You have heard of the movie.  You have heard of the controversies.  Perhaps you have even seen the Mel Gibson film for yourself. Did you know that at the time of the North American release, the ilyaplus website was online with “The Passion of Christ”? The Campus Crusade, Canada website hosted the only known French language web presence for seekers.

 

The box office success of an “arts” film about the sufferings of the Lord Jesus in Latin, Hebrew, and Aramaic has taken many by surprise.

 

The iamnext.com student websites mainly stick to subjects and themes that do not fall into the “current event” category. Many other news outlets can do a better job than we can of highlighting “hot” news items. 

 

However, the opportunity and the need to create a French response to those genuinely seeking answers occasioned by the film presented itself.  It was too great an opportunity for the gospel to miss.  Scads of virtual ink has been spilled in English and now in French over the “Passion” controversy, but very little of what has been written in French presented the film in a positive light or invited informed reflection.

 

In France, individuals went to court to have the film officially banned.  In a queer twist of fate, a  Muslim businessman accepted to put the film in theatre chains across the country.  Many feel very nervous about the potential for anti-Semitism.

 

In Muslim countries, including French-speaking Lebanon, the movie has been playing to packed movie theatres.  Surprisingly, religious film censors have dropped the usual prohibition against the film depiction of an Islamic prophet in the case of “The Passion of Christ”.

 

With the release of the film in France in April, a new website dealing with “La Passion du Christ” hosted jointly by Campus Crusade, France and TopChrétien.com, the most important French portal for Christians, was put online.

 

Back in Canada, the two Québec universities where Campus Crusade has ministries, Laval and Sherbrooke, used the ilyaplus.com website as a part of their pre-Easter strategy for reaching students through the film. 

 

At Laval, a local theatre next to the university booked by the C.C.C. campus ministry was sold out on opening night.  Students had invited their friends to come see “La Passion du Christ” for themselves. A questionnaire asking students about their opinions and attitudes about the film was subsequently used on campus in personal evangelism.  Many students were given an article from the ilyaplus website as a follow-up piece and further bridge to the gospel after they went through the questionnaire interview. (See http://www.iamnext.com/spiritual/enigmas/sorrow.html to view my article “Brutally Honest” in English)

 

 

Does it all make a difference?  It’s hard to evaluate the answer to that question properly. 

 

Many who see the film will not change their basic position about faith in Jesus.  Then again, many in Jesus’ day who witnessed the actual crucifixion did not come to faith.  Some came to faith later.  Some, not at all.   Those who already loved Jesus were very moved by the events.

 

I think of our neighbour.  My husband, Michel, went to see the film with him when it first came out.  On the surface, it seems that the film had no impact.  In preparation for viewing the movie, this fellow actually read all four gospel accounts in order to compare the cinematic version to the original.  Today, Michel came home after talking with our neighbour on the bus as they returned from work.  There was an answer to prayer in that our friend finally took up our offer for help with a serious health problem.  Michel will also have the opportunity to continue to talk with him as we rip up our front lawn and reseed; a procedure that our neighbour has recently been through because we share the same bug problem.

 

This is definitely not the end of the story!  We trust that God’s Holy Spirit is at work.  Seeing the film was just one step in the process.  An ongoing relationship and continuing dialogue provide a context for the seeds of faith to be planted and to grow.  Even in the absence of a direct ongoing relationship with a Christian or the Church, God can use a tool like the Internet to help people to come to faith. 

 

The Holy Spirit is ultimately responsible for orchestrating events that connect people, tools, a work of art, chance meetings, snatches of conversation, the Word of God.  We are called to merely co-operate with Him and leave the results in His capable hands. It is truly a miracle when it all works together and someone comes to faith in Jesus.

 

Thanks for waiting with us in prayer for God’s miracle of new birth.

 

 

                                                                        Catherine

 

 

 

 

Catherine Savard, Campus Crusade for Christ, April,2004