Jesus Camp

i just finished watching the wonderfully done, Oscar nominated documentary "Jesus Camp", and before i go any further i must say that production and editing were top notch and that you must watch this! it was directed by heidi ewing and rachel grady and i must say that these two ladies did a phenomenal job. So many times with documentaries the content is unique and intriguing but every other aspect of it is boring as all get out, making it something less than to be desired. but as for this one i must say that content and production worked hand in hand for a superb product.

to be brutally honest, the content of this documentary was shocking, sickening, scary, pitiful and sad. i am a harsh judge, but it really killed me. the movie is less than an hour and a half long but it took me over two hours to make it through because i kept on pausing it to rant and rave. first off the premise of this is an inside look at a movement that is sweeping many fundamental evangelical churches and groups. it is this movement of focusing everything they have on their children, more specifically pre-adolescent, so that they can raise them as the generation that is going to do something for the kingdom of God. they follow a few families and their children to a camp that is under the leadership of becky fischer, business woman turned children's pastor, who seems to be linked with many fundamental charismatic circles and it does not seem that she really claims allegiance to one particular church, ministry, or movement. becky puts on the camp "kids on fire" and we see glimpses of three children's lives pre-camp, at camp, and post camp.

here are my issues. i used to be one that proclaimed that God so desired to do something specifically with my generation, to the point that most times i would rule out the usefulness of anyone that did not fall under that umbrella. this is the large neon banner that this particular movement seems to go out under, one of many. here is the deal, when we claim specifically on one generation we put undue pressure on them to perform something that they are incapable of performing in the first place. i have learned in the past few years that it takes all types; young and old, innovation and tradition, fathers and sons, mothers and daughters, it takes all type to live the Gospel of Jesus Christ and work towards the restoration that we are meant. this exclusive club of generation is dangerous and based on many Old Testament prophetic texts that are almost always taken out of context. one generation cannot do it, we all must work together as followers of Christ.

my second issue is the huge lack of scriptural exposition and exegesis. all i heard from the leaders of this camp and others in this movement were aloof statements that were loosely associated with scripture. i heard of them telling the kids to read their bible everyday but i never heard anyone telling the importance of scripture as the number one authority of how we are to live as christians. i heard plenty of "you have to speak in tongues" or "you have to prophesy" or "you have to have visions". i never heard "labor in the words of Jesus" or "what is the context of this text" or "what is this saying to the original audience and how does that relate to us today?". i think that if we want to raise up a generation for Christ it must be upon the most solid foundation that we have, his word, and certainly not on loose interpretations of mystical verses so that we can feed our hunger for the unknown becoming known or the power of proclaiming that we alone posses the key to hearing the voice of God Almighty. the funny thing is that most of the people would tell you that they believe in the absolute authority of scripture, but the way in which they misinterpret and represent it say otherwise. just listening to the children try to explain biblical principles illuminated the fact they are regurgitating man made statements instead of scripture in context. this is a huge pet peeve of mine and it grates on me. we must use scripture correctly, the way that it was written.

next, much of their energy was pointed toward political issues. i hate abortion and i believe that homosexuality is a sin and that is because i believe in all of scripture but i will not and can not let those be political issues before they are scriptural mandates. lou engle made an appearance with his LIFE campaign, which i cannot say that i am totally against and honestly most of what he did was cool but he was politically charged. if i heard that we are christians i also heard we are fundamentalists and we can sway the vote. ted haggard said in the movie that we could sway any vote if all evangelicals voted. they had the children pray over a cardboard cut out of president bush for very specific political issues. don't get me wrong, i think that we should affect every level of culture we enter but they are teaching these kids to take a political stance instead of a biblical stance. i never heard any scripture brought out in these instances only that we have to bring america back to God. is that our call as evangelical christians, our sole purpose to bring a country back to God, or is it to see all of creation restored to its intended beauty. these people are very politically charged, patriotic and consider conservatism equal with godliness. i thought i was conservative before i watched this. it left me feeling like a hippie communist.

to break the griping chain, there were some positive things i saw. they did desire to instill a passion for Jesus in their children. i believe for the most part that intentions for these people are good but so are the intentions of mormons, hindus, and muslims. there was a strong sense of family, church, and community. there were many great foundational things there but for the most part the picture was missed. i feel sorry for alot of these children because in their present course i see them being set up for social horror because all they know how to do is interact with one kind of people. i did not see a huge element of grace in what they were teaching. sinners were not seen as people that needed the grace of God but rather as people who were others and were different and dirty and could be discerned because they were filthy and the only way they could know Jesus was through rudimentary methods that presented an air of superiority in which they could take much more credit than what they were due. i saw a large emphasis put on what the children could do and very little emphasis but on simply glorifying God in all that we do. there did not seem to be any dominant male leadership and i know i am being picky but not once did i hear scripture being taught, only precepts based on scripture. it also seemed like the mentality was definitely a pre-tribulation rapture, which i am not going into, that said get me out of this place as soon as possible and i will take as many people with me as i can, instead of working toward restoration in the here and now. it seems they really de-emphasized the work that we should do now which is a contradiction in itself if they truly want to reclaim america for God. and the last gripe that i have is that i saw children who were being funneled into growing up way too fast. Jesus speaks on the value of children and childlikeness for us as adults. a childhood is something that needs to be valued and not rushed because in it we learn how to have a faith that does not ask why.

the reason that all this upsets me is because i get lumped in with this group. i am considered one of them. and not only that but people who start out like this have a propensity of becoming the militant jerks who hold signs that say "GOD HATES FAGS" and those people get under my skin worse than any other. i need help dealing with my anger of these groups who are off the beaten path, who believe that experience and not the Word are the key to knowing God. it makes me so mad that not only do i have to fight to know sinners so that i can love them but i also have to fight pre-conceived notions that are set forth by these type of people. we need unity in the body of Christ, a balance that can only be brought through the Word.

Jesus is not a political movement, stance, or party. he is the King of Kings, the Lord of Lords, my everything. he came and fulfilled the law so that we may be free to live the life that he modeled and that he reveals through his Spirit in us. he impacted culture by meeting people at the point where they needed and did not expect them to come to him on any terms. he is love, grace and mercy. he is the Word and loves the Word. all i can say is live so that people can distinguish us from those who are distorting the Word and let us be open to rebuke if we try and distort it ourselves.