Hi and welcome back! This weekend, we reviewed American Gospel: Christ Alone (AG1; find the chat review post here). One thing I noticed repeatedly in Christian fans’ reviews of this documentary involved their belief that it represented an excellent evangelism opportunity. In fact, they thought it’d totally convert non-believers who saw it. I don’t happen to think that’s an accurate assessment at all. Today, I’ll show you why American Gospel actually presents us unwashed heathens with two great reasons to reject Christianity.
(Lance Grandahl.) ONE WAY.
(Some previous posts about evangelism: Lee Strobel’s Friendship Evangelism; J.D. Greear’s Evangelism Ethos; Harsh Truths for Pastors About Personal Evangelism; Authoritarians and Evangelism Apps; Child Cas Wanders Into an Evangelism Tent at the County Fair; The Hilarious Failure of Beach Reach; The SBC’s Evangelism Task Force; Intentional Evangelism Fails Too; An Introduction to Jesus Aura Evangelism; The Non-Christian’s Guide to Soulwinning; Confrontational Evangelism; The Perilous Position of the Sales-Minded Christian.)
The Reviews of American Gospel.
In preparing for our mega-review, I checked out IMDB.com user reviews of American Gospel: Christ Alone. And I noticed all the usual stuff I expect:
- drastic polarization, with reviewers either loving the film or hating it according to their own personal agreement with its positions
- intense and high-spirited attacks and defenses on both sides, always along tribal lines
- almost nobody discussing the actual merits of the documentary, but rather arguing about doctrines
We’ve discussed those three traits already around here. This time, though, another aspect of Christian reviews really got my attention. I’ve seen this facet on almost every single Christian movie we’ve ever reviewed, but it stood out more this time.
See, this documentary was literally made by Christians to be viewed by other Christians. It details a slapfight that nobody outside their religion would ever care about, at least not on its own merits. I doubt its creators even intended it to be used as an evangelism tool.
But many Christian viewers sure perceive it that way. They think that viewing it will persuade a non-zero number of non-Christians to convert to TRUE CHRISTIANITY™.
“Call Your Skeptical Friends.”
Here’s a sampling of IMDB reviewers’ thoughts about this documentary’s evangelism potential:
I thank God for this movie, and those who made it, and I pray it will be used not just to advance a certain doctrinal view, but to lift Christ up and draw people to saving faith – this movie and its content is more than capable of that. (jmseifert)
Watch this! And give away as many as you can! Pray that God would use it to save many and turn many back to the true Gospel! (josephrandal)
Every Christian, and indeed everyone considering Christianity (and everyone should consider Christianity because it’s the truth) should watch this movie. (AlDatum)
Over on Amazon, some reviewers expressed similar sentiments. A couple of quotes:
I pray that God continues to use it to bring sinners to repentance and faith in Jesus apart from any desire for material “blessings” (healing, money, good reputation / fame). (marshwiggle, July 10, 2019)
I encourage non believers to watch so you can know what true Christianity means, and how wonderful the gift of Christ truly is and that’s what it’s all about- the gospel! (Kristina Agee, September 29, 2019)
The Gospel Coalition includes an entire subsection in their review of American Gospel titled “Call Your Skeptical Friends.” Their reviewer writes:
Here’s hoping many viewers will come across American Gospel [. . .] and that Christians will find opportunities to watch the film with unbelieving neighbors and friends.
So the documentary’s fans sure think American Gospel functions as an evangelism tool.
And Now, the Accidental Revelations of American Gospel.
However, some IMDB reviewers accidentally revealed the truth of the matter.
If you are not a christian, there is no better film out there for giving you an accurate presentation of what true christianity is. (bergerrussell)
If you ever really wondered and wanted to know what Christ Jesus and the Bible is about, watch this movie. (jhang-schintgen)
As a follower of Christ, I recommend it as a resource for guarding against false doctrine and sharing with non-believers who are open to hearing what our faith is REALLY about. (ekirb)
They’re right, just not in the way they imagine. And this one nails it even harder — but without realizing it:
With the multitudes of atheists today who can’t seem to fairly represent Christianity, this movie would be a tremendous help. Even if they reject the Gospel after seeing it, at least they will have the information to represent it fairly and not simply be rejecting a caricature. (josh_kriese)
I agree completely.
Now that we have the exalted understanding that King Josh thinks we need, let us proceed.
The Faith Pool: A Refresher.
A while ago, I advanced the idea of a faith pool that leads to belief and disbelief. It’s been a while since we talked about it, so let me briefly whisk through the main parts of that idea.
Every claim we encounter can be envisioned as a pool of water. As we gain information that supports that claim, the level of the water rises. Conversely, as we encounter and absorb contradictory information, the level drops. When it reaches a high enough level, belief flickers to life; when it drops too low, belief fades away.
