The End of the Spear is a new independent film that Christianity Today describes to us thus:
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
The martyr’s names—Nate Saint, Jim Elliot, Pete Fleming, Ed McCully, and Roger Youderian—and 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.
End of the Spear 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.
More CT articles here on the film.
Jeff Overstreet blogs that – surprise, surprise – The Village Voice hates, hates, hates it.
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. 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.
(Actually what I found most shocking is that Chad Allen played the little autistic boy on St. Elsewhere, 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.)
Two views on the casting:
So, what of The End of the Spear? 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.
In learning cultural discernment, Christians must learn to make decisions about a movie like The End of the Spear. 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.
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:
Thinking of the rascals and rapscallions that were out proclaiming Jesus while he was in prison, Paul said, “What 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.” Now that’s a poor attitude. I’m 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.
It’s really just like the God of Jesus to put the Gospel’s story of reconciliation into the custody of Chad Allen, gay activist, so that the Pharisees can really get stewed. It’s like a lost chapter of the Gospels. It’s simply outrageous that no one checked in with the culture war powers that be to get the word that real sinners- Activists!!!- can’t be playing missionary martyrs or Christians who must forgive murderers. Oh the notoriety! Those impressionable minds!
It really is like the God who made Balaam’s 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.
Don’t get me wrong. Paul wasn’t 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’m not applauding Chad Allen or any other homosexual activist. I’m applauding the grace of God that’s bigger than the outrage of Chad Allen, Michael Spencer or the whole world of sinners put together.
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