Reflection to Insight

Recently my wife, our grandparents, and I, went to see all three screenings of The Chosen Season 5 in theaters, for the three different parts they released.

I have to say that they did a fantastic job with every episode, and the whole experience was awesome.

With the new season dropping, I noticed online that there was some controversy in the Christian community over whether or not The Chosen was a good show to be watching.

If you don’t know much about The Chosen, it’s essentially a series that tells of the events of Jesus’ ministry, through the perspective of not just Jesus himself, but the disciples as well. The series started with season 1 in 2019, and is up to season 5 as of this spring.

What I found is that much of the controversy came from the idea that a Biblical retelling of Jesus’ life on television, is a risky thing to do, because you end up having to fill in some gaps that scripture doesn’t give us with the different stories.

Some people had trouble with the depiction of Jesus and His demeanor in the show (played by Jonathan Roumie).

Others worried that the gaps being filled in throughout each episode, couldn’t be counted as canon to the four gospels we read in Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.

They felt that taking too much liberty with the characters and their personalities could fail to do the Bible justice, and potentially corrupt the story that God gave us in His word.

On the other end of the isle, some Christians felt that The Chosen is a fantastic series, and helped them to get a stronger understanding of the Biblical events. Gaining a better picture of how Jesus and his disciples may have been interacting with the world around them.

These individuals might say that The Chosen is a great ministry tool to help reach those who haven’t heard the gospel message ever before.

This show could be a way for them to get an introduction into the character of Jesus, and then spark a desire in them to pursue a relationship with the Lord, and gain understanding with Him in His word.

Personally, I fall more into the second category and feel similarly to them.

I certainly believe that we must be careful anytime we are adapting a story of scripture into a work of entertainment.

We must be faithful to God and make sure we don’t change the message of His word. Or else we could then confuse many people about who He actually is.

It is a tall order to do a faithful adaptation in the form of a movie or TV series, that conveys the truth of Jesus, and what He did while ministering on this earth. But if you can do it well, I believe it’s worth it and you have a new way to win some souls for the Lord.

Dallas Jenkins, the creator and director of The Chosen, has come out and addressed this in different videos.

He recognizes that some have had concerns with different choices made for the show. But something he is open and clear about, is that their goal with the series is not to replace the Bible. Their hope, is that by watching The Chosen it encourages people to go and study the Bible for themselves.

If you would like to watch the video where he discusses this, follow this link here: https://youtu.be/X_QeJ4X9-Eo?si=CKiBg17hs3CeZaQ0

Over the last few years, I have gotten the impression that The Chosen has helped many people gain a curiosity and desire to know the Lord, and draw closer to Him. Everyone who watches it may find that it speaks to them in a personal way.

Now sure, if the creative team made some leaps that clearly go against and contradict the Bible, there would be a huge problem in that.

However, after watching all 5 seasons and reading the scripture for myself, I haven’t seen anything that leads me to believe they’re doing anything of the sort.

Yes, they do show some story threads with different characters that aren’t discussed in the Bible. But these scenes are placed there to add context to the situation, and they don’t take away from the original message of the word.

The teachings that Jesus gave are still being shared truthfully, and the depiction of His life seems to be faithful.

As I watch interviews with the cast and Dallas, it is clear to me that they have a strong desire to get this right.

The last thing they want to do is misrepresent the Gospel. Their hope is to draw people to Jesus.

So, is it wrong to watch The Chosen? Should Christians avoid it?

I would say it’s totally okay to enjoy the series, and I think if you give it a watch you’ll be moved in all the best ways.

I would still recommend that you compare what you’re watching to scripture. And it wouldn’t be a good idea to just use The Chosen as a replacement for the word of God.

But if you’re supplementing your Bible reading with The Chosen, I think it might help connect the dots in ways you hadn’t considered before, and it’ll be an awesome experience.