The more resources and time the claim requires from us, the more those two critical levels shift: a belief requiring very little from us, like the local library’s operating hours on Mondays, won’t require much to gain our buy-in. But if we have to drive a long distance to get there through inclement weather on one particular Monday, we’ll probably require a lot more specific information — and we’ll be more discerning in its quality.
This information can take a great many forms. Sometimes what we initially take for reliable information turns out to be unreliable. Information we rejected turns out to be correct after all. Promises get made, then broken; expectations get set, then are dashed against rocks. Patterns form and twist. This motion occurs against a backdrop of cognitive biases and antiprocess that influences how we engage with it — or if we do at all.
We conduct this mental calculus every day with multitudes of claims.
So what happens to our faith pool as we watch American Gospel?
First Reveal:
A Morass of Conflict With No Resolution Path.
The very first thing non-Christians might conclude, after viewing American Gospel, is that it presents a Christianity full of conflicts and infighting. In this movie, the main sides are Calvinism, Catholicism, and Word of Faith (one of the formal names for Prosperity Gospel).
However, this fighting leads to no successful resolution at all. Every side thinks it’s the correct one and that all the others are incorrect. None of them share any common esteem for any one leader who could settle the matter. Calvinists don’t care about anything Catholic leaders say, and Word of Faith believers couldn’t care less about either Calvinist or Catholic leaders’ pronouncements about Prosperity Gospel.
In the mega-review, I noted Catholics’ response to the Calvinists’ sola of justification by faith (solas are what they call their main doctrines):
Catholics have had plenty of things to say about how Protestants are Jesus-ing all wrong too — as well as misrepresenting their actual beliefs.
Similarly, I found plenty of Arminians who think Calvinism is flat-out unbiblical. Here, for example, is Kent Hovind being his usual insulting self toward his enemies:
The Doctrinal Yardstick.
Importantly, even crucially to note in this fracas of argument is this:
When Christians disagree with each other about doctrine, they almost always all have plenty of Bible verses to support their own positions and demolish others’ positions. In fact, they all assume that they use those Bible verses correctly while their enemies misuse or misunderstand their own.
The goal becomes trying to pole-vault one’s own Bible verses and interpretation to an authority level that’s above whatever their opponent’s using. So you get a lot of yes but in the Original Greek and Hebrew-ing in these fights. As well, each side will appeal to Original Christianity.
Whoever can make their version sound like the most authentic form of TRUE CHRISTIANITY™ will win.
Spoiler alert: at the end of these engagements, both opponents will come away thinking they succeeded.
They’ll also both believe that their opponents are still totally wrong, and that it’s all very sad that their hearts are so hard. But hey, at least they planted seeds. Each will piously advise the other that they’ll be praying for them to gain understanding.
(Indeed, they must make sure the other person knows this. Prayer does nothing tangible. Thus, the other person won’t know this praying occurred if not specifically advised of it.)
In this documentary, what we ultimately get is just one side of this kerfluffle. It’s easy to fill in the blanks of the other side, once you know the Doctrinal Yardstick drill: just demolish it with its opponents’ talking points and Bible verses.
Why Not Both?
That’s the problem with a belief system that doesn’t hinge on reality. Neither can offer up any solid, credible, objective reason to accept their position over the other.
Yes, in assessing each side we can certainly look at the harm that Word of Faith does to people — and Catholicism too. The documentary went to great pains to discuss the harm that Prosperity Gospel, in particular, does to adherents.
But Calvinists hurt people as well.
In 2016, the topic of Calvinists abusing children finally gained traction. Ex-Christian Joshua Harris has discussed a widespread child-abuse scandal that erupted in the Calvinist Sovereign Grace Ministries denomination. Later on, he revealed that he, too, had been abused as a child within that network. I’ve also personally known ex-Calvinists who deconverted when they realized what dreadful emotional harm the ideology was doing to their children’s mental health — or would do soon — with claims like “total depravity.”
So we can’t go by blustering assertions of more-hardcore-than-thou, original-Greek-and-Hebrew, or we’re just like those first Christians. And every group in this fight has harmed children and is dealing with abuse scandals left and right.
So who wins?
None of them.
They can’t all be right, that’s true.
But they could all be wrong.
This ain’t a game of Last Ideology Standing. If nobody can support their claims with facts and real-world observations and measurements, we’re within our rights to reject all of them. I mean, we are anyway for any reason we please, but most especially we are if nobody offers any good reason to accept their claims.
Second Reveal:
Fear and Threats as Welcome Marketing Tools.
This documentary shows us something else in spades besides Christians’ utter inability to offer concrete and credible support for their own claims.
They all embrace the use of fear and threats as marketing tools.
I mentioned in the review (probably more than a few times) how flabbergasted I was to see the documentary offer up Ray Comfort the Banana-Man as a great example of not only correct Jesus-ing but also of correct evangelism form.
But there he was, subtly gaslighting and undermining his victims, threatening them with Hell, looking for zinger openings, and just overall trying to get his victims as terrified as he is of death and Hell. Ray Comfort offers what is obviously a conman’s hustle, but American Gospel clearly loves this guy’s approach.
