Jesus People – The Rise and Fall of America’s Worst Christian Pop Group

1 Corinthians 11:31 “For if we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged…”

Got a thick skin? Well, you’d better develop one if you decide to see this film and your idea of cutting edge is the latest Carman CD. Jesus People (The Rise and Fall of America’s Worst Christian Pop Group) has, with a lot of love and a big sense of humor, targeted the over-commercialized, Hallmark-shallow Christian sub-culture, hitting the target repeatedly and with accuracy.

Of course it’s a huge target.

Shot in ‘mockumentary’ form (much like The Office or Christopher Guest’s classic, Best in Show), the story begins with a film crew setting out to shoot a documentary “about a guy who wrote a Christian diet book.” The project eventually becomes the story (as the sub-title says) of the rise and fall of America’s worst Christian pop group, as we watch the enthusiastic Pastor Frank (Joel McCrary) assemble local talent in hopes of replacing his son’s ‘secular’ music with a wholesome Christian equivalent. Eventually, the auditions come down to Lindsay (Cara Bosch) – a local, somewhat ditsy beauty contest winner (“and I hope to bring world peace to this town”), Zak (Damon Pfaff) – an earnest, but way over-the-top, evangelical type, and Ty (Rich Pierrelouis) – who, by virtue of being the only black member of the group, is expected to be able to sing, dance, and maybe even be a good ‘rappist.’ Completing the group is Gloria Hamming (Edi Patterson), a CCM veteran whose career was short-circuited for several years after her husband left her “for another ma—uh, person.”

The band’s goal of recording a ‘crossover’ hit tests the motives and ethical boundaries of each member of the group as we see Lindsay’s basic lack of spiritual depth, Gloria’s fragile ego, willingness to compromise and need for recognition, Zak’s tunnel-visioned insensitivity to the needs of ‘real’ people, and Ty’s struggle with just how far he can be ‘all things to all men’ without compromising who he really is. Along the way, the band endures the excesses of an overly ‘hip’ Christian radio show, a local Christian ‘professional’ songwriter who’s not averse to writing new ‘Christian’ lyrics over existing melodies, a church ‘dance coach’ whose choreography is strictly Childrens’ Church level, a video director with a Messiah complex, and various other colorful but disturbingly familiar characters.

All of the actors do a convincing job and Edi Patterson, in particular, turns in some fine physical comic moments. Unlike The Office and the Christopher Guest films, in Jesus People the documentary crew is occasionally seen and the ‘filmmaker’ herself – played by Nikki Boyer – becomes a pivotal figure in the film as a romantic angle develops between her and Ty. There is also another major plot line running through the film that would become somewhat of a spoiler if discussed in detail, but there’s enough story in Jesus People to give the audience all of the elements of plot that you look for in a feature film.

Of course it’s the film’s familiarity with the trappings of Christian culture that make it work.

Evangelicals of all types will recognize the ‘Christianese,” especially in Zak and Pastor Frank’s dialog, and those who have a sense of humor (and enough honesty) will have to laugh as even the pastor gets uncomfortable with Zak’s tendency to grab hands and ‘pray about it’ at every opportunity. As the band’s crossover hit loses its references to Jesus altogether and becomes a ‘save the world’ environmental anthem we ultimately see both ends of the hypocrisy spectrum as Lindsay and Gloria welcome the success and Zak angrily proclaims that it’s all gonna’ burn, anyway. Ty, who is the anchor of sanity in the film, is the only one to find balance in serving God, caring about the planet, and being more concerned about an honest spiritual stance than chart success.

It’s not just the Christian culture that’s lampooned here, by the way. The MTV-type interviewer isn’t above showing obvious condescending revulsion at the thought of Christian music as she interviews Gloria – it’s only after Gloria goes environmentally correct that the interviewer gets enthusiastic about the song.

Despite the title and the obvious swipes at the Christian music industry, Jesus People is really a film that probes deeply into the motivations, fears and defense mechanisms that often reduce well-meaning believers into unwitting caricatures of the caring people they aspire to be. Director Jason Naumann and writers Dan Ewald and Rajeev Sigamoney correctly portray this group of people as a dysfunctional family, which – essentially – is pretty much the case in any church. The humor is executed with warmth and affection – the satire is sharp but there’s no mean-spiritedness about the characters who, at their best, are trying hard to get it right and, at their worst let poor judgment and overzealousness get the better of them.

The film has a broad enough appeal to work for any audience, but will resonate strongly with CCM insiders and believers that prefer Blue Like Jazz over the latest Left Behind novel. Most of the time the satire hits its mark, and there are plenty of laughs. And why not? God has, after all, chosen the foolish things of this world to confound the wise…

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