The creator and director of The Chosen says in a new interview that clickbait headlines too often drive the online debate about the series and that he wants fans and non-fans alike to be fair in their dialogue and to seek the truth "even if we disagree."
Director Dallas Jenkins addressed various controversies about the series during the interview with host Allen Parr for Parr’s show The Beat and said he wants his comments to “bring clarity.”
“I don't want them to not watch it because they've heard some ridiculous rumor.”
The “theology of the show,” he said, “is conservative evangelical.”
“I have a personal mission, my wife and I have a personal mission, we will always want to bring people closer to Jesus,” he said, adding he affirms the inerrancy of Scripture. “Now, the work of conversion is God's work, the Holy Spirit's work, it's not our work. But we are hoping to introduce people to the authentic Jesus, we're hoping to remove veils, hurdles and walls that have been put up, and we want people to come closer to Christ.”
Jenkins, during the interview, discussed rumors about the series’ ties to the LDS church, its allowance of an LGBT Pride flag on the set, and the use of actors and crew members who are not Christians.
“I have a cast and crew of over 200 people when we're filming the show,” he said. “... I'm not forcing them and I'm not forcing our organization to have the same exact mission that I do. … So our actors, I would say the majority -- over half of them -- are not traditional believers, [although] some of them have become so from working on the show. Same with our crew.”
Last year, a photo of a small LGBT pride flag attached to a video camera on the set ignited a social media firestorm. The camera operator, Jenkins said, is gay.
“We say we want the best people for each particular job,” he said. “...We have people on our cast and crew who come from multiple backgrounds, and our camera operator who is gay and who has a three-inch Pride flag on his own personal equipment, he is allowed to have his own equipment, he is allowed to express himself within the context of his equipment,” Jenkins said. “And we have a guy in the catering team who wears a MAGA hat -- I don't police any of those things.
Jenkins added, “I don't support pride. …I'm an evangelical Christian, I believe in a biblical viewpoint of sexuality.”
Jenkins likened the issue to a church hiring a construction crew.
“They're not saying, ‘In order to build this addition on a building, you must become a member of our church, you must sign on to a statement of faith, and you must share our theology,’” he said. “...We work with anybody who can get the show out to the world.”
Cast and crew members, he said, are “excited to be part of the show” and “sign on knowing that 'my portrayal of this character, or my work that I do on this production is going to be contributing to what Dallas is doing.' But I'm not going to require them to have the exact same motive that I do,” he said. "The majority of them, this is their job. This is their career. And they go from job to job."
Meanwhile, Jenkins also addressed rumors that he affirms Mormon theology. Jenkins told Parr he does believe some of his LDS friends “love the same Jesus that I do.”
“I'm not speaking for the LDS church. I'm not talking about their formal doctrine or anything like that. I'm talking about some of these LDS friends that I have, do love the same Jesus that I do,” Jenkins said. “We may have some disagreements about some aspects of it. But some of these brothers that I know, that I have had deep, intense, dozens of hours of conversations with, might not actually sign on to or might have a different viewpoint than what the official [LDS] Church doctrine is, or the official Church doctrine -- much like the evangelical world has different sects and different denominations within it.”
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His past comments about the issue, he said, have “been taken out of context” to “present the position that I think the entire LDS Church believes the same thing that I as an evangelical do or loves the same Jesus I do. And I don't hold to that belief.”
“There's nuance within all people groups, and within all denominations,” he said.
Jenkins said he hopes the interview brings clarity to the various controversies.
“Even if we're going to disagree, at least be clear on what we disagree,” he said, urging fans and non-fans to strive for “cultural conversations” that are “more accurate and more fair and more rational.”
“I want to bring clarity,” he said. “...I always ask people: Let the show speak for itself.”
Image credit: The Chosen
Michael Foust has covered the intersection of faith and news for 20 years. His stories have appeared in Baptist Press, Christianity Today, The Christian Post, the Leaf-Chronicle, the Toronto Star and the Knoxville News-Sentinel.
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