The Kingdom Come

By now most people have heard at least sound bites of Mel Gibson's horrid comments toward his ex-girlfriend, Oksana Grigorieva who is also the mother of one of his children (source). But the purpose of this article ISN'T to get on the bandwagon of "Oh did you hear what Mel Gibson said?" Rather, as a Christian website I want to address Gibson's Christian connection and how this issue intersects.

As you know, Gibson besides his own history as an actor -- (Mad Max, Leathal Weapon, Braveheart, The Patriot among other movies - source) -- Gibson directed the wildly successful The Passion of Christ. The film was even more of a success story because at the time, no major studio would touch it so Gibson's company, Icon Productions, financially produced and marketed the entire movie at a cost of about $45 million. Even more remarkable is that the movie was done entirely in Aramaic (language Jesus spoke), Hebrew, and Latin with English subtitles. The movie grossed over $370 million. The movie dealt mainly with the 12 hours leading up to Jesus' crucifixion and was exceptionally scripted on the four Gospel accounts. However, some license was taken with Gibson's Latin Rite Roman Catholicism and some Roman Catholic mysticism. The release of the movie was banned in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Bahrain.

The Passion of Christ as Gibson portrayed it on the screen, is perhaps one of the most compelling depictions since "Jesus movies" are generally either overwhelming fictional such as The Da Vinci Code or almost any Jesus movie that has Jesus behaving like a rambling first-century hippie spouting Bible verses out of context and advocating mushy-gushy version of love.

So, the question is

how does Gibson's actions in his life square with what we may have thought was his apparent grasp of the Gospel message?

Perhaps we will answer that we are all sinners and Gibson is merely manifesting that fact. True enough, but has anyone asked Gibson how he is able to continue thinking as he is during this fiasco with his ex-girlfriend and contrast that with his profession of faith? If Gibson was any other Hollywood star, we would probably think his melt down is simply par for course. Eventually the extreme egotism required by that lifestyle rears its head and has consequences. But I thought perhaps Gibson was different.

How will this affect the great movies such as Braveheart, The Patriot, and The Passion of Christ? But even more than that, who is there for Gibson? Who will take him aside and help him?

Please pray for Gibson, Grigorieva, the children and all involved.