Reject Mel Gibson's Movie "The Passion of Christ"

By PASTOR E.L. BYNUM

TABERNACLE BAPTIST CHURCH
PO BOX 3100
LUBBOCK, TEXAS 79452

"Abstain from all appearance of evil" (1 Thessalonians 5:22). "Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God" (1 Corinthians 10:31).

This new movie is getting rave reviews from pastors and conservative talk show hosts, such as Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity. The Pope has seen a preview, along with other Catholic and Protestant leaders. I am sorry to report that many prominent Baptist pastors have also been enthusiastic. Christians need to take a look at the evidence, before climbing on the bandwagon and supporting this film.

5,000 pastors cheer
screening of Mel Gibson's `Passion'

The above was the headline in The Washington Times. (Jan. 26-Feb. 1, 2004). Mel Gibson showed his film to 5,000 pastors gathered in the Calvary Assembly of God in Orlando, FL. These were evangelical and charismatic clergy who are part of an ecumenical organization founded by Bill Bright of Campus Crusade. Mr. Gibson also showed the film to Pope John Paul II, who, upon viewing the film in December at the Vatican, is reported to have said, "It is as it was." Of course Billy Graham has also endorsed this film, along with many others.

The film officially opens in 2,000 movie theaters nationwide on Feb. 25, Ash Wednesday. Ash Wednesday, along with Good Friday are a part of the unscriptural holy days of the Roman Catholic Church.

Mr. Gibson hopes that pastors nationwide will promote "The Passion" so their congregations will flood the theaters during the opening week. The Washington Times also said, "Church groups nationwide have put in large ticket orders to see the movie, despite the graphic violence surrounding the crucifixion."

Gibson's False Doctrine

The Washington Times contains this quote. "To atone for the sins of everybody, boggles the mind," said Mr. Gibson. He further said, "[Christ] could have done it by pricking His finger and shedding His blood. He didn't choose to that. He went all the way."

That is a falsehood of the first order, and is nothing but pure heresy. There could have been no atonement without both the dying and bleeding of Jesus Christ. All of the Jewish sacrifices of the Old Testament required both the death and blood of the animal. There is not one verse of Scripture in the whole Bible that hints at or teaches that Jesus could have made atonement by pricking His finger and bleeding. It was absolutely necessary for Jesus Christ to shed His blood in dying. How could we expect Gibson to know much about the Bible, after all he is a Roman Catholic?

Reasons for Rejecting Mel Gibson's Movie

We believe that there are good and sufficient reasons why a Bible believing Christian should avoid the movie, "The Passion of Christ." We gladly state some of these reasons so that our readers may evaluate them.

1. Gibson's movies are noted for their extreme violence. This is not the main reason we are warning people. I have never seen one of his movies and I have no intention of doing so. This no doubt was a great influence when he saw the movie script, for this gave him the excuse for making another violent movie. It certainly would take a lot of fake violence to portray the death of Jesus Christ. The record found in the Bible is enough and I think it would be foolish for anyone to try to correctly portray His death. We live in a world of violence and movies and television have magnified this above all limits. This has a very destructive influence on everyone and it has warped the minds of a lot of kids and young people. We are seeing this in the behavior of many today.

2. Mel Gibson is a devout Roman Catholic. He is devoted to the Latin Mass and goes to a Catholic Church that practices this. I have read that he had a Roman Catholic priest on the movie set, and that the Mass was celebrated every day. The Mass is pure idolatry of the worst kind, because it represents the crucifixion of Christ over and over again. They believe that the wafer (bread) literally becomes the body of Christ and that they are really eating His body. They believe that the wine turns into the literal blood of Christ. This happens when the priest does his thing.

3. This movie is a product of the Hollywood movie industry. The movie industry is at the very center of a cesspool of sin and corruption. For two generations they have been responsible for much of the moral and ethical decline in our nation. They not only produce violence, but they glorify fornication, adultery and sexual perversion on the silver screen. Bed hopping, wife swapping and all forms of immorality, profanity and evil flow forth from Hollywood. The awful moral damage to our nation is so huge that it can hardly be expressed, much less over estimated.

It is curious that there are so many environmental activists in Hollywood that are all steamed up to save the environment. They are concerned about owls, mice, trees, fish and many other things that they feel are being destroyed by people. At the same time they are in the pollution business, as they pollute the minds and morals of our nation and of the world. They have promoted alcohol and drugs which destroy masses of people and weaken the moral fiber of our nation. No thanks, I want nothing that Hollywood produces.

4. This movie encourages churches to take their Young People to the theaters. There was a time when pastors boldly took a stand and preached against the movie theaters. This pastor still does preach against the movies, and I intend to keep on doing it. The movies today are ten times worse today than they were when it was popular to preach against them. Now churches are encouraging their people to go see a movie and this sends a silent message that it is all right to go to the movies and support Hollywood. How art the mighty fallen, and by their falling have caused truth to fall in the church and in the street.

5. Beware when any movie, book, video, or seminar is embraced by most of the Religious world. Ecumenicalism is the avowed enemy of the truth of the Word of God. If the Catholics, Protestants, Baptists and most of the religious world are for it, true Bible believing Christians should avoid it like the plague. That ecumenical crowd never endorses the truth of God's Word. A good rule is to find out what all the religious crowd is promoting, and then you can nearly always take a strong stand against it. "Can two walk together, except they be agreed?" (Amos 3:3)

6. We are taught to "Abstain from all appearance of evil" (1 Thessalonians 5:22). Christians cannot see "The Passion of Christ" and do that. In fact if we patronize the movies at all, we are disobeying the above Scripture. We are called to holiness and not worldliness. We are commanded, "Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you. (2 Corinthians 6:17) You cannot do this and be identified with such movies and with Hollywood in general. You cannot run off to join the ecumenical rush to cooperate and still be in compliance with this Scripture.

Will the movie be a Success?

It most likely will be widely accepted by the religious world. It will probably in the end make a lot of money for Mel Gibson. It is no doubt a very emotional and moving movie that will result in many people testifying in its favor. This does not mean that it will be a success in the eyes of God and in the light of the Bible. All is not gold that glitters, and not every thing that looks good is good.

No doubt Mel Gibson may well think that he had good motives in making this movie, but that does not mean that it is true.