every tuesday and friday night a group goes out to a different part of the country and shows the Jesus film to groups of people. I have always had hesitations about the effectiveness of Jesus film ministries. I always hear stories of people going into obscure places, showing the film, somebody shares their testimony, then their is a call to prayer and have the crowd prays to give their life to Christ. But I've always wondered if these people truly know what they are doing? Do they know what it means to have a relationship with Christ? Do they know the day to day struggles they are going to face? Do they know what it really means to have theirs sins forgiven by Christ? Also, what happens after we leave? Will they remember the commitment they have made? Will they grow in the faith? How can Christians really hope to reach into the hearts of a group of people if they just drive in to town for a few hours, just long enough to show a film, then leave as quickly as they came? There is no sort of discipleship, just showing a movie!
The second hesitation I've had towards a Jesus film ministry is because of the cheesiness and unprofessional quality that I've observed as an American who is used to well made movies. The characters are so stereotypical, the sets are low budget, the film quality is poor. If you were to show the Jesus film to a group of non-Christian, American teenagers the result would be endless amounts of mocking. It never occurred to me that in another culture, the results could be so vastly different!!
I decided to go ahead and go on the trip last tuesday because I wanted to really see how this ministry worked. I thought that if I was going to be judgemental about the ministry, I should first actually see it in action. Also, most of the outreach opportunities are during the weekdays, so my work schedule does not allow me to get involved in many of those opportunities. I really wanted to go out and do some sort of ministry and the Jesus film was my only opportunity.
Throughout the entire film I prayed that God would please just help me to gain something out of the experience. I hoped that I would be able to view the experience in a different light, or at least have some sort of peace about the effect of the ministry. When we arrived at the sight, there was a little girl who stood by a tree just beaming from ear to ear at the 3 white girls. I went up to talk to her, and she was immediately thrilled that I spoke french. Although she was very shy and my french is not very good, we were able to communicate fairly well, and by the the time the movie started she would not leave my side. For the entire two hours of the film I sat on a hard wooden bench with this little girl cuddled up in my lap.
Although I couldnt understand the movie (it was in Fon, the main tribal language in Benin) I of course knew the story well. Because I have heard and seen the story over and over and over again, it just seems so mundane and not that exciting. Sure we hear the analogies to fishermen and shepherds, but as an American who does not have to fish for a living or guide sheep or cows, the stories have never truly amazed me. But in this crowd the reactions were totally different. Most of these men spend their days out in the ocean fishing for hours every morning. They cast their nets out in the morning and work all day to bring them in. When they saw Jesus filling the nets with fish, they all gasped and talked among themselves! They fully understood the effect of this miracle. Throughout the entire movie, they all had the most amazed reactions to every scene! They were completely oblivious to the poor quality or the cheesy character stereotypes because they had nothing else to compare this too. It made me so sad that I could not hear the story of Jesus life and be filled with such awe and wonder every single time.
Once we got to the scene of the crucifixion, it was the innocent naivety of the little girl I was holding that truly helped me to feel the full affect of what Jesus did for me. I have seen different renditions of that scene so many times that it never really seems THAT horrific anymore. I just think, yeah He was whipped, yeah He was beaten, yeah He had to carry His own cross, yeah He was nailed to a cross. But I've heard it so many times it becomes just words running through my brain. But to this little girl, it was her first time to witness this scene. She had watched the whole movie with such joy, had gotten so involved with the characters. But she didn't know what to expect in the end! When she saw her Jesus get arrested, she gasped! As she saw Him being beaten she held her hand over her mouth in disbelief. When she saw Him carrying His cross, she was shaking uncontrollably, and when she saw Him nailed to the cross she started to cry. After watching the emotions of this little girl, it finally occurred to me how truly incredible Christ's gift of salvation is. I finally fully understood the true horror of what He endured for me.
After the movie was over, the person in charge proceeded to share his testimony and call up anyone who wanted to give their life to Christ. The little girl in my lap jumped up and ran to the front. But so did almost every other person who watched the movie. Again, all my hesitancies arose. I wondered how many of these people have given their lives to Christ before? How many of these people have heard this story and were so full of emotion that they immediately ran up to pray? But how many of these people ever got past only the awe and wonder of Jesus and really had a daily relationship with Him?
I then remembered Paul's words in Phillipians 2, "He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion in Christ Jesus." At that moment, I did not need to worry whether these people were truly saved. The white people with big technology did not begin the good work in the hearts of these people, it was Christ who did that. We merely followed His commands to reach out to them. It was not our movie or our words that began a good work in them. And it was not our words or our actions that will carry it on to completion, it is Christ who will do that.
While I still firmly believe that their is a major lack of discipleship happening in many ministries, I was extremely encouraged and eased after seeing the efforts of evangelism in these people. I do believe it is important for more people to consider the same questions I have, for more people to focus on not just evangelism, but discipleship. Not just coming in showing a movie and leaving, but getting to know the people and teaching them about the full effect of their relationship with Christ. But on Tuesday night, I was reminded that God is not limited by our humanity. His kingdom is not limited by our lack of discipleship. God will be faithful to reach every nation and reach the hearts of every people group. At this point, it is not necessary for me to look down on the ministry of the Jesus film because here in Africa, it is an extremely beneficial evangelistic tool.
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