Catching The Passion Wave - Christianity Today

(Editor’s note: Rick Warren responds to a column in which Brian McLaren disputed the claim that the release of The Passion of The Christ is “perhaps the best outreach opportunity in 2,000 years.” If you missed McLaren’s column, click here.)

Three key responsibilities of every pastor are to discern where (and how) God’s Spirit is moving in our culture and time, prepare your congregation for that movement, and cooperate with it to reach people Jesus died for. I call it “surfing spiritual waves” in The Purpose Driven Church, and it’s the reason Saddleback has grown to 23,500 on weekends in 24 years.

Pastoral vision is often misunderstood. It is not predicting the future, because no one can do that. Instead vision is seeing the timely opportunity God gives you in the current moment and acting in faith and obedience before it passes. You don’t criticize a wave; you just ride it as best you can.

When Mel Gibson showed me his film, The Passion of The Christ, last year, I instantly thought of Jesus’ words: “If I be lifted up I will draw all men unto me.” That is his promise! Nothing is more magnetic than the power of the cross. So I knew a huge wave—a spiritual tsunami—would hit when the film debuted on February 25, and we began praying and preparing to surf it.

First, we planned a two-part sermon series, “Understanding the Passion,” to bookend both sides of the movie’s release. Next, we booked 47 theater screens for members to take their lost friends to. Third, Kay and I personally invited over a thousand lost community leaders of Orange County to a VIP premiere showing, including every mayor, congressman, superintendent of schools, other community leaders, and four billionaires, most of whom I’d never met. Then, in anticipation of all the lost friends brought by members, we added two more services to our regular weekend schedule of nine. Finally, we prepared a three-week small group curriculum on The Passion for follow-up.

The results? Over 600 unchurched community leaders attended our VIP showing; 892 friends of members were saved during the two-week sermon series. Over 600 new small groups were formed, and our average attendance increased by 3,000. That’s catching a wave!

No doubt, some will defend their failure to use this moment and this incredible tool for Christ with personal, theological, or philosophical defenses. Some churches would rather be cool, hip, or cutting-edge, than reach more people for Christ. To those I would ask, What matters most? Where’s the fruit? Many young pastors would be shocked to learn that the largest Gen-X church in America is Saddleback with over 20,000 names under 29 on our church roll.

It is true that The Passion has been “hyped” by some ministries in styles and methods that are dated. But it takes all kinds of approaches to reach all kinds of people, and not all Americans are alike. I could name a thousand different niches in our culture, and postmoderns are just one of the many groups Jesus died for.

Of course we need audio-visual Christians who both walk and talk the faith. But it is a both/and, not either/or. This last year Saddleback sent out over 4,500 people on compassion mission projects around the world and promoted The Passion. Honestly, I can’t imagine any pastor being ashamed or reluctant to use a film about the Cross. In a culture where visual imagery is the main language for many, it is the perfect post-modern evangelistic tool. It doesn’t preach; it just tells the story in an unsanitized and authentic way, and all of America is discussing it right now. The church should be leading that discussion.

It’s still not too late to catch this wave. What is your church planning for Good Friday?

Rick Warren is pastor of Saddleback Community Church in Lake Forest, California.

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