Today on the Evangelism Podcast I interview Ricky Kim, who is representing the global TV phenomenon The Chosen. This groundbreaking TV series about the life of Jesus is captivating audiences worldwide and having a profound impact, even reaching into schools and churches. Ricky shares how The Chosen is being used as an evangelistic tool, especially in Asia, to introduce people to the story of Jesus. You won’t want to miss this insightful conversation about how God is using this unique resource to draw people closer to Him.
Summary:
The Chosen is a visual tool that helps depict the story of Jesus in a way that can reach a wide audience, including those unfamiliar with the biblical account.
- The Chosen can be used by the church as an evangelistic tool to share the story of Jesus with non-believers and those disinterested in traditional Bible study methods.
- It provides a visually compelling portrayal of Jesus and the stories around him, which can open up conversations and lead people to further engage with the biblical content.
- The Chosen provides resources such as episode guides, small group handouts, and pastor overviews to help integrate the series into church programs and discipleship efforts.
- While the series takes some creative license in dramatizing the biblical narratives, the creators have maintained a strong commitment to theological integrity and ensuring the depiction of Jesus remains faithful to scripture.
- The visual nature of the series can help viewers, even those from non-Christian backgrounds, develop a deeper connection and familiarity with the life of Jesus, which can then lead to further spiritual exploration.
Transcript:
Evangelism Coach Daniel King (00:00):
Welcome to the Evangelism Podcast. I’m Daniel King. I’m excited about telling people about Jesus today. I have a very special guest with me, Ricky Kim, who’s representing The Chosen. So thank you so much for being on the Evangelism Podcast.
Ricky Kim (00:11):
Thank you. And I’m just excited to be able to take a tool like The Chosen and you have to share the most beautiful story of the most beautiful person in the world, Jesus Christ.
Evangelism Coach Daniel King (00:20):
Now the Chosen is a worldwide phenomena. It is an amazing television show that takes people through the life of Jesus and people are watching it all over. In fact, my kids at their school, they have been watching the Chosen in Bible class and they’ll put on some episodes from the chosen and then they’ll talk about it. And so it’s already had an impact on my family. I know it’s having a big impact around the world Now. We’re here in Asia right now.
Ricky Kim (00:49):
Yes sir.
Evangelism Coach Daniel King (00:50):
Tell me, how is God using chosen here in Asia?
Ricky Kim (00:54):
Well, you just told an amazing story, which we hear a lot is I go to church and my kids wanted to watch this or I wanted to show it to my kids. We’re in a church environment. So it seems like was the chosen made for the church to work for the No, the chosen was made to work through the church. We’re here in Asia at the Billion Soul Harvest. It’s a movement of a lot of global leaders that are grassroots, just moving around trying to evangelize. Well, as an evangelizer, we need good tools. The best tools is the Bible. People are kind of disinterested in the Bible, especially when you’re on the outskirts of the church environment. So the chosen, it’s a story about Jesus. So when you see through the church, working through ministers, through people that just really want to share Jesus, it’s an amazing way. It’s not simple to share Jesus. Sometimes when you’re looking at something that is in your eye, in your ear, and then eventually in your heart, the story’s amazing. The story
Evangelism Coach Daniel King (01:42):
And the chosen is so powerful because it depicts in a visual way for a sight and sound generation, the story of Jesus. And it is such an effective tool, especially for people maybe who aren’t familiar very much with the story of Jesus. I think maybe 50 years ago people would go to Sunday school. They knew the stories. They knew about how Jesus healed the blind woman. They knew about how Jesus talked to the Samaritan woman at the well. But now people are not so familiar, but they spend so much time consuming media. And so if we want to talk about Jesus, we have to use media to reach ’em.
Ricky Kim (02:21):
Media does an amazing thing sometimes. I mean, when I’m watching YouTube, I have no relationship with the person in that YouTube and I only have the food in front of me, but for some reason when I’m watching it, I get hungry. I have something that just happens to me. I get emotional sometimes. I’m watching a movie and I cry. Media has a power. But when you see that beautiful story of Jesus, even if you’re a non-believer, it impacts you because of the storylines and that those storylines come directly from the Bible. And there’s an amazing thing that this tool does. And for me, I want to see more people talking about Jesus. And I see people that are in church, they really want to drive and go out there and evangelize and share Jesus. And part of the word evangelism, you need good tools. And so the Chosen is a great tool for that.
