Las Vegas Sun

March 19, 2024

Spreading the word

When local Calvary Community Assembly children's ministry director Marian Crowley was a child, she fell in love with the "Chronicles of Narnia" books because they were "wonderful and scary and adventuresome ... and all those good things that are enjoyable."

She didn't, however, have any clue as to the books' spiritual pedigree, not until she became a Christian as a teenager and revisited the books as a young adult. Rereading the books through that Christian lens, she saw the story of Jesus through the character Aslan, a lion.

"I was amazed by C.S. Lewis as a writer," Crowley said. "He was one of the greatest Christian thinkers of modern times ... and yet he was able to take God's perspective on the world and make it into a book for kids. And I think that is absolute genius."

Now Crowley and several other local Christian pastors are hoping to use the arrival of the first live-action film version of the book in theaters as a ministry tool to unlock the spiritual truths they see in the allegorical tale for both Christians and non-Christians alike.

Following Mel Gibson's lead with "Passion of the Christ," Disney and Walden Media are marketing "Chroncles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe" to both Christian groups and schools in hopes of pulling in the kind of box office numbers "Passion" generated ($611 million to date).

Christian groups are hoping the buzz they create for the film will lead new generations of children and adults to the novels and the Gospel story within.

Calvary Community Assembly bought a block of tickets for its congregants to see a showing of the film together Sunday afternoon. Calvary Chapel Spring Valley rented out an entire theater at Sunset Station for a pre-screening Thursday night. About 360 church members and students from the church's private K-12 school attended the showing.

The book, and the movie, are an allegory -- the story of Jesus' sacrifice, the redemption of mankind and the battle between good and evil is all played out within the fantastical land of Narnia, Calvary Chapel Senior Pastor John Michaels said.

"This is clearly a story of Christianity," Michaels said.

Whereas a non-Christian would likely pick up on the movie's main themes of redemption and forgiveness without ever being aware of Lewis' evangelical motives, the bred-on-the-Bible Christians who attended the screening Thursday night saw the Gospel story being preached in every line of dialogue.

They clapped when Aslan, the lion and to them the Christ-character, first appears on screen, cried when he willingly gives up his life to save the child Edmund, cheered when he comes back to life and screamed with joy when he enters the final battle.

"I loved when he (Aslan) said 'It is finished,' just like Jesus did on the cross," 12-year-old Christina Michaels, John's granddaughter, said. The seventh grader at Calvary Chapel Spring Valley's private school went on to connect other lines and symbolism in the film to biblical concepts religious scholars would be impressed by.

Both her grandfather and her father, Brian Michaels, executive pastor at Calvary Chapel, are hoping that their other students will make similar connections, that it will help the younger ones think more about their faith and that the older high school students might be drawn into Lewis' theological works such as "Mere Christianity."

Calvary Chapel Spring Valley was the only local church to book the pre-screening through National CineMedia's promotional efforts, Mike Schonberger, vice president of sales and marketing for National CineMedia, said. But it was one of 450 churches or schools who took advantage of the offer across the country, and hundreds more bought block tickets, including in Las Vegas.

Canyon Ridge Christian Church youth pastors have been promoting the movie -- and the story of Jesus' birth -- with a series called the "Chronicles of Christmas," elementary pastor Travis Fox said. Fox has also asked the children to e-mail his elementary team leaders with any questions they may have after seeing the movie.

"A lot of our students dont understand the symbolism of the movie," Fox said. "I would hope that they would understand the Gospel message better."

Several other church leaders said they had plans to take various ministry divisions within the church to the film, from elementary to adult education groups, and will incorporate lessons from the movie into future discussions. Other churches have been promoting the films by selling the film editions of the book series and other merchandise in their bookstores.

Parents and teachers attending Calvary Chapel's screening Thursday night said they saw the film as a creative and visual way to drive home the truths theyve been teaching their children. But they also saw it as just a good, wholesome story the whole family could enjoy together.

Whether Lewis meant to tell the Gospel story or whether it "slipped in" during the course of writing, as Lewis is oft-quoted as saying, it was clear to Christians that his beliefs overflowed into his writing.

"If you are truly a believer in Christianity, it comes out in everything you do," Brian Michaels said, adding that he thinks most people will get the symbolism or at least be curious enough about the books to look at C.S. Lewis' other books.

"Certainly, with all the publicity surrounding the movie, it will cause them to question, it will cause them to think," Brian Michaels said. "That was what Lewis was all about. ... The church needs to be prepared to answer the questions."

Christina Littlefield may be reached at 259-8813 or at clittle@ lasvegassun.com.

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