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Hollywood could very well be the greatest evangelistic tool of all time. (Facebook)
The Great Evangelistic Tool of All Time
Many consider it the "greatest evangelistic tool of all time."
At the time of its release in 1979, I was 11, a new believer and had just gotten baptized at a Royal Rangers camp. It was a fairly big event in the small Oregon town where I grew up and our Assemblies of God youth group rode an hour in the church's rickety old "Maranatha" bus to see the Jesus film.
Through the years, it's been incredible to watch the impact of this one movie. Thanks to The JESUS Film Project, it's been seen 6 billion times and more than 200 million people have given their lives to Christ. Now, Hollywood producers Mark Burnett and Roma Downey say the potential exists to reach billions more with two new television series chronicling events from Genesis to Revelation. The first, The Bible in 2013, has been seen by 100 million people. The second, A.D., starts on Easter on NBC.
"We've been given this incredible slot," Downey, star of Touched by an Angel, said during an interview at her Malibu, California home decorated with beautiful statues and art of Jesus and the angels. "I mean is there a better evening to launch a show about Jesus than Easter? It will air not just in the United States, but ultimately it will air all over the world. So the potential audience is vast."
The A.D. series comes as Hollywood is releasing a torrent of faith films and TV shows as detailed in this month's cover story—"Jesus Goes to Hollywood." At a time when the Barna Group is asking whether evangelism is "going out of style" and polls show most churchgoers rarely share their faith, A.D. offers a chance to invite family, friends, co-workers and neighbors to watch the Bible come alive in our living rooms. Surprisingly, a new LifeWay Research poll found 40 percent of Americans—and 74 percent of evangelicals—have watched a Christian movie in the last year.
"The highest level of participation in Christian media is now in Christian films and with that participation comes an opportunity," says Ed Stetzer, LifeWay's executive director. "This is our moment, so let's seize our moment for missions."
This new wave of faith entertainment offers an opportunity to spread the Good News via the world's most influential medium. As we watch our nation's rapid moral decline and pray for what some are calling the "prophesied great awakening in this generation," the Lord has unexpectedly opened the gates of Hollywood to spread His Word to the world. Amid this new receptivity, John Ware, founder of the 168 Film Project, says Hollywood is "inviting the church back to Hollywood" and is in search of "amazing scripts." While covering the red carpet at the 23rd Annual Movieguide Awards in Universal City, California, I had the opportunity to spend some time with legendary actor and singer Pat Boone, Diogo Morgado (who played Jesus in Son of God), Duck Dynasty's Korie Robertson and other stars. I was struck by their remarks about the new openness to faith in Hollywood. With Jesus in the spotlight, we should do everything we can to support those who have worked for decades to help inspire this turnaround.
This includes Dr. Ted Baehr, founder of Movieguide; Karen Covell, founder of the Hollywood Prayer Network; Ware and many others. Baehr, who prepares an Annual Report to the Entertainment Industry, has worked to help make a difference in Hollywood—an effort now "resulting in tangible results that impact our families and culture every day." Since he wrote his first report in 1991, the percentage of movies with positive Christian content has soared from 10 percent to 62 percent. Thanks to Baehr's work, movies are cleaner, there are more references to God and Christ, and more Christian and biblically rooted films are coming out of Hollywood.
As you'll read in this issue of Charisma, Movieguide is raising funds for a new headquarters building to extend its "bottom-up" influence in Hollywood and empower future filmmakers. Movieguide and other organizations are on the frontlines of the battle for the hearts and minds of the next generation and that battle is largely taking place at movie theaters and on TV.
Entertainment is by far the favorite activity of young people. By age 17, the average child will have spent 64,900 hours with mass media, 11,000 hours in school, 2,000 hours with their parents and only 800 hours in church, if they go once a week.
That's why we should join the universe's biggest star in using the greatest evangelistic tool of all time to tell the greatest story ever told.
Troy Anderson is the executive editor of Charisma. Follow him on Twitter @TroyMAnderson or Facebook (troyandersonwriter).
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