beyond thunderdome

‘round here I’m intrigued by a totally different observation on Mel and the movie. Not only are we striving to make the movie something it was not intended to be. We’ve put our T-shirt on someone who hasn’t claimed to be one us, and are shocked when something comes out of his mouth that is different than what might come out of our mouths. I’m still impressed with what he’s got to say because I think I’ve had him in decent perspective. I’ve known Mad Max for 24 years. I read an article in the New Yorker (“Mel’s Passion” Sept. 15, 2003) about this movie. The article made known some of Mel’s motivation, history, and theology. The movie was huge news out there in the secular and “religious” world a very long time before it entered the evangelical radar screen. Now the movie is on the radar screen, has been stamped by evangelicals and we’ve dunked Mel and put his picture on the new members board. Pretty quick huh? To have your newest member in the global spotlight speaking theology to millions of people. Evangelicals are confused. What did he just say?
We thought that only we could portray an accurate picture of the historicity of the Gospels. Therefore this movie must be made by one of us. The world has now seen us renting the theatres. Putting up the posters. Listening to Mel address us via DVD on Sunday morning. It all goes beyond the movie. Out there (and it seems, in here) Mel is equated with the movie. Now we are linked to him via the movie. He is the spokesperson for the machine we’ve adopted. I have seen fear and trembling result from hearing voiced some aspects of his theology. Wait a minute, I thought…
Our surprise at some of the theology betrays our thought that exposure to gospel leads one to believe as I do. We are awakened by the realization that some of Mel’s theology is different from our own. I wonder if some of our own might be broadened by this experience? How can someone who doesn’t sound like an evangelical make a resource that evangelicals tout as one of the most important evangelical tools to come along? Maybe we haven’t got it all figured out after all.
So again, I pray that we are open to what God intends to happen in hearts when the gospel is known. I pray that we realize that these twelve hours are what make the gospel available to us. Does salvation begin and end there? In some ways are we asking too much of this movie? In others, too little? Will it cause them to pray the prayer? Will it change our lives? What did the crucifixion and resurrection accomplish? Does the scope of significance that we’ve given Jesus’ death match the scope of His teaching?