-A note from Pastor Leland Acker

Amidst all the Christian media, movies, music, stage shows and trendy churches, we must ask ourselves, “Is the Gospel enough?” Such is the premise for “Church People,” a Christian comedy released in 2021 by MyPillow’s Mike Lindell.

Church People follows a youth director’s struggle as he watches the megachurch where he has spent his ministry fall into the rut of using gimmicks and theatrical antics to draw crowds, while the meaning of the Gospel gets lost altogether. The film not only addresses the importance of the Gospel, but personal sin and struggle, the shallowness of some forms of Christianity, church politics, reconciliation and redemption.

My main concern with this film would be that it would inadvertently create a parody of church life and Christianity, and thus miss the target of refocusing the audience on the Gospel. My concern has been alleviated after watching the film, and I whole-heartedly endorse this film, not only for family entertainment, but for ministerial use as well.

The movie features a cast of quirky characters, mostof whom are caricatures of folks you might have met in church life. However, the film skillfully uses those characters as object lessons to get us to the intended message, which makes the film successful. From the greeter who seems to have a divine insight into people’s lives, the newly converted member of the youth group who can’t be involved enough, the pastor’s daughter turned missionary, the disenchanted youth director, and the rock-star wannabe worship leader all play a role in helping this film not only get its message across, but also deliver some amazing laughs along the way.

At the end of the day, we are all reminded that, yes, the Gospel is enough. Not only so, but the Gospel is the very essence of who we are in Christ, and what God has done for us. Furthermore, the movie does what so few do, correctly define what the Gospel is. For that, I happily recommend this movie to anyone.