Today I received an e-mail for the second time dealing with an article written by Doug Fields. The basic premise of the article is, “Do you encourage students to see ‘The Passion’ or avoid it because it’s ‘R’ rated?”

I have yet to see The Passion of the Christ but I have heard reports from several people who have. It seems like everyone in the world has seen this movie already and I am somehow in the dark. But from what I gather it seems like it will be an amazing movie. So what’s the problem? Well, unfortunately it is rated R.

Is it possible that youth workers will get into some hot water over taking their youth to see an ‘R’ rated movie? After being strong proponents of purity and encouraging teenagers to make wise decisions about what movies they watch, music they listen to and so on do we give them mixed signals by saying, “but it is ok to watch this one rated ‘R’ movie.”

Of course the movie is rated ‘R’ because of violence. Really it comes down to whether we should avoid the movie because of the rating or encourage it with “caution and intelligence.” I am certain that this movie will cause students to see the passion of Christ in a whole new light and it may even lead some to a first time commitment to Christ, so I personally lean towards promoting it with caution.

Here is what Doug had to say, “Let’s be honest, the Cross was violent! Crucifixion was a brutal form of execution. When Jesus died for my sins, the nails were real, his flesh broke, and the blood fell. This incredible (and violent) act paid the price that I couldn’t pay. After seeing the violence that Jesus may have suffered, I want to know him more, I want to be a more committed follower of Jesus, I want people to know what Jesus did. Because of this, I personally believe it’s worth the risk of taking some heat by promoting this movie.”

Whether you are a youth leader, a school teacher, or you just work with teenagers and you are planning on taking them to see this movie or you want to encourage them to see it, Doug gives a few ideas that may be helpful for you. These are things that he is going to do with his group:

1. Write to parents and encourage them to take their kids to see this.

2. Contact our local movie theatre and see if we can rent it out for a private screening for our teenagers and their friends.

3. Purchase large quantities of the Gospel of John so non-churched students can further investigate Jesus.

4. Create discussion opportunities following each screening.

5. Show the trailer to our leadership students and begin brainstorming how they might want to bring their friends to the movie when it opens February 25th (Ash Wednesday).

6. Create a handout for our regular students: 10 ways to get your friends to see this movie.

7. Start talking about the movie to our students to create a little pre-view hype. Honestly, I think the R-rating will work to that advantage for students to be interested in seeing it.

What do you think? Should we promote it? Should we get these teenagers to watch it? Or should we avoid it? It’s your turn to speak in the comments below!

Pressed