Blessed By Blessitt
by Lisa Anderson on 05/01/2009 at 2:49 PM
Last night I saw The Cross: The Arthur Blessitt Story. I went to a late showing with two friends. We were the only people in the theater, and it was our final opportunity to see the film before it got bumped today for the likes of X-Men, Ghosts of Girlfriends Past and Obsessed.
I loved it. Not because it had awesome production quality, script, score or cast. It was pretty sketchy on all those fronts. I loved it because I love what I learned from Arthur Blessitt. For those who don't know, Arthur Blessitt spent 40 years carrying a 12-foot wooden cross around the world. He's been in every country, major island group and territory. Along the way he talked to businessmen, drug addicts, terrorists, aborigines and world leaders, passing out tracts, stickers, a hug and a handshake. His message is simple: "Jesus loves you, died for you, and wants a relationship with you." The film shows him praying with people, feeding them, talking to them, and, more importantly, listening to them.
Blessitt carried the cross through war zones and jungles, across freeways and deserts, and around riots, brothels, Muslim army camps and beyond. He summarizes his experience by saying that he was following his call. God told him to preach not to churches, stadiums or via satellite, but to the next person he meets. He did that for forty years, and has some amazing stories to tell. At the end of the film, after quietly recounting everything from miraculous escapes to encounters with the Pope and Yasir Arafat, Blessitt says, "All I've been is God's donkey. I want to lift Jesus up."
What I learned from this film:
1) I am weak. I don't believe God enough. I don't believe his power, his protection, his Word, his love and his desire to draw people unto himself, in his way and in his timing.
2) If we have such a big God, we're silly not to follow him. "There's no safer place to be than in God's call," says Blessitt. And sometimes that call is just one step forward.
3) What does it look like for me to be "God's donkey" and lift him up? What if I redirect all attention from me to the cross? Hm.
4) When we tell people about Jesus, if he wants their hearts to change, they will. It doesn't matter who they are or what situation they're in, or how lame I am in presenting the Gospel. Again, it's not about me. [a theme is surfacing here]
5) Sometimes this reformed girl likes getting a little charismatic. I did the "JESUS" chant with Arthur during the movie, and even shouted "Amen!" a few times. Liberating.
Check out the movie if you get a chance. Find theaters here or wait for it to come out on DVD. I'm sure it will.
1. BDB said the following at 2:59 PM on May 1:
Oh - I met him! Came to my church in high school as I recall. He mentioned that he had to put a wheel on the bottom of the cross because when he was dragging it, it kept getting shorter...
2. Fisayo said the following at 4:38 PM on May 1:
Amazing post Lisa. also thought-provoking. I would love to see that movie but I don't think they will show it in England. It will be too Christian for their taste.
3. Leah said the following at 10:23 PM on May 1:
A friend of mine invited me to the premier of that film. It was interesting. Lots of TBN people in the audience.
I actually had a lot of problems with the film - partially because I'm a film maker and it was just a really badly made film - as a Christian working in the industry, I'd love to see actual, quality work being produced. I thought the cross was meandering in it's narrative and the message was based entirely on emotionally swaying the audience. Kind of like Blessitt's evangelical message, actually.
I'm not saying Blessitt is a bad guy or anything even close to that. But I think that his message was too simple. "Jesus loves you, died for you, and wants a relationship with you." All true. But there is nothing at all about the fact that we're all sinners; that without God's grace we're damned to hell - deservedly; there's nothing about the fact that we NEED Jesus, that he's more than just the nice guy across the street who wants to be friends.
4. Rachael said the following at 2:51 PM on May 3:
Interesting, and neat that you did some self-reflection.
Leah, who knows, maybe Blessit did say some of those things in his conversations with people, after the basic message.
I like what Lisa says: "doesn't matter [...] how lame I am in presenting the Gospel." I never heard of Blessit and I don't know how he does things exactly, but even if his message were lacking or incomplete, God could definitely still use them as starting points.
From time to time I think about how the evangelistic message of Christianity can vary (even though believers of the varied messages may believe the same things, the 'evangelistic package' may look a little different). Honestly, I don't really like that. With one or two omissions or additions of things, the core message might seem vastly different, or it might be wrongly understood.
I'm not really quite sure how to come to terms with that, and it's a bit confusing in terms of works vs. grace, in my mind.
Anyway, people say what they say, but ultimately it's God's decision and He is the planter and grower and sustainer...