End of the Spear Revisited
With the official opening day of this movie underway, I withdraw my recommendation of this movie until further notice. I have been enlightened to some undercurrents of the movie that you won’t find in the advertisements. The lead actor Chad Allen is a gay activist and there is pretty good evidence that the producers of the movie knew that Allen was a gay activist before they hired him. Ingrid Schlueter over at the Slice of Laodicea and Carla Rolfe over at Reflections of the Times have the scoop. I received a private message on my Blogs4God account a few days ago that warned me of this movie. The message did not come with much supporting information and I guess my pride got in the way of receiving the message because I had just went through so much trouble to promote the movie.
I really got my confirmed answer on whether to continue my promoting when reading a quote from an interview that Slice of Laodicea linked to there the lead actor Chad Allen said, “It’s true. Part of what’s happened is the result of vitriolic anger and fear that’s been put forth by believers and by us as well.” That was in response to the Windy City Times’ comment that said, “It’s just that if you mention that the movie is about Christian missionaries, some people’s eyes immediately glaze over.” I read the portion of Allen’s response, “…put forth by believers and by us as well,” as a pretty clear statement of separating himself from believers. A commenter over at Reflections of the Times said, ” It seems that for you to be able to write so boldly about this matter that you must, yourself, be without faults.” The difference between the faults (sin) of Chad Allen and the sin believers commit is that he seems to have no intent at this time to repent and ask forgiveness of his promotion of immoral agendas through his involvement in this movie. He seems quite aware of what he is doing and is laughing it off. Those “believers” who have a personal relationship with Jesus handle faults (sin) in a different way. When believes fall short, daily, we confess our sins and repent. Chad Allen has clearly separated himself from believers and is openly defying God.
There is a ton of information and links over at Sharper Iron Forums. I would also recommend visiting Slice of Laodicea and Reflection of the Times for more information on this topic. Both sites are linked int he first paragraph.
When you are wrong, say you’re wrong. I was wrong about this movie! Previous posts on The Land of Ozz supporting this movie have been edited for your viewing pleasure.
The source for Windy City Times quotes is an article titled Chad Allen: Missionary Man.
Links to other sites in this post do not constitute an endorsement of those sites. The End of the Spear™ is a trademark of Every Tribe Entertainment.
Update:
Danny Kaye asked a great question in a comment that I think deserves an update to this posting. He was unclear on why I am not “supporting” this movie. First let me say that I am not promoting a boycott of the movie. Second, I will probably see the movie at some point, but my original posting was to actually promote the movie. The original purpose of my promotion was to try and encourage people to get out tonight or this weekend to see the movie so that it might get more widely distributed as a result of opening week sales. I am simply withdrawing my promotion of the movie with this post. I am looking at it as any other Hollywood production at this point.
I will explain my thinking in this matter. I have no problems with people, period. That includes Chad Allen. I have problems with ideas and messages that pollute and corrupt the value system that God has set for us to live our lives by. For instance, I have no problem with gay people in my church as long as they are their to search for God’s answers to their lifestyle choices. Yes, I do believe that homosexuality is a choice.
God does not tolerate sin, he forgives it or punishes it. I believe that a person who knowingly defies God will be punished. Those who seek forgiveness from God will be forgiven. Chad Allen is laughing in the faces of believers as he uses his involvement and in this movie to promote his belief that we should all tolerate and accept those who choose a gay lifestyle. That is why I will no longer “promote” this movie. I do not want to be a part of promoting the spreading of a movie that will fund such an agenda, indirectly or not.
Like Steve Saint, I sincerely hope is that Chad Allen will get some sense of the sacrifice that the man made whose character he is playing. Here is a quote that I pulled from the comments section of Greg Wright’s review of the movie.
The text that follows is the filmmakers’ official response to the issue of Chad Allen’s sexual orientation. I don’t think anything additional needs to be said… But I’ll throw in a quote from Steve Saint himself: “I could feel physical pain thinking [that] somebody that lives a lifestyle like that is going to depict my dad… [But] I thought: What happens if I stand before God someday and He says to me, ‘Steve, I went out of my way to orchestrate an opportunity for Chad Allen to see what it would be like to live as your father did.’ And then I could picture Him looking at me and saying, ‘Steve, why did you mess with my plan?’”
On the other hand, I am not a fan of putting non-Christians in a role of dramatizing a Christian message, especially in the lead role. Would you cast a self proclaimed non-believer who openly promotes gay tolerance to play the character of Jesus in your church Easter play? Some might say yes. I would not. I have been in some pretty powerful Easter Productions where upwards of 10,000 people were shown the life and death of Jesus. I saw the care that was taken to select the leading roles. These roles were filled by well grounded Christians. I agree with this philosophy of casting for lead roles in particular in productions that will dramatize a Christian message.
I will leave you with one last quote from the Agape Press article that says, ” Steve Saint acknowledges that some Christians may be disappointed that the movie is not a sermon — that is, that the gospel is not more overtly presented in the film.” This is confirmation that the movie was not necessarily created to be a ministry tool even though it may very well inspire many who see it.
January 20th, 2006 at 1:06 am
[…] I have withdrawn my support for this movie. Please see End of the Spear Revisited. […]
January 20th, 2006 at 8:33 am
I must confess that I hadn’t read your endorsment of the film in the first place. And I noticed that the editing for my viewing pleasure was very well done!
And I must confess that I know nothing about the movie. I typically do not pay much attention to a controversial movie until it is out and has been given the test of a real audience.
I am a bit confused, though, about what exactly it is that you are displeased with.
Is it the fact that the main character is gay in real life?
Is it that he is not just gay, but an activist as well. And by seeing this movie you would be financially supporting his cause?
Being a “fundie”, as they say, I am obviously not in favor of homosexual behavior. I just want to understand what it is that has removed your “Hey, everyone! Go see this flick!” posting.
January 20th, 2006 at 4:28 pm
Hey there, Ozz.
I certainly appreciate your prompt update.
I just went to the “end of the spear” website to find out more about it. It does look like it could be a great flick.
I guess I am still in the dark about the “EveryTribe” film makers. They seem to have a message of peace and love and all that.
Why they couldn’t find a believer to play the role is beyond me. Although I think they choose Chad because he would gain them some publicity for the film. (They are, after all, in this for the $$$)
I’ll probably see it sometime. But I can wait for it to come out on video.
May 22nd, 2007 at 7:05 pm
“God does not tolerate sin, he forgives it or punishes it. I believe that a person who knowingly defies God will be punished.”
I know this comment is more than a year after the fact but in my research on the Saints, I thought I’d comment on a more important issue.
The excerpt I pasted angers me, to be honest. God “punished” Christ for all sin. He forgives those who come to him. I’m not even addressing the nature of consequences because I wouldn’t be able to tackle such an issue and my real problem is with the publishing of something that isn’t true.