Imagine my delight upon receiving e-mail from Family Christian Store telling me of the arrival of new products associated with the Gospel According to Mel. I headed to the store on Stephanie Road as soon as I could, and after scanning aisles of Bibles for Teens (made to look and read like a magazine) and devotionals for divorcees and/or pet owners, I found The Passion products—a whole host of knickknacks ranging from pendants to books to wall-hangings. I opted for a witness card with The Passion's familiar colors and script. It came with a silver crucifix—$2.99.
Gibson's production company, Icon Films, partnered with tech-marketing company BuzzPlant to send the film's trailer out in a viral marketing campaign—where churches and retailers can forward the trailer via e-mail to congregants, who can send it to their friends, and so on. BuzzPlant has also created ads for text messaging to cell phones.
Does anyone remember when grassroots activism in churches was done to help the downtrodden, organize civil-rights movements or clean up local communities? Today, the largest single grassroots movement going on in the nation's churches benefits retailers, box offices and a Hollywood superstar.
Of course, church leaders are hoping The Passion of the Christ and a peck of movie-themed products will benefit them, too—that they will, in fact, spark a massive revival. The movie is being billed by evangelical organizations as "the best outreach opportunity in 2,000 years" (www.outreachmarketing.com).
All of this begs the question: Who's driving this religion? Church leaders or Hollywood and Madison Avenue?
Note these words about the film from the president of the Christian Booksellers Association, delivered at a convention in July at which both Mel Gibson and President Bush also spoke:
"Too many people in our culture have never heard the real Easter story," Bill Anderson told the crowd in Florida, according to the Association's website. "While we have no desire to add another commercial layer to the holiday, we want to play a role in reclaiming the holiday for Christ. We want to draw people into our stores and drive seekers into the church to find answers to our … questions about how the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ has meaning for our lives today."
When did Jesus say "draw people into our stores"? Was it before or after the part about not serving both God and Mammon?
The Booksellers, which reports $4.2 billion in sales at its 2,500 member stores in 2002, is asking those retailers to sell tickets and post movie displays.
The National Association of Evangelicals, which represents nearly 45,000 people in dozens of denominations, posted a link on its website for purchasing tickets (and for every ticket purchased, a buck goes to the association). Their site also features an ad for a TV commercial which promises to "build a bridge from the theater to your church."
Add to that this slew of products: movie-themed cross pendants, bracelets, books, coffee mugs and nail necklaces that are meant to prompt inquiries to which you can respond something like, "It's symbolic of the nails that were used to crucify Jesus" and thus draw in a newbie. (Many of these trinkets were designed by Southern California-based Bob Seimon Designs; Seimon was reportedly saved in a Christian bookstore and later went on to produce the WWJD bracelets.)
And in the final melding of Mel with Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, the International Bible Society is planning to sell a version of the New Testament that contains images from the movie.
While some local churches have rented out theaters for screenings to work this hoopla for what it's worth, dozens of others are straggling behind, trying to keep up with the Hollywood retail business machine. Imagine the Sunday morning chagrin of being a pastor and not knowing the Gospel According to Mel.
Not to worry. Marketers have teamed up with evangelical organizations to prepare church leaders for their role.
The most recent edition of Worship Leader magazine included a pastor's pullout guide to the film meant to help them handle reaction and turn it into successful evangelization. It includes order forms for The Passion hymnal and The Passion small group study video. Nashville-based LifeWay Christian Resources has launched a website to promote the movie among pastors that says, "LifeWay has compiled this section to help you address inevitable questions from those who have viewed the film.
"These sermons, articles, products and other resources also help you equip your church body to share the saving news of Jesus Christ."
The first recommended sermon is called "The Final Hours of the Christ … This is a worship service that could be used before or after viewing The Passion of the Christ."
Outreachmarketing.com takes a more End of Times approach to peddling preparation materials:
"WILL YOUR CHURCH BE READY?" followed by lists of products available for bulk purchase: doorhangers featuring Jesus actorJim Caviezel, banners and covers for church programs.
Does this put more than a little pressure on pastors? Again, who's driving this religion?
"I feel a little out of the loop because I don't know enough about it yet," said the Rev. Paul Traynor of Henderson's Central Christian Church a week before the film's debut. "We're going to certainly talk about the movie … Obviously I want to see it early."
The church is planning a series of sermons related to the movie.
"They [marketers] have produced a lot of materials—they're really ahead of the game," Traynor said. "It will raise questions, I'm sure."
"I don't think Mel Gibson did the movie with the intent of embracing the evangelical world," Traynor said.
"But it's a marketable audience."
Clearly.