Jesus
Camp
"A growing number of evangelical Christians believe there is a revival
underway in America that requires Christian youth to assume leadership
roles in advocating the causes of their religious movement."
The blurb continues, "‘Jesus Camp’ follows Levi, Rachael,
and Tory
to Pastor Becky Fischer's ‘Kids on Fire’ camp held the summer of 2005
in Devil's Lake, North Dakota, where kids as young as six years old are
taught to become dedicated Christian soldiers in ‘God's army.’ The film
follows these children at camp as they hone their ‘prophetic gifts’ and
are schooled in how to ‘take back America for Christ.’"
In an admittedly somewhat ominous statement, the pitch calls
the
movie "a first-ever look into an intense training ground that recruits
born-again Christian children to become an active part of America's
political future."
Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jesus_Camp_Documentary)
provides an excellent summary of the movie. Wikipedia notes that the
movie cuts between footage of the camp and a children's prayer
conference held just prior to the camp at Christ Triumphant Church (www.christtriumphant.org),
a large charismatic church in Lee's Summit, Missouri; a suburb of
Kansas City.
Wilkipedia’s comment that all three young people are
portrayed as
being devout charismatic Christians is absolutely correct. There is no
attempt made in any way to disparage their faith in any way.
Viewers need to remember that any film, however, good, that
attempts
to show real life activities, is only a snapshot. Rather than being
motivated by an anti-Christian agenda, the documentary producers seemed
to have a real concern to accurately show how these youngsters live
their lives. They don’t have a lot of time to do that, so in trying to
explain to viewers just who Levi is, and what makes him tick, they show
that the young man, who would like to be a pastor, has ambitions of
being a pastor, has already preached several sermons at his home
church.
That follows a sequence from earlier on in the film, where
viewers
see the home schooled Levi watching a cartoon stating that the earth is
6,000 years old – a standard creationist viewpoint. There is no attempt
made to rebut this.
Then the movie shows Levi, after careful preparation,
preaching a
sermon at the camp in which he declares that his generation is a key to
Jesus coming back – a common enough statement among charismatics over
the last decade or so.
We get a picture of Rachel, who frequently hands out
Christian
tracts to people she meets, and is somewhat dismissive of
non-charismatic churches, feeling that they aren't "churches that God
likes to go to."
If a segment like this is "uncomfortable" viewing for some
Christian
viewers, it is my perception from having spent many years of my earlier
Christian life among charismatics, that it is accurate. Maybe it will
be good for Rachel and others who have her same belief, to see how they
appear through the lens of a movie camera.
Early in the film, Wilkipedia observes, Rachel is seen
praying over
a bowling ball. Now do charismatic Christians spend all their time
praying over bowling balls? Absolutely not! But does this brief shot
serve to show a mind set of a number of charismatic Christians?
Absolutely!
I observed a variety of somewhat bizarre situations like
this
happening for a number of years when I was part of the charismatic
movement. What I saw was people commanding personal health and
prosperity and national blessing, rather than praying for the salvation
and spiritual well being of individuals with whom they came in contact.
It was evident that the material realm was more important to them than
the eternal spiritual realm. In addition , the gifts of the Holy Spirit
were more important to them than the fruit of the Spirit.
While the movie’s detractors could argue that including a
segment
like this makes subjects look a little bizarre, and is an overt attempt
by "liberals" to poison viewers against Christians, I don’t think so.
To omit all mentions of activities like this would be disingenuous, as
this is how a number of charismatic Christians act. This needed to be
shown.
Then there is Tory, who often dances to Christian heavy
metal music (such as an excellent station we have here in Albuquerque (www.m88.org),
and who, Wilkipedia observes, feels somewhat uncomfortable about
"dancing in the flesh."
This again was a good inclusion by the film makers and
served to
show the difficulty felt by young people growing up in a family with
conservative Christian values but still being part of a predominantly
secular culture.
At the camp, Fischer stresses the need for children to
purify
themselves in order to be used by God. She strongly believes that
children need to be in the forefront of turning America back to
conservative Christian values.
