Here is part two of my essay about Jesus Christ Superstar. If you haven't read part one, go read that first and come back. I'm sorry I couldn't release all the parts as a whole, I didn't have the time.
Another person I spoke to about the play said “The songs can be kind of entertaining to listen to…when we were kids…at least one of the songs gave us kids nightmares. I don’t heartily approve of it on the whole because it ends with Jesus’ death. Like now you are just supposed to be depressed…I don’t think there is any blasphemy in it, at least not in the original.” I sent this person a link to the article I referenced earlier to clarify some easy examples of blasphemy: denying the deity of Christ, calling Mary Magdelene a prostitute who slept with Him and portraying Jesus as not understanding God’s reasons for sending Him to die a substitutionary death are pretty straightforward examples.
Someone else I spoke to said “I haven’t listened through in a few years but I think [it’s a] mixed bag. I feel like the positives outweigh the negatives (but again that’s without having listened to it in a few years)…is it going to point someone to God or push them away?” I spoke to another person who said basically the same thing-they had listened to it a long time ago, had a generally positive impression despite it being not the most reverent depiction.
Here is yet another conversation I had with someone else which I will report verbatim rather than commenting at length as my commentary is more or less fleshed out in the conversation itself:
Me: “Jesus Christ Superstar: yay or nay?”
Them: “Yay”
Me: “Ok, follow up question…what do you think Jesus would like about it?”
Them: “The obvious is because He is a superstar. But the real reason is because it shares the gospel with people who may not hear it otherwise.”
Me: “Hmmm. I was asked if I was interested in playing for a production. I haven’t seen it. I may have to watch it for myself. From what I’ve seen and read so far I feel that I’m not sure those things are true. It depends on how you define ‘superstar’ I suppose. There’s no doubt He’s the most famous figure in history but I don’t think that the fame was his goal or desire which is what the play seems to depict. I also don’t think it does share the gospel if it doesn’t explicitly depict Him as divine and it doesn’t mention His resurrection. The resurrection is a core component of the gospel.”
Tham: “By that logic, you should only play music that mentions His resurrection. I think I’ve heard you even play secular music! We are not called to plant, water and harvest. We are called to do one of them. I think you are looking for excuses to not do it.”
Me: “If I play music that depicts the crucifixion as the central component of the gospel story and doesn’t even mention the resurrection, yeah I think that’s correct. It’s probably not going to be honoring God if I play that music-which explicitly diminishes the gospel. ‘Secular music’ or music that is not explicitly religious is not automatically evil or dishonoring to God. I can sing about bologna sandwiches without mentioning Jesus and I don’t think He would be offended.
Believe it or not, I’m not actually just looking for an excuse not to do it. At first I thought I might want to just find an excuse not to do it because the money isn’t that good, but the more I thought about it I realized the money is completely secondary. I would do it for less money if I thought it was worth doing. I just want to have my mind made up either way: if I do it I want to know why what I’m doing is helpful and worth doing and why Jesus would approve and I would gladly defend the decision against those who would legalistically accuse me of participating in blasphemy. If I don’t do it I want to be able to articulate to the unbelieving people that want me to do it exactly why it’s a problem for me so that I can reflect the truth and love of Christ to them rather than mere legalistic condemnation.
I think it’s important for me to understand why I decide what I decide whether I do it or not and I’m honestly on the fence because I can see good arguments on both sides.”
I was FLOORED when I noticed that I spoke to six different people (yes I know that’s 5 so far, more on the last one in a minute) who were all professing Christians with rock solid faith, who were all more on the bible-thumping conservative side of things and ALL OF THEM told me that I SHOULD take the job. I was not expecting that. On the one hand I wonder if that speaks to how much of a grey area this decision is, it certainly does seem like something that is not clearly immoral and would fall under the discretion of individual conscience. On the other hand I wonder if that speaks to how much these influential people in my life are really paying attention to what they set before their eyes and ears.
These are all solid believers and dear people who I do not condemn in the slightest but I do think I have to disagree with them. I ended up renting the original movie on youtube and watching it straight through. When it was done I checked with my wife to make sure I wasn’t crazy. I don’t remember exactly what we said but she was in general agreement with me that it did not seem like a good idea. I ended up turning it down and the reason is fundamentally because the play is a misrepresentation.
It’s a misrepresentation of Christ, it’s a misrepresentation of the gospel, it’s a misrepresentation of His followers and it was written by men who scorn Christ for the purpose of mocking Him. As a follower of Christ I cannot in good conscience give my time and energy and labor and attention and name in the credits to such a project. I love Jesus more than anything else and it’s just not what someone in love does.
Imagine if you said to your wife or husband or mom or dad or best friend “I love you more than anything, you are so important to me. I want to do your will, I want my life to please you, I am your humble servant, you are number 1 in my life. I’m going to work now so I can play piano for a musical production about you and how your life is a lie written by people who call you a liar and portray you from the perspective of one of your closest friends who utterly betrayed you and with a plot that completely misrepresents you and doesn’t even mention the most important parts of your entire life’s work and mission.”
If you were in Jesus’ position how would you feel about that? The question that popped into my head and wouldn’t go away as I was watching the film was: “if Jesus was physically in the flesh sitting next to me watching this with me, what would He think?” I just can’t imagine a version of Jesus that would enjoy or find value in it.
“But Thomas,” I hear you saying, “what if it gets them talking about Jesus and more interested in the ‘source material’?” Although I have already addressed that question a bit that is a nice segue into the last conversation I had with a fellow believer about the play. This was a person who is older than me and was alive when the play and movie first came out. I asked them what they thought of Jesus Christ Superstar? They said (and I’m paraphrasing because the conversation was in person):
“Well, I saw the movie when I wasn’t a Christian. I thought it was silly and I just laughed at it. I knew a little bit about Jesus but it didn’t really teach me anything or make me want to learn more about Him. If anything I think it just reinforced my impression at the time that He was just a man who lived a long time ago and said some crazy stuff.”
After that conversation another question popped up in my head that wouldn’t go away: “has anyone ever actually been saved because of this play?” Even when I clicked on some youtube videos giving favorable reviews of the play, people who claimed to be followers of Christ who also gave it glowing reviews…I didn’t find ONE example of someone who came to Christ through this play. I even went to google and searched for stories of people who had become Christians because of Jesus Christ Superstar.
What I found was:
Nada. Zip. Nil.
It’s a nice theory that it could be used as an evangelistic tool but as far as I can tell, as far as results are concerned, it remains a theory. Just because something COULD be used as an evangelistic tool if you are creative enough or if the Lord so wills it (since He is sovereign to accomplish His will in the way He sees fit regardless of what I think) that doesn’t mean it SHOULD be used as an evangelistic tool. “But we have to meet people where they are!” No, God will meet them where they are. As it concerns our conduct and decisions we have to draw the line somewhere. You cannot strip for Jesus. You can’t sell cocaine for Jesus. You can’t…well you get the idea.
Throughout the play and at the end of the play there is a question that is repeated but never answered:
Jesus Christ, Jesus Christ
Who are you? What have you sacrificed?
Jesus Christ, superstar
Do you think you’re what they say you are?
I can’t escape the conclusion that they do not answer the question on purpose. It’s not what “they” say He is, it’s who He Himself claimed to be. C.S. Lewis put it well: Christ is either a devil, a lunatic or the true Son of God, but this nonsense about Him being merely a good moral teacher is a boy’s philosophy and lacks any real understanding. This play was made by heathens, for heathens, for the purpose of subverting the gospel and mocking Christ. It is my carefully considered opinion that even after reviewing this play with the most open mind, a thoughtful Christian would do well to steer clear.
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