Pilgrimage to “The Passion”
February 27, 2004
As Friday’s top headline here at MensNewsDaily reported, The Passion of the Christ has surpassed even optimistic movie-industry projections for its opening sales. But, the attacks continue against the movie and its producer-director, Mel Gibson.
Chameleon candidate John Kerry said that people have to be “careful” about alleged anti-Semitism in the movie, even though he has not seen it. (Is he afraid to be proven wrong? Is he afraid that the movie will convict him?) If Senator Kerry had read my review, then he would know that the movie is not anti-Jewish. (How could it be?!) But, I tend to think that Senator Kerry probably doesn’t read my articles. Although the wording of Kerry’s remarks are “careful”, the implication is that people who think like John Kerry should boycott this movie. If that is true, then people who think like Tom Kovach should boycott John Kerry. But, that’s not my main point.
The latest “attack rumor” that I’ve heard around Nashville is that the movie had a great opening, but that it will fizzle out quickly. I don’t think so. Every theater in this area (and, there are a lot of them) is nearly sold out in advance for more than a week. Blocks of seats are nearly impossible to get, unless one is willing to wait about two weeks. (A pastor friend of mine spent about an hour on the phone trying to find seats. That’s how I know.) So far, by all published accounts, most of the people that have seen The Passion of the Christ have been professed Christians. I think that will change soon. I think that “the un-churched” are now so curious that they will want to see the movie, just to see what all the talk is really about. If my guess is correct, sales in the “un-churched” category will start to go up at about the same time that the “churched” population begins to be saturated with the movie.
But, this movie is more than just a movie. It is an event, a phenomenon. As such, there will be people that will want to see it numerous times. (I know somebody that has seen Braveheart 43 times.) For those that have not studied the life of Jesus in-depth, this movie has the potential to become a powerful teaching tool. But, again, it also has the power to be more than that.
Attendance at this movie can be a quiet protest against the garbage that has been routinely churned out by Extreme Hollywood. How? Simple. If every person that supports this movie will plan to see it (again) sometime before Pascha, then the ticket sales will push The Passion of the Christ into the big leagues with regard to all-time sales. And, if committed Christians will simultaneously avoid going to see any other movie during that same time period, then the signal will be amplified to the point that even the Extreme Left cannot ignore it. In other words, modern Christians can consider making a “pilgrimage” to see The Passion.
I like historical quotes. The older, the better — because they have withstood the test of time. Saint Basil the Great (d. 375) said, “It is better to light one candle than to curse the darkness.” So, rather than cursing the darkness of “mainstream” movies, committed Christians can simply vote with their wallets. I think the signal will be heard loud and clear.