In one scene shot at Christ Triumphant Church, Lou Engle (www.elijahlist.com/cont_display.html?ID=20),
the "prophet" and founder for Harvest International Ministries (www.harvestim.org/him_new/apostolic_team.php),
the "apostolic network" with which both the church and Fischer's
ministry are affiliated--a relationship, Wilkipedia observed, which was
not advertised in the film, preaches a message urging children to join
the fight to end abortion.
Engle prays for George W. Bush to have the strength to
appoint
"righteous judges" who will overturn Roe v. Wade. By the end of the
sermon, the children are chanting, "Righteous judges! Righteous
judges!"
Scenes like this are apparently very uncomfortable to both
sides of
the religious spectrum. "Liberals" complain bitterly that activities
like this prove that evangelical Christians are tools or pawns of the
Republican Party, while failing to recognize that many evangelicals are
not committed to the Republicans agenda for any other reason because at
least for the moment the Republican Party more closely mirror the
values that evangelicals hold dear. If that was to change, I believe
that Christians would not hesitate to switch political affiliations to
a political party that they feel more closely represents them.
However, many evangelicals fail to recognize how bizarre
their
unwavering support of George W. Bush, and sometimes equating the
Republican Party with Godliness, looks to everyone else other than
them.
 |
| Becky Fischer |
And perhaps most importantly, while I encourage Christians
to get
involved in the political system and become a positive influence, I
believe there can become a tendency to place our faith in politics and
forget the Lord.
While Fischer believes that children need to be at the
forefront of
turning America back to Godliness, there seems to be an unspoken
implication on her part and by others who hold her philosophy that such
a dream can be accomplished by a lot of activity and verbal histrionics
(such as, and here I am paraphrasing, "we bind demonic forces and loose
the power of Godliness) in a ramped-up emotional atmosphere at a summer
camp.
While I believe in Christian "witnessing" (verbally sharing
the
gospel of Jesus Christ), rather than seeing Rachel hand out tracts I
would have preferred seeing her attempt to cultivate a relationship
with someone and let her actions initially share the love of Jesus
Christ. Then as the relationship progressed, use the ensuing available
opportunities to talk about Jesus and share why He makes such a
difference in her life.
Like many charismatics, I believe that Fischer and her
friends
really miss what God is calling us to do in the Bible when they focus
on the political system. While I would like to see righteous judges
elected and Roe v. Wade overturned, I see very little attempt by many
Christians to reach out in compassion and love to lonely and
disenfranchised young girls so they don’t end up making decisions that
will haunt them for the rest of their lives.
In addition, I see many Christians being so quick to judge
the poor
and the homeless from a surface perspective, without making the
significant investment of time required to see how they arrived in this
unfortunate situation. Rather they seem to hold to the thinking that it
is their fault that they ended up in this situation; that they lacked
faith.
Sadly, this movie rather than having an "agenda" actually
portrays
what is occurring in a significant portion of Christendom. As such, you
can learn a lot about what is (sadly) occurring in some sects of
Christianity.
I think it is a shame that Ted Haggard, pastor of New Life
Church in
Colorado Springs, who was featured in the movie, didn’t realize this.
In a comment about the movie on his web site (www.tedhaggard.com/jesuscamp.jsp)
Haggard wrote, "You can expect to learn as much about the Catholic
Church from Nacho Libre as you can learn about evangelicalism from
Jesus Camp. This movie manipulates facts like a Michael Moore film and
works the camera like ‘The Blair Witch Project.’ It's one more
‘documentary’ that seems to miss the point intentionally."
Haggard even claimed the movie does have an agenda and that
is to
"portray the people in the film as sinister. I believe secularists are
hoping that evangelical Christians and radicalized Muslims are
essentially the same, which is why they will love this film. I
guarantee you that the kids will go from this camp to do radical things
like . . . stay sexually pure until marriage . . . honor their parents
. . . respect authority . . . refuse to steal and lie. This is the way
we evangelical Christians war against the values of this world."
Asked who likes the "Jesus Camp," Haggard answered,
"Secularists who
hope that evangelicals are the equivalent to radicalized Muslims,
training their children to accomplish their goals through violence.
These opponents of religion fantasize that Evangelicals are trying to
wage a sort of counter-jihad, and material like Jesus Camp fuels their
concocted fear (and) Michael Moore and his fans."
