“Jesus came and told his disciples, “I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth. Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.””

‭‭Matthew‬ ‭28‬:‭18‬-‭20‬ ‭NLT‬‬

It’s time for me to blow off a little steam. No, I am not angry; you could better describe my feeling these days as “discouraged”. It’s not our “woke” society that is giving me some heartburn, nor is it the constant barrage of evil from all directions. No, I’m frustrated with many of my fellow Christians.

With all of the bad things that have been going on for the past three years and more, you would think that anything that brings the Good News of Jesus Christ to the forefront would be welcomed by all followers of Christ. Sadly, that’s not the case.

I first started noticing this trend back in late 2019, early 2020 when the first season of The Chosen aired. Barb and I watched it, marveling in how it portrayed the story of the beginnings of the ministry of Jesus and His disciples in such a way that it brought our faith to life. Since then, there have been two more brilliant seasons of the show, each faithfully following the words of Jesus and bringing the disciples to life through their interactions with the Lord, each other, and the religious and secular leaders of the time.

There have been thousands of testimonies of how non-believers watched the show, became interested in Jesus, started reading the Bible, and have now been born again in Christ. Sounds like a good thing, right?

Well, when we started telling others (both believers and non-believers) about the show, we noticed that a good number of believers immediately found fault with it — even when they hadn’t watch a single episode. It’s not just people from a particular Christian denomination who are the critics; it’s from all sides.

Some people don’t like the fact that The Chosen is partially filmed in Utah at a historically accurate set belonging to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and they even accuse the creator of the series (Dallas Jenkins) of being a Mormon and trying to convert Christians. He’s not. Others take issue with the fact that the actor who plays Jesus (Jonathan Roumie) is Catholic. There are accusations that the script takes liberties with the words of Jesus (it doesn’t), and that the interactions between the disciples are blasphemous (they aren’t).

It’s not just The Chosen that is being targeted by Christian nay-sayers. Barb and I have tickets to see Jesus Revolution, a movie that dramatizes the actual events that took place in the early 1970s when the pastor of a dying church and a young “hippie” street preacher (played by Jonathan Roumie again) joined forces to bring many to Christ.

As we were leaving church today, we happened to mention to one of the staffers that we were going to see the movie tonight. Although the staffer was generally positive about the film (particularly how star Kelsey Grammer has been making the rounds of many talk shows talking not only about the movie, but his faith as well), she immediately said “Well, I guess I’ll wait to hear about it from you, because I’m dubious of anything Hollywood makes… It’s like The Chosen; I just don’t agree with some of their theology.”

It’s exactly this type of thinking that can chase a person who is considering Christianity away from belief! Those who are wavering on the decision to follow Christ after watching a popular movie or streaming series can be easily discouraged if someone tells them “Well, that’s just a Hollywood movie, it has nothing to do with reality, and by the way, it’s bad theology”.

Even worse is all of the bad-mouthing that goes on between Christian denominations and non-denominational churches. Imagine that you’ve been inspired by The Chosen to learn more about Jesus, and you start ”shopping” for a church. Having made the journey from Catholicism to Lutheranism to a non-denominational church, it appalls me how many “good Christians” denigrate other believers! That’s no way to demonstrate the love of Christ to those who are seeking Him.

Barb and I recently decided to take an online evangelism course provided by the Billy Graham Evangelical Association. I’m sure there are those out there who would shake their heads and say that Billy Graham, one of the most respected evangelists of our time who brought millions of people to Christ, is “one of those Southern Baptists” and that he espoused “bad theology”… Sad, isn’t it?

The Great Commission, cited at the beginning of this devotional, gives Christians their marching orders: “Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you.” Jesus didn’t say anything about how to make disciples, and if modern mass media can bring people to Him, let’s not discourage those people by nitpicking theological points or questioning an actor’s religious background.

Jesus gave us His command in a three-step process: 1) We’re to bring the Good News to people everywhere, 2) baptize them, and then 3) educate them in God’s Word so that they can become more discerning. If we can’t all agree that bringing the Gospel to all people everywhere in any way we can is the most important charge Jesus left us with, then we’ll never achieve the two other steps.

Heaven On Wheels Daily Prayer:

God, You entrusted us with spreading Your Good News to all nations, and have promised to be with us forever. Let those who believe in You be faithful to Your command, reaching out to the world in words and acts of love. In Jesus’ name I pray, AMEN.

Holy Bible. New Living Translation copyright© 1996, 2004, 2007, 2013 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.