{"id":5283,"date":"2006-01-21T00:16:41","date_gmt":"2006-01-21T00:16:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/viamedia\/2006\/01\/the-end-of-the-spear.html"},"modified":"2006-01-21T00:16:41","modified_gmt":"2006-01-21T00:16:41","slug":"the-end-of-the-spear","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/viamedia\/2006\/01\/the-end-of-the-spear.html","title":{"rendered":"The End of the Spear"},"content":{"rendered":"

The End of the Spear <\/a>is a new independent film that Christianity Today <\/em>describes to us thus:<\/a><\/p>\n

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The story has been told in Christian circles for 50 years. In 1956, five missionaries were brutally murdered in the Ecuadorian jungle by members of the Waodani tribe they went to serve. And then something amazing happened; the killers became Christians<\/p>\n

The martyr’s names\u2014Nate Saint, Jim Elliot, Pete Fleming, Ed McCully, and Roger Youderian\u2014and their sacrifice galvanized a whole generation of missionaries who headed to foreign fields with the slain Elliot’s words on their lips, "He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose." Now, a group of businessmen turned filmmakers is hoping the story will create a dialog between Christians and non-believers here at home.<\/p>\n

End of the Spear<\/span> features the events of 1956 from the perspectives of the Waodani tribe leader, Mincayani, a quasi-fictional figure played by Louie Lenardo, and Nate Saint’s son, Steve, played as a boy by Chase Ellison and as an adult by Chad Allen. Mincayani is a "composite character" primarily based on the real character Mincaye, who was one of the men who killed the missionaries. Shot in Panama using members of the Embera tribe for all but a few key roles, the movie is a stirring, lush production that elevates the visual storytelling portfolio of independent Christian movies.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/blockquote>\n

More CT articles here on the film<\/a>. <\/p>\n

Jeff Overstreet blogs that – surprise, surprise – The Village Voice hates, hates, hates it.<\/a><\/p>\n

But there’s another mini-tempest brewing about this film – among Christians. Why? Because, as Peter Chattaway discussed last fall, the central Christian missionary figure is played by Chad Allen, an out gay actor. <\/a> There’s a huge discussion of this over at another blog, also from last fall, but with more recent comments, since the film was just released.<\/a><\/p>\n

(Actually what I found most shocking is that Chad Allen played the little autistic boy on St. Elsewhere<\/em>, in whose head the whole series was imagined, as we learn from the last shot of the last episode of the series. I feel old…again.)<\/p>\n

Two views on the casting:<\/p>\n

Dr. Albert Mohler, who I see was on Larry King with Allen earlier this week, of the SBC says, "what were they thinking?"<\/a><\/p>\n

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So, what of The End of the Spear<\/em><\/a>? Put bluntly, I believe that the makers of this movie made a very reckless decision in casting Chad Allen as Nate and Steve Saint. Given the publicity of Chad Allen’s activism and the intensity of his mission to normalize homosexuality — a mission clearly articulated on his Web site — it is hard, if not impossible, to suspend belief and see him as a missionary martyr for the Gospel. The distance between Nate Saint and Chad Allen is just too great. This mistake is compounded by the fact that this activism is so well known and well documented — it’s what Chad Allen makes central to his own identity.<\/p>\n

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In learning cultural discernment, Christians must learn to make decisions about a movie like The End of the Spear<\/em><\/a>. In this case, the problem was unnecessary. This controversy is over a member of the cast, not the foundational story or the larger shape of the project. It could — and should — have been so easily avoided.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Dr. Mohler provides many links to other discussions of this on the web at the end of his post. Not, however, to our friend MIchael Spencer, the Internet Monk, who argues:<\/a><\/p>\n

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Thinking of the rascals and rapscallions that were out proclaiming Jesus while he was in prison, Paul said, \u201cWhat then? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is proclaimed, and in that I rejoice. Yes, and I will rejoice<\/em>.\u201d Now that\u2019s a poor attitude. I\u2019m sure what he meant was that he was outraged that the gospel had fallen into the hands of the impure and the unwashed, and he was actually concerned about the impression that would be left in the minds of the public.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s really just like the God of Jesus to put the Gospel\u2019s story of reconciliation into the custody of Chad Allen, gay activist, so that the Pharisees can really get stewed. It\u2019s like a lost chapter of the Gospels. It\u2019s simply outrageous that no one checked in with the culture war powers that be to get the word that real sinners- Activists!!!- can\u2019t be playing missionary martyrs or Christians who must forgive murderers. Oh the notoriety! Those impressionable minds!<\/p>\n

It really is like the God who made Balaam\u2019s Ass a preacher to make Chad Allen a preacher. I keep thinking of all the saints who must be somewhere, loving this. Will Campbell tops the list. Rich Mullins. Robert Capon, of course. Steve Brown. You know these guys are yucking it up. Irony is wasted on some people.<\/p>\n

Don\u2019t get me wrong. Paul wasn\u2019t applauding the skunks. He was applauding the Gospel, and its power despite whoever the sinner is who winds up telling the rest of us that there is a new king. I\u2019m not applauding Chad Allen or any other homosexual activist. I\u2019m applauding the grace of God that\u2019s bigger than the outrage of Chad Allen, Michael Spencer or the whole world of sinners put together.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/blockquote>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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The Catholicism comes from her side. Amy grew up in a number of places - Indiana - Washington, DC - Lubbock Texas - Arlington, Virginia - DeKalb, Illinois - Lawrence, Kansas - and Knoxville, Tennessee, where the family settled in 1973. She attended Knoxville Catholic High School, then the University of Tennessee where she majored in history. She received an MA in Church History from Vanderbilt University, where she wrote a thesis on the changing role of women in 19th century American Protestantism, and the ways Scripture was used to justify those changes. She worked as as a teacher in Catholic high schools and a Parish Director of Religious Education and started writing for the diocesan press - the Florida Catholic - in 1988. Amy has written columns for Our Sunday Visitor and Catholic News Service at times over the past twenty years. Her articles have been published in venues ranging from Our Sunday Visitor to the New York Times to Commonweal. She has written 17 books. 18, if you included the as yet tragically unpublished novel. Amy has five children, ranging in age from 26 to 4 and was married to Michael Dubruiel, who died unexpectedly in February 2009. 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