Renata Kiss, FISM News
A new religious-themed drama has been added to Netflix, and it has quickly snagged third place on the streaming company’s top 10 chart, despite its debut just last week.
Naturally, multiple news outlets picked up on the popularity of the show. One headline even called it “the most watched religious drama hours after its premiere.”
The mini-series, called “The Chosen One,” is not to be confused with the Christian series, “The Chosen.” The action-packed Mexican-American show follows a young American boy in Mexico who ends up with “godlike” powers, much like the ones Jesus possesses.
One critic called the series a crossover between “Stranger Things” and “The Chosen.” The story is based on the graphic novel, “American Jesus,” and blends many Christian and pagan themes that, have yet to be critiqued by Bible-believing Christians.
But what stood out most about the series is the current trend in storytelling that blends the supernatural with the real world which, in the end, anticipates some sort of reckoning with humanity.
While many say that we are living in a post-Christian world, there is still an obvious, though often misguided, interest in religion in the U.S. Despite the more than 50% decline in church attendance, interest in shows like this reveals that people are still curious about things that cannot be explained through logic and reason.
This trend shows there is a unique opportunity for Christians to reach the lost world with the truth of the gospel. While more people are leaving traditional Christianity, they can’t help but hunger for meaning that goes beyond what the eye can see.
As believers, we know that we live not just in a physical world, but in a spiritual one as well. While the focus on this world has clouded the vision of many, the Bible tells us that there is a reality that we can’t see.
In the New Testament, we read much about the spiritual battle Satan wages on us, so it should come as no surprise that people are interested in supernatural things. On the other hand, paying attention to cultural clues is crucial for evangelism. We want to know what people are interested in so we can be better witnesses to them. Jesus met people where they were before He called them to repentance, and so should we.