Jesus Camp

So, my wife and I watched the Oscar-nominated documentary, Jesus Camp, this week. Essentially, it's the story of an Evangelical, Pentecostal Children's Pastor and her work with kids. By extension, issues of political, social and spiritual natures are also discussed as part of the film.

From my standpoint, the film is presented in a mildly antagonistic point of view. I'm not saying that it aims to discredit the Bible necessarily, but that the "movement" that is examined is portrayed as being inappropriate and misguided.

Both b. and I found the film to be extremely interesting and disturbing. I'll try to boil it down to 5 issues that are particularly troublesome:

1. Speaking in tongues
2. Warriors
3. "This Generation"
4. Political aspirations
5. Control

Speaking in tongues...I know the Bible talks about it as a spiritual gift. I believe that the true intention of this gift was to communicate and to be valuable to others. When people start to make crazy sounds while they get lathered up in what they call "the Holy Ghost", it just seems more crazy than it does worshipful. God correct my view if it's wrong.

Warriors...there was just a lot of talk about going to war with the world, about winning back America for Christ, about winning back Government for Christ, about fighting against Satan in a conscious way all of the time. There is little place for love in the mentality of a warrior, and although I agree that we must resist temptation and be mindful of Satan's attack, a constant focus on that would leave one defensive, battle-weary and distracted from love.

"This generation"....I got so sick of hearing this phrase. Kids and adults all throughout the film kept saying it, like the kids of 2007 have some exalted place in world history, something they can be very proud of, and thus attain their special status through boldness and activism. I think the idea of this generation having any exalted importance is man's idea and not God's. God doesn't love this generation more than past ones. I don't buy that the kids of today need to re-claim the world. Talk about inappropriate pressure. God is in control, not this generation.

Political aspirations....at times the pastor and some of the childrens' parents spoke of them growing up to become senators and mayors, like that was the ideal. There seemed to be an air of superiority, almost like they deserved to be put in important places. Let's get important. Let's get power. Let's take charge. It's not the Gospel if you read the Sermon on the Mount.

Control...from the getting fired up in tongues, to naming this generation as superior, to the quest for political power, the idea of we have control and we're going to use it and increase it is eerily present. At times there are good things said, evangelism is promoted, fasting is valued, staying faithful to God is encouraged, and worship is frequently mentioned and practiced. But the self is quite large in this film and this is a bit of a problem because we know that John the Baptist recognized that the self must decrease so that Christ might increase. I don't think the Christian walk is about being powerful. I think there is power in our faith, for sure, but I think the Christian walk is about being loving and being thankful. There is a place for boldness, but it's not the Christian's highest virtue. There is a place for bravery and standing up for Christian values, but the message of Scripture does not say to dominate the world. There will come a day when Jesus dominates the world. Until then, I believe there is a place for humility and patience.