7th entry - God's Work in Casting "End of the Spear"

An article on www.christianitytoday.com attracted my attention. It was about how an openly gay actor, Chad Allen, was casted in a movie about 5 Christian missionaries who were martyred in 1956 in the jungles of Ecuador. According to the article, Allen did not inform the filmmakers about his sexuality before he was offered the contract.

Allen was to play 2 characters in the film, Steve and Nate Saint. Steve Saint, a consultant in the film, initially felt "shocked" that "a man who has chosen to live a lifestyle in stark contrast to my dad's would actually be playing his role in End of the Spear". However, he chose to bear the responsibility of a potential backlash from the largely intolerant Christian community who would be viewing the movie rather than to dishonor the contract offered to Allen. On Allen's part, he sought Saint's view whether he should break the contract instead of going ahead to take part in the movie, and Saint's reply was to keep him.

Why did Saint choose to make such a difficult decision? He said that in a dream, he was "being chased by a mob of Christians who were angry with me for having desecrated 'their story.' The answer to their hostility was easy: Just ask Chad to remove himself. But as quickly as this thought came to me, I found myself standing before God. His look was not as compassionate as I had expected. God said, 'Steve, you of all people should know that I love all of my children.

With regard to Chad Allen, I went to great lengths to orchestrate an opportunity for him to see what it would be like for him to walk the trail that I marked for him. Why did you mess with my plans for him?' Saint concluded that he "would rather face the anger and even hatred of people who feel I have let them down, than to take any chance of having to stand before my Savior and have to answer for messing up his plans for Chad."

The executive producer Mark Green echoed a similar view. He said "I would not have hired Chad had I known everything about him. But God had to work around me to get Chad on this project. He wanted Chad on this project. I wish I were able to articulate all the things that led me to understand that. It is very hard to share the ways the Lord leads, especially when you can't fully grasp why he is doing things that don't make sense to the natural man. ... I have total peace about the decision, and that Chad Allen was the man God intended to act in the movie. I will be held accountable for this decision, and I feel I have made the right decision."

How does the actor in the middle of this controversy feel about the whole episode? He said he looked forward to making the movie. "This is one of the most extraordinary stories of love and forgiveness that I've ever known," Allen said. "But I also realized the incredible responsibility of playing these two men, especially as I learned more about how important Nate Saint and Steve Saint are to people around the world. I really felt the weight of that." And here is something that really struck me - Allen said "I know God does have great plans for me. And I ask him every single morning to reveal those plans to me."

I am confident that Allen will do his best in acting the challenging roles that he has landed in the film. Allen is a Christian who attends Pasadena's gay-friendly All Saints Church. In my view, aside from the criteria of the possession of good acting skills and experience, Allen's faith already qualified him to act in the movie. Why is there even a controvery in the first place about his sexuality? If there were implications that his lifestyle was objectionable, then Keanu Reeves should never had been asked to make the story about the life of Buddha; Reeves is not even a Buddhist! Allen is not portraying a gay Christian - just a Christian, period. He should not be discriminated against because of his sexuality. Thanks and Praise be to God for revealing this truth plainly to Saint and Green! Amen!!

My prayer for the actors and other staff making this movie is that God will cause them to understand His good and perfect will for mankind, which I believe gays are a part of. I pray that the message of His great love will shine through the shroud of anti-homosexual prejudice and anger in the hearts of those who take part in, as well as those who watch, this film. I also pray for gay Christians all over the whole that they come to terms with their unique role in the world that God has planned for them to perform.

May Jesus's all encompassing love be felt by everyone who watch the movie.

For more information about the article, please go to: http://www.christianitytoday.com/movies/news/chadallen.html