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Indeed, Christians who want to think more deeply about these things might well go to Mel Gibson's movie, whose controversy-ridden existence indicates the extent, and the limits, of Christian cultural power today. The Passion of Christ, after all, reminds us of the many ways that power can go wrong—a nervous procurator with his garrison of occupying troops, a conniving royal family with paper-thin claims to legitimacy, religious leaders bent on preserving pious decorum amid precarious alliances.

At the center of it all we find a thirty-something man with considerable political savvy, a gifted storyteller with a keen eye for shrewd symbolic acts. Moreover, he has the divine power to multiply loaves of bread, heal the sick, and raise the dead. Yet his most decisive, powerful act is not an action at all, but a passion—suffering the brunt of power itself, grieving, forgiving, waiting. If Christians are sometimes called to acquire power, we should probably begin by watching our Lord abandon it.

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Earlier Andy Crouch columns for Christianity Today include:

Before the Deluge | All of us have a sexual orientation that bends toward the self. (Dec. 03, 2003)

Two Weddings and a Baptism | It's still impossible to predict what will advance the gospel in Hollywood. (Oct. 15, 2003)

Wrinkles in Time | Botox injections as a spiritual discipline. (Aug. 11, 2003)

Rites of Passage | Self-improvement is our culture's most durable religion. (June 6, 2003)

Christian Esperanto | We must learn other cultural tongues. (June 4, 2003)

We're Rich | But why is it so hard to admit? (Feb. 20, 2003)

Blinded by Pop Praise | To see God "high and lifted up," just open your eyes. (Dec. 17, 2002)

The Future Is P.O.D. | Multicultural voices have an edge in reaching a rapidly changing America. (October 12, 2002)

Rekindling Old Fires | We can resist technology's chilling effects on how we spend time together. (August 2, 2002)

Interstate Nation | The national highway system is a lesson in how to transform a nation. (June 21, 2002)

Amplified Versions | Worship wars come down to music and a power plug. (April 17, 2002)

Thou Shalt Be Cool | This enduring American slang leaves plenty out in the cold. (March 18, 2002)

Borrowing Against Time | We live in a fallen world. We will die. We need to face that. (Jan. 17, 2002)

Grounded | Our technologies give us an illusion of omnipresence—most of the time. (Nov. 15, 2001)

Zarathustra Shrugged | What apologetics should look like in a skeptical age. (Sept. 5, 2001)

Consuming Passions | One man's "testimony" from the First Great Mammon Awakening. (July 10, 2001)

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February 2004, Vol. 48, No. 2