Chaplain's Corner

You may have decided to go see the newest movie about Jesus called “Risen”. The story is about a Roman soldier who is ordered to get to the bottom of the rumors that Jesus had risen from the dead. Religious movies have been around for years, perhaps the most well known are “The Ten Commandments” (1956) and “The Greatest Story Ever Told” (1965) and Mel Gibson’s “Passion of the Christ” (2004).

I have a fundamental issue with movies about Bible accounts: Hollywood always embellishes the account. This concerns me because people like you and me and the millions of others who view the movies, super-impose over the biblical account the embellishments so that the biblical account becomes distorted in our minds. Why should this bother me? Because God has warned us repeatedly not to add or take anything away from what God has given us in the Bible.

But what is the big deal? Why shouldn’t we make the story interesting, add a few computer effects, interject a few interesting characters in the story? What’s the big deal? Why not a new story line, get some people who have never read the Bible interested in the resurrection of Jesus? What’s the big deal?

The big deal has to do with deception. In spiritual terms, the best deception is one that is very close to the truth. Embellishments are deceptive. They distract from the bare facts. In everyday life we expect them, even enjoy them. Grampa’s fishing stories get better and better as time goes on because of the embellishments, but nothing hangs on Grampa’s fishing stories. But when it comes to the resurrection of Jesus, absolutely everything hangs on the truthfulness of the biblical account and any embellishment that distracts or that may deceive could be eternally critical.

You see, the Christian faith teaches that absolutely everything in the Bible hangs on the fact of Jesus resurrection. Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 15:14 …”if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith.” The Christian faith stands or falls on whether or not Jesus is risen.

If you have concluded that the Bible is not true, then do what you want with the biblical account of the resurrection, embellish it, discredit it, it doesn’t really matter. But if you believe that the Bible is God’s Word, the truth that sets us free; then stick to the story as told by the Gospel writers, don’t add to it or detract from it, don’t dress it up to “make it more interesting”. What could be more interesting than a dead man coming back to life, conquering our greatest enemy, death, and emphatically proving that his death indeed has the power to forgive sins and grant everlasting life to those who believe that what Jesus did, he did for you and me, for your sins and mine? If Jesus rose as the Bible says he did and for the reasons it says he did, then the purpose and meaning of our lives is radically altered when we believe.

As a chaplain, I have an obligation to respect the dignity of each person, even people who reject the Christian Faith the faith I have embraced. I have no struggles with this as I believe that this dignity is given by God. I have an obligation to help those who find that their spirituality is not providing them strength and meaning in the face of life’s struggles. I am invited to explore with others why their “faith” may be failing them, if this is their experience. Sometimes, when asked, I have the opportunity to reflect with others on the meaning and purpose my faith has given my life. If it were not for the resurrection, I would have nothing to share.