the mission of spreading the gospel, we should not compromise the integrity of the message by behaving in a manner that does not reflect what we profess to believe.
Matthew 5:13-15: “You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled by men. You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house.
We are called to be the salt of the earth and the light of the world. When we lose our ‘saltiness’ or our lights are dimmed by living the opposite of what we profess, we not only hurt ourselves but we ‘trample’ the message that we are called to deliver. While it is tough and we may fall short at times, we are still called to practice what we preach and to live our faith.
1 Peter 5:8: Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.
Source
(a) Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mel_gibson
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4 Responses
Frustrating, isn’t it? I am baffled by the whole thing — to an extent. Yet in some ways it highlights how deeply entrenched sin nature is in us.
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Very nice write-up on the Gibson situation. The thing we must remember is that Gibson never professed to be a born again Christian. The next thing is that we don’t know the entire story, so although these tapes are being released of Gibson’s angry outburst, we really do not know the full story, his behavior in the public and antisemitic remarks are not desirable either.
If we look at it from a spiritual standpoint, there could be a more sinister reason for his demise. Remember he brought the most realistic portrayal of Christ death on the Cross, I am sure the devil does not like that at all, people were saved by the film, whether that was Mr. Gibson’s intention or not. The devil will try to discredit him and in turn try to discredit the film. Unfortunately I don’t think we have seen the last of Gibson’s demise, especially if he does not turn his life over to Christ.
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Loswl, totally agree with you on the fact that the devil has a hand in all this. As this whole situation further unravels, I’m seeing this fact come more and more into play. It’s very unfortunate especially how the Media keeps mentioning that he is a christian/catholic etc…..and is behaving like this. We do need to be alert and vigilant because the devil will try to tear us down and discredit us any chance he gets!
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Kaleb Reply:
July 18th, 2010 at 8:51 pm
So true Pat – we all have struggles and weaknesses and if we are not
vigilant to stay close to God and to remain true to the Word,
we can be susceptible to backsliding.
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