(03:03):
It’s a great conversation starter. You’ll hear people that are just watching the chosen and they’ll go up their dad like, oh, that was a scene where this person was healed. I remember talking about that on Sunday. But did that really happen? What’s the next thing that a father was going to do? Let’s go take a look at the scripture. Or how about someone that’s never, ever heard of Jesus? Or maybe they’re scarred from the church and they’re walking away and they happen to see an episode. It starts a conversation that works through the church, it works through families, it works through kids, it works through adults. So I’m just passionate about sharing. If you look at our booth, I mean this is a pretty cool booth, right? Yeah. Where do you see the chosen? I don’t see it anywhere. It’s tell everyone. Tell everyone about the most beautiful person with the most beautiful story. It’s Jesus Christ. And so I’m here at the Billion Soul Harvest because we want to see more people hearing about Jesus.
Evangelism Coach Daniel King (03:56):
Yeah. So let’s talk a little bit about that. You say that it’s not for the church, it’s for the church to use as a tool to reach people. And so it opens up conversations. The chosen can be found on Netflix, on other platforms, and it’s way easier to send a secular friend or maybe someone who comes from a different religious background and say, Hey, check out this show. It’s great. It’s on Netflix and it doesn’t feel churchy. And so this is actually a tool that can be used to evangelize. So we’re here at the Billion Soul Harvest Conference here in Korea, and it’s been wonderful. Thousands of people here have been talking about how to reach people for Jesus. And I think this is a tool that God will use. So talk to me a little bit about how people can use this tool.
Ricky Kim (04:47):
Well, first off, just enjoy it. I mean, when you want to enjoy watching a good show, you don’t want to be preached to or being taught to. So the storyline of Jesus is a beautiful story and the storylines that connect towards Jesus. So watching season 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 coming out season six, next year, season seven, you’re going to see, I’m going to give you a spoiler here. After the crucifixion, Jesus comes back. Yeah, don’t tell anyone. It is a big spoiler.
Evangelism Coach Daniel King (05:13):
It comes back from the day
Ricky Kim (05:15):
When you put in the chosen, you put in resources, you go to the main page, you’re going to see amazing amount of resources. Resources.
Evangelism Coach Daniel King (05:20):
Okay. So tell me about that. You have a webpage where people can go and get resources to use the chosen.
Ricky Kim (05:27):
So you can go to download the app, you can watch all the episodes for free. You can go to the webpage, you can see all the episodes for free. You can also get episode guides. You can get some small group handouts where we’re going to be launching in about a month here in Pen Yang. We’re going to talk to a bunch of leaders saying, Hey, there’s more resources you can get to which we’re calling the hub for now, where you can be connected towards small group handouts. You can be connected towards pastor overviews of these small little clips, very, very centered on the Bible clips that you can use in your preaching in your small groups or hand them off into homes. So these are great resources that come from the storyline of Jesus in this beautiful series called The Chosen. And we want to get that out there to people. So that’s why we’re here. These are leaders that are out there evangelizing and working towards biblical engagement and discipleship. And we’re saying we have a good tool and we want you to put that into your programs, your networks and your projects.
Evangelism Coach Daniel King (06:18):
Yeah. Now I’ve actually heard a criticism that on Twitter, there’s a lot of disgruntled Christians that say things, and I saw a tweet the other day. Someone said, oh, the chosen isn’t any good because it adds to what is in the Bible.
Ricky Kim (06:35):
And
Evangelism Coach Daniel King (06:36):
So you take the Bible’s words and then you put an interpretation on it. And it may have happened that way, it may have happened a different way. And that’s kind of the background of the theatrical, doing a theatrical production of Jesus. And I would just say to those Christians who are critical to look at the fruit, Jesus said to judge a tree by its fruit. And the chosen is opening up conversations among unbelievers around the world to see Jesus. And Jesus said, if I be lifted up, I will draw all men onto me. And so when people see Jesus, it has an impact on their lives. And I really see the chosen as a conversation starter
Ricky Kim (07:23):
Where
Evangelism Coach Daniel King (