Impersonification

Let me just say by way of introduction that the word I used for my title exists, but doesn't mean what I'm writing about. Maybe you'll figure out my intent when you read on.

My first exposure to author Tom Clancy was the movie, Hunt for Red October. I enjoyed it, so I read the book. Now, you know how it goes with books and movies. Those who read the books generally say, "The movie was not like the book." But I found myself reading the book through the eyes of the movie. So I envisioned the Russian sub commander to be like the character played by Sean Connery and Jack Ryan looked and acted like Alec Baldwin and so on. As such, I didn't have much conflict between the book and the movie. No, that only happened after I started reading (and enjoying) other Clancy novels and then seeing the movies they made. Not good; not good at all.

You shall not make for yourself an idol, or any likeness of what is in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the water under the earth. (Exo 20:4)

There have been times and places and people who have understood that text to ban ... shall we say, "art". Any "likeness of what is in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the water under the earth." Others have argued that the reference is not to images or likenesses, but to worship (Exo 20:5). In our day, we're not too concerned about it for the most part. So we have paintings of God and pictures of Jesus and lots of angelic stuff, all the way to images and likenesses of people, places, and things. We have movies like The Passion of The Christ, The Jesus Film, and recently, of course, The Chosen. These aren't problematic to us. They are considered helpful, in fact, in getting out the Gospel. But here's the thing. Recently, nearly every online reference I've seen to Christ includes a picture ... of Jonathan Roumie who plays Jesus in The Chosen. People I've talked to say that now that they've seen The Chosen they've found that they read the Gospels with those characters in mind. And not just their images; their character and mannerism. (Most obvious would be the Matthew character played by Paras Patel as on the autism spectrum, making interaction with anyone challenging.)

Some would argue that "likenesses" of things and people in Scripture help to "flesh it out" as it were. I wonder. Does it serve to distract instead? Does it change the content or intent? We know, for instance, that all movies or shows about biblical things are fictionalized. Those who make them even with the best intentions have to make up dialog and character traits that we don't get from Scripture to fill in the gaps. Was Jesus actually like Jonathan Roumie portrays Him, or are we being fed an impersonation tainted by faulty ideas (my idea of "impersonification") that we, then, incorporate in our view of Christ? That doesn't even require intent on Roumie's part. It just requires mistaken ideas. And given Hollywood's animosity against all things "Jesus," I'd have to assume that not all of these are made with good intentions. So perhaps God meant, "Don't worship them." Is it possible for us to receive these likenesses and not insert them into our minds when we worthip? Are we doing ourselves a disfavor when we embrace these things? Are we even paying attention? Something to think about.