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Sunday, April 9, 2023

NY Times Op-Ed: He’s Not Jesus, But He Plays Him On TV In The Chosen

New York Times Op-Ed:  He’s Not Jesus, but He Plays Him on TV, by Tish Harrison Warren (Priest, Anglican Church; Author, Prayer in the Night: For Those Who Work or Watch or Weep (2021) (Christianity Today's 2022 Book of the Year)):

The ChosenI typically don’t like religious movies and TV shows. I find them corny or mawkish, the kind of thing that certain believers feel they are supposed to watch but that lack any real artistic merit or appeal. I truly hated Mel Gibson’s The Passion of the Christ. But about a year ago, a friend of mine, whose taste in art and culture I respect, recommended that I watch The Chosen, a multiseason television series about the life of Jesus and those around him. I watched it with my family. A couple of episodes in, we were hooked.

Instead of a straight retelling of the Gospels, the series creates back stories and extrabiblical subplots for Jesus’ disciples and critics. It began as a small, crowdfunded project and has blossomed into a hit, soon heading into its fourth season. The Times reported in December that it has been viewed by 108 million people globally and “has become a bona fide phenomenon in many parts of Christian culture, attracting a fervent ecumenical fandom while remaining almost invisible to others.” It’s also gained a bit of a reputation for being liked by critics who, like me, don’t normally enjoy so-called Christian entertainment.

Jonathan Roumie plays Jesus in the series. Off the screen, he is a devoted Roman Catholic who says he views his faith as “the core” of who he is. This week, as Christians around the world celebrate Holy Week, which focuses on Jesus’ final days and culminates in Easter, ... I wanted to talk with Roumie about how playing Christ has affected his life as both an actor and a Christian. ...

When people see celebrities, they may get excited. But fans associate you with God. That’s a unique burden. They watch you heal people on TV every week. There’s a different emotional response to that.

I’ll give you an example where it really affected me. I was promoting Jesus Revolution at an event at SoFi Stadium. Security came over to me and said, “Hey, there’s a woman outside, and she has her son with her, and he’s in a wheelchair. Do you want to meet them?” I said, “Yeah, of course.” So I went out, and I introduced myself. We’re talking, and she says to her son, “It’s Jesus from ‘The Chosen.’” He had cerebral palsy, where he couldn’t speak, but he indicated that he recognized me. She said, “My son here has cerebral palsy. Our favorite episode of ‘The Chosen’ is when they lower the man with cerebral palsy through the roof to be healed by Jesus.”

I noticed her choice of words. We hadn’t said “cerebral palsy” in the series, and in the Bible, the man is only referred to as a “paralytic,” but she’d personalized the story in light of her son’s experience. And she said, “We knew you were going to be here, and I thought, ‘Wouldn’t it be great if God did that for my son?’” And I kind of panicked inside. I thought, “I can’t do that. I don’t have that power.” I said, “It would be amazing if God healed your son. I, unfortunately, don’t have that gift, as far as I know, but I would love to pray for you and your son, if that’s OK.” And I prayed, thanked them and hugged her son, and they seemed like they were so happy. I turned around, and I broke down into tears. Because I couldn’t fulfill that expectation. There must have been, deep down, some kind of disappointment. That was one of the hardest encounters for me. It still chokes me up even thinking about it.

Very often, I don’t feel worthy of playing Jesus. I struggle with that a lot. But I also acknowledge what God has done for my life as a result of playing Christ and how God has changed my life. ...

Throughout the process of doing the series, my faith life has increased. I’ve found more ways to pray. I’m constantly trying to get closer to God and to get a lot more of him into my life and get rid of more of myself, to be as much of an open vessel as I can.

TaxProf Blog coverage of The Chosen:

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Other New York Times op-eds by Tish Harrison Warren:

https://taxprof.typepad.com/taxprof_blog/2023/04/hes-not-jesus-but-he-plays-him-on-tv-in-the-chosen.html

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