He wasn’t the only one embracing fear in his marketing, either. Speaker after speaker stressed how scary Hell was and what they saw as the eternal repercussions of the wrong choices. They condemned any evangelist who doesn’t utilize threats in their patter. Their entire conceptualization of “the Gospel” hinges on their terror of Hell — and on selling that terror to victims.
But y’all, they weren’t the most potent illustration of this tactic.
This Last Scene Was.
At the very end of American Gospel, we hear from the young man who opened it — the young ex-Muslim fella. He discusses why he thinks his peers don’t evangelize more often. And he closes out the entire documentary thusly:
I mean, what are we afraid of? If someone rejects us, they’re not really rejecting us. They’re rejecting the gospel. It’s a result of not seeing death all around us. If we saw death more frequently, we would be much more quick to tell people, “Hey, this death is real. [strange quick smirk] And there’s something we need to wrestle with before we get there, before it’s too late.” [licks lips as video fades to black; credits roll]
I was absolutely appalled by this grotesque statement.
Beyond appalled.
Mr. Captain and I both exploded into outraged profanity right then.
The Big Gun: Fear.
It’s amazing.
The creator of American Gospel cares so much about what he sees as the accurate form of “the Gospel” that he spent almost 2.5 hours outlining exactly what it is and isn’t (to his tribe at least).
These folks presented diagrams, endless speakers, endless Original Christianity-ing, endless accusations of harm done by false beliefs, endless apologetics arguments-in-lieu-of-evidence and logical fallacies, and even a few false accusations.
They brought these elements to screen to build a case for their favored form of Jesus-ing.
But they destroyed that effort by pulling out the biggest gun of ’em all: fear.
They showed us that it’s important to them that “the Gospel” be sold the correct way: with fear and threats. Because the actual product is active membership in their own groups, and that product can’t be sold to people who are in their right minds and free of pressure. They must create the right mindset first, and that means a mindset of fear.
Comply with our demands, or you will be tortured eternally forever and ever. That is the Good News of Christianity.
Reject Fear-Based Marketing. Always.
Products that use fear-based marketing tell us a very important story. And that story involves what lackluster products they are for the prices being asked — or even what harmful and counterproductive products they are.
Christians’ constant use of fear-based marketing is the single biggest tip-off they offer. This tip-off tells us that we should reject their product (active membership in their groups). If they had any good reason for us to purchase it, they’d just tell us what it was and offer the evidence for their claims. Ta-da! Done! But they don’t. They offer lackluster faux-evidence, then layer on threats to do their heavy lifting.
If I need to be in an environment where I am helpless to protect myself and in mortal danger at any moment before a certain product starts looking good, that tells me that its sellers know I’d reject it out of hand under normal circumstances. When I’ve got my wits about me, their product doesn’t look good at all. Its sellers’ claims sound ridiculous when seen in the light of day and when I’m safe and sound. Christianity only starts looking viable if I’m literally afraid that I’m about to die.
They know that, so they need me to be in a state of terror.
Look, I know I keep coming back to this point. But I want you to understand how just completely flummoxed I am to hear Christians embracing this strategy. Fear-based marketing undermines every single claim they make, and they don’t even realize it.
Nobody’s Converting Cuz of American Gospel.
In short, this documentary reveals two big truths about Christianity:
First, Christians argue endlessly about what correct Jesus-ing involves, but none of them can or will ever win that fight.
That tells us that there are no actual material facts behind any Christian claims, nor any objective way to assess Christian claims. Who would ever feel drawn to join such a contentious and irreconcilable community, especially one based around ideas that none of them can credibly support?
Second, Christians see fear as a great marketing tool. Heckies, they just wish people were more fearful — and had more reasons to fear our own imminent deaths!
Ai yi yi! Who can reasonably be expected to respond to a message so mired in fear, so pleased with causing terror? How are non-believers supposed to be impressed with nonstop displays of callous emotional manipulation of others’ fears and needs? Or with a product that can only be sold to the terrified?
No. The fans of American Gospel need to understand: this documentary is meant to be consumed only by their own sheep, not by us lions.
To us, it functions as anti-evangelism: as a reason to reject the product on offer with every bit of peaceful force we can muster.
NEXT UP: Interesting claims about American Gospel being “Calvinist propaganda.” We’ll explore that interesting accusation — and perhaps see what went into it.
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(Quick note: Calvinists’ ideological opposites are usually reckoned to be Arminians. Arminians believe that people can alter their fates through the choices they make; people’s fates are not predetermined. Also, regarding the topic change: I thought it’d be neat to see if I can get the documentary creator to weigh in regarding “Calvinist propaganda.” So I’m putting that post off till I hear back from him — if he replies. It’s okay if he doesn’t. I’m not a big-time person by any means. UPDATE: He said no way no how. Surprising, isn’t it?)
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