Dear Holy Ones,

            Do you think this e-mail was sent to the wrong person?  Well, not if you are in Christ and saved by the work of Jesus it isn’t.  It’s true that we don’t often think of ourselves as holy.  However, Scripture makes it clear that we are.  Check out Hebrews 10:10 “...we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.”

            The media has made quite an event of the release of Mel Gibson’s movie The Passion of the Christ.  For once, I am glad of the infatuation the media has for controversy.  As you know we are planning a trip to see this movie.  We are not alone - Christians (Catholics and Protestants alike) are going to see it in droves.  I believe the reason is because it is apparently an accurate depiction of the final 12 hours of Jesus’ life according to the Gospels of Matt., Mark, Luke, and John.  Gibson has tried to remain true to the text and therein lies the controversy: the world still doesn’t like Jesus.

            That’s it.  Plain and simple, I believe that is the controversy.  Newsweek would have you think the controversy is the debate of who killed Jesus.  Primetime Live would have you believe it is about anti-Semitism.  Still other sources would have you believe it is about Mel Gibson’s spiritual revival, the graphic nature of the R rated film, and on and on.  But I honestly believe that the reason this film has been resisted, debated, and so enthusiastically acclaimed by the religious leaders from many different factions is because it is about the Jesus from the Gospels and people become extremely polarized when His Name comes up.  Just try talking about the film with someone at work.  It’s a great way to witness and assess a person’s spiritual status.

            So, what should we do in response to this film and the controversy it may bring our way?  You could do nothing.  Just lay low, don’t talk about your beliefs or about your thoughts on Jesus and stay neutral.  That’s an option, but I think you’ll be missing a golden opportunity.  The option that I want to encourage members of the Lighthouse to pursue is this:  educate yourselves with an accurate knowledge of our Lord and try to pass that on to others around you or to those who see the film.  Why?  Because it gets back to us being holy.

            According to Scripture we are holy which means ‘set apart’.  Two questions ought to arise about this.  1) What gives us this status?  2)  What are we supposed to do with this status?  Let me answer them in reverse order in an abbreviated manner.

            We are supposed to become the light of the world shinning on God.  We should reveal the Father to the darkened world by displaying in our daily lives what it is to be a Christian and what it is to have a relationship with the living God.  (Matt. 5:14;16)  We are to stand our ground and persevere for our own sake as well as that of others (Heb.10:32-39).  That means working to keep yourself holy and without sin because sin disrupts the intimacy of your relationship with God.  It means looking beyond yourself to the needs of others - the greatest need being the passing on of the knowledge of you someone else can become a child of God themselves (Matt. 28:19).

            As for how we attained this status of being holy, the answer is in a Name.  Jesus sealed the breach between God and Man.  Jesus knocked down the dividing wall that separated us.  Scripture could not expose this change of status any more dramatically than what is found in Matt. 27:51 “At that moment the curtain was torn in two from top to bottom....”  In the Jewish Temple the curtain separated the Most Holy Place from the outside areas where God’s people were.  It was a symbolic and physical reminder of the separation that existed between Man (Jews and Gentiles alike) and God.  When Christ died, the way was opened up for us again back to God; our way was paid for by the blood of the Savior Jesus.  We are now counted as holy because He is holy.  And with holiness comes the responsibility that we have just discussed. 

            I encourage you all to see The Passion.  I encourage you also to look past the media hype and realize that the persons responsible for the death of Jesus are still living today.  It was no one race or people, it was all of us.  The weight of all our sin pulled heavily on the nails in His hands that day.  We killed Jesus.  But for His glory and to demonstrate His kind of justice and grace, God declares us ‘not guilty’ if we turn to the Son we murdered and claim Him as our Savior (Colossians 2:13-15). 

I want to leave you with this lengthy, but extremely important, passage from Hebrews 10:17.  I challenge you to read the whole chapter of Hebrews 10 before you see the movie. 

“Their sins and lawless acts I will remember no more.  And where these have been forgiven, there is no longer any sacrifice for sin.  Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, His body, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water.  Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for He who promised is faithful.  And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds.  Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another -- and all the more as you see the Day approaching.”

I pray that you will know God. 

Evan