Silence.

For two hours on January 20, scene after scene became etched in their minds. The invited pastors and leaders in Willow Creek’s packed auditorium were mesmerized as they watched a depiction of the final hours of Christ’s life.
They saw images that at times forced them to avert their gaze from the screens. They experienced the pain and anguish Jesus endured. They felt the heartbreak of his followers. They came face-to-screen with the reality that Christ’s burden was brutal, vicious.

They watched in intense silence.

As the special showing of a rough-cut of The Passion of the Christ concluded, the auditorium remained silent as Senior Pastor Bill Hybels took the stage to address the crowd of 4,400 pastors and their guests. Bill put into words what many in the audience were feeling.
“After I saw this movie for the first time last month, I was in a state of dis-equilibrium. I was disturbed, drained, wrung out,” Bill told the guests. “I was in awe of the price that was paid for our sin. I was dumbfounded at the suffering of the one who is our leader.
“If I was seeing this for the first time today, I wouldn’t be able to stand in front of you now.”
Bill then introduced the Hollywood icon whose vision for a movie about the Passion of Christ becomes a reality when it opens in 2,000 theaters across the country on February 25, Ash Wednesday.
“Whenever there’s a strong work of God, you can always trace it back to a leader, somebody who got an idea, pursued it, paid the price when things got hard,” Bill said. “With this movie, that was Mel Gibson.”
As the popular actor walked onto the stage, the silence was broken. The audience rose to its feet, offering a thundering ovation.
The cheers had little to do with Braveheart or Lethal Weapon or the still-fresh People’s Choice Award for favorite actor. It was a heartfelt response to a movie unlike any that has been seen before.
“I believe I was faithful to the Gospels, but I was able to use my imagination somewhat,” Mel said in an interview with Bill.
Author and former Willow Creek Teaching Pastor Lee Strobel, who introduced the movie at the event, thinks The Passion has great potential to stir spiritual reflections in moviegoers.
“This is an anointed and powerful work of art. Art is good at asking questions — not answering them,” Lee said. “The people who see this movie are going to look for answers to their question.”
The assembled guests experienced the power of The Passion. It is something Mel has been living with for years.
“I always wonder about the aspects of the Passion. When you read about the Passion in the Gospels, you can read between the lines,” he told the audience. “I began to imagine what that would be like. Then I started gathering information: reading histories, reports from medical doctors.”
What it led to is a realistic (and graphic) presentation of Christ’s suffering. People who have seen the movie have had differing thoughts and feelings. Mel told Bill that he was particularly touched by the response of one person who saw the film: “I’m sorry … I forgot.”
None of the pastors who experienced The Passion of the Christ at Willow will soon forget.
(The Passion of The Christ", 20 January 2004)