"Jesus Camp": A Reformed Charismatic responds...

Hey all,

The other night I watched for the first time the controversial docu-film "Jesus Camp", directed by Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady. Having heard mixed (albeit mainly critical responses) from several Christian friends, I was anxious to see for myself what all the fuss was about, and perhaps offer my own opinions on some of the things shown.

It's probably fair to say from the start that I am probably best described as someone who holds to a full Reformed soteriology, and a charismatic pneumatology, ie I would quite happily sign a five-point Calvinist doctrinal statement, and I believe firmly in the ongoing validity of the gifts of the Holy Spirit. I don't have a huge level of experience of Pentecostal approaches to these things, so I can't say if what is presented is typical of Pentecostalism, and I frankly have no idea quite how honestly the film has been edited; I can only go by what has been shown. I reckon it's fair to say all this before launching into any discussions.

Starting with the positives, I think there are things that can be commended in "Jesus Camp." The "Kids On Fire" (KOF) leadership are clearly genuine Christians with a passion to see youth fired up for Christ in America. They firmly believe in the ongoing power of the Holy Spirit, and the importance of this in the life of the church. However there are also several areas of concern for a Christian, which I will endeavour to examine here.

Much has been made of the extremely politicised brand of religion that seems to be promoted by KOF in the film. The cardboard cut-outs of Bush, the anti-abortion sermon and subsequent demonstration are probably among the most memorable scenes in the film. For a British Christian it's particularly curious, given that evangelical Christianity in Britain has nowhere near the level of political activism suggested by the film. I don't really know how many mainline US evangelicals would respond, but this certainly is not typical in Britain. However I would express concern at the extreme mixing of politics and faith displayed in the film, and the apparent forcing of the children to support the campaigns and positions advocated. That is not to criticise the positions themselves, but surely the mixing of politics and faith in such a manner cannot be either Scriptural or helpful in the building-up of Christian children. "Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness" (Matt. 6:33) said Jesus, and God's sovereign rule in our lives and our personal relationship with Him must always take first place. By all means have Christians active in the political sphere (eg the great Wilberforce, or Edward Leigh MP), but to place political activism on the same level of importance as a personal relationship with Jesus Christ is plainly wrong. This is even more important when one considers that the children being taught in the film are no older than twelve, and many much younger; how can a mere child distinguish between the two if they are presented side by side and of equal standing?

Connected with the presentation of politics and faith in the film is my concern that personal salvation plays little part in the theology of KOF. Much is made of praying for America, and the need for America to be lead by Christ; noble aims, but a revelation of a poor understanding of the Scriptures, and of Christian revival history. The Scriptures are abundantly clear that the person who is not a Christian is in total rebellion against God (Romans 3:9-18, Ephesians 2:1-3, 1 John 1:8-10), and whilst this does not mean that they can do nothing good at all, it does mean that they are unable to do anything that pleases God, because every single area of us is ruined by sin, and no action we do is ever as good as it potentially could be. Thus it is imperative that for any moral revival to occur, it must start with God opening individual sinners' eyes to their sinfulness and their need of God's grace and empowering Spirit. Yet throughout "Jesus Camp" almost nothing is made of individual conversions, certainly not in terms of the desperate need for forgiveness that mankind has. A brief look at revivals in history would confirm this. In Britain the Methodist revival of the 18th century has been credited with preventing Britain from anarchy, and for a complete reversal in moral decline. Yet the Christians at the heart of this played no part in politics; rather they saw the desperate need of individuals to be forgiven by God, and this was what they preached. The moral reversal was a consequence of the vast number of conversions that followed faithful evangelism and a sovereign move of God. Thus I struggle to see the value of praying such "national" prayers; revival starts with God working in individual.

This brings us to the use of Scripture itself in the film by the KOF team. Perhaps not unfairly it could be said that actually more accurately I should say the non-use of Scripture, as precious little does seem to be used! To give an example of Scripture being twisted to justify an area of ministry would be the frequent referrals in the film to Joel 2: 28-32, often referred to when asked about the encouragement of children to exercise spiritual gifts. This is a mighty passage, and does make clear that the outpouring of the Holy Spirit is not confined to a certain class, gender or age. But application of Scripture must always be done under the interpretation of other Scripture, and one of my central concerns is that the KOF appear to unreservedly ignore this. Let me explain. I have no major issues with the children in the film exercising the gifts of the Spirit; if God is sovereign and this passage is to be believed I see no reason why God should not bless them so. I suspect some were probably fraudulent, but adults can just as easily fake such experiences. My major concern comes with regard to the usage of the gifts. 1 Corinthians 14: 26ff is where Paul specifically examines the use of giftings in the church. He orders: (a) the over-arching concern for edification (v.26b), (b) the need for tongues to be only spoken if interpretations are present (v.28), and (c) the need to weigh prophecy (v.29). It is arguable if any of this is ever really applied in the scenes shown; prophecy and tongues are just recklessly encouraged with little regard to how the Word directs us to use them. The encouraging of the gifts mandated by one scripture must then be balanced against the others concerning their usage.

As I said at the beginning, I can only comment on what is shown; it may be that criticisms that I have made are invalid, as KOF have been misrepresented, in which case I apologise. But regardless, the instruction by Jesus to be "as wise as serpents, and as innocent as doves" (Matt. 10:16) is well-illustrated...