The show about the life of Christ is facing criticism after a photo taken on set shows a flag tied to homosexual activism.
Dallas Jenkins and the cast and crew of The Chosen are currently shooting Season 4 of the program on their permanent set in Texas, but the creator/director of this hit streaming series, which has been viewed by a global audience of more than 100 million people, again finds himself on the defensive.
After previous storms of displeasure related to things like extra-Biblical storylines, and the ties between the show and its Mormon partners, this time it is connected to a small flag recently displayed on set: a rainbow symbol that represents all things homosexual. One of the crew evidently placed it next to a camera during production and a picture of the flag was subsequently circulated on social media on the eve of so-called "Pride Month," which runs in June and celebrates homosexuality.
Jenkins - as has been his practice with previous controversy surrounding The Chosen - is standing up to critics, saying in a social media post of his own that he and his company "don't have a religious or political litmus test for who can work on the show" and continuing: "I love our cast and crew." In an interview with The Christian Post, the 47-year-old devout Believer added that the program is "a for-profit company," not a religious organization where everyone shares the same worldview.
"We are not a church in which all of our employees are going to fit under one particular mission statement, one particular belief system...so, when we hire someone to work for us, our number one objective is, 'Who is the best person for this job?'"
Jenkins also stated in his social media post that he will address this matter in greater detail later, being too busy to do so now because of production. He did, however, add this: "The show's official stance on anything is to be found in the content of the show."
A final point worth noting is that several members of the show's staff who were not Christians when they began their work, were subsequently saved during their time on set, including most recently Nick Shakoour, who plays the character of Zebedee. So, while we at Christian Film Blog are not in agreement with allowing the demonstrable support of sinful lifestyles - as in the case of the aforementioned flag on set - we wholeheartedly subscribe to Believers' being salt and light to the lost, as Jesus states we ought to be in the Sermon on the Mount, and which seems to be happening with the team at The Chosen.
UPDATE on Sunday, June 4th: Dallas Jenkins put out a video statement today specifically addressing this controversy. He restates much of what we have reported, albeit in greater detail, and you can watch it in the YouTube link below; the video runs about 19 and a half minutes.