Sorry, Rev. Haggard. I am none of the above and I really
liked the movie.
But what did Fischer, around whom a significant portion of
the movie revolves, think of the film?
Writing on her web site (www.kidsinministry.com),
she said, "Am I saying I like everything in the film and 100 percent of
the way we've been portrayed? Of course not. This movie is merely a
snapshot of what we do with children and does not in any way represent
our entire ministry. There's no way you can do that in an 84 minute
documentary and still have a movie people want to go and see. But we
feel it's fair. They show both sides of the issue without making
judgments on either side. They let us speak for ourselves, even if you
don't get to hear complete thoughts and sentences and concepts.
She added, "But I'm asking you to give the movie a chance.
At least
see it before you make a judgment. I honestly feel it's a fair look
into what we do."
Fischer said, "So while I do not believe it is a complete
and
totally accurate picture, I still believe there is enough there to get
the basics across about our ministry. Because of the misunderstandings
that are coming out of the film, it has opened unbelievable doors of
opportunity for me to be interviewed on nationally syndicated radio
shows, national TV programs such as Good Morning America, and in
newspapers all over the country. When these people actually let me talk
and speak my piece, they are fascinating, and impressed with what they
are hearing, even if they don't agree with some of what we do. It has
had a disarming affect, and I am repeatedly being asked to come back
for further interviews at later times."
Not everyone agreed with Fischer. One blog writer commented (
www.imdb.com/title/tt0486358/usercomments?start=30),
" I believe it was the intent of the film-makers to present to the
‘unsuspecting public’ an extreme side of evangelical Christianity, and
make it appear to represent the whole of us. Plus, the film-makers
obviously had an agenda when they took quotes out of context and turned
up the creepy music when something ‘Christian’ (for lack of some
all-encompassing adjective I'm looking for) was going on... They made
Christians look like unintelligent fighters with a political agenda.
That's not the Christianity Christ taught, and it's not the
Christianity I - and many others - live out. This film was created as a
mockery of the Christian faith, and was incredibly deceptive,
misrepresenting me and the majority of evangelical Christians in the
world."
Another blogger reflected much more of my heart, writing (www.imdb.com/title/tt0486358/usercomments?start=20),
" I am a follower of Christ. I was not indoctrinated as a child. I came
to Jesus of Nazareth by my OWN choice and have seen the help and love
that Christianity is MEANT to show others.
"Remember that when you go out there to represent Jesus, you
are
carrying his name with you. People may scoff at you and that is fine
but remember to carefully examine the way in which you choose to speak
to people. From what I have found out on my own and from reading the
Bible, God wants people to see Him, there is a lot involved in this and
we can't expect people to just understand when we tell them Jesus loves
them.
" ... God is not an organization, his true Church is every
person
who comes to love Christ and believe that He died for sin. It's not a
building; it's not a seminar; it's not a TV church program. God is not
a commercial structure meant to promote control. I'm just very afraid
and heavy hearted at the way people choose to proclaim this man who
died 2,000 years ago for the life of every human being."
And if anything stands out from this movie it is that. As
Christians
many times we are not really careful or caring at the way we choose to
proclaim Christ. While that is a message we may not want to hear, I
believe it is a very necessary one.
As such, this film is a must for Christians, and every
thinking person, to see.
This story is the personal opinion of the
writer and
does not necessarily reflect the views of the ASSIST News Service or
Across Ministries.
ASSIST News Service
| Jeremy
Reynalds is a freelance writer and the
founder and director of Joy Junction, New Mexico's largest emergency
homeless shelter, http://www.joyjunction.org
or http://www.christianity.com/joyjunction.
He has a master's degree in communication from the University of New
Mexico, and a Ph.D. in intercultural education from Biola University in
Los Angeles. His newest book is "Homeless in the City: A Call to
Service." Additional details about "Homeless" are available at http://www.HomelessBook.com
He has five children and lives in Albuquerque, New Mexico. For more
information contact: Jeremy Reynalds at jgreynalds@aol.com.
Tel: (505) 877-6967 or (505) 400-7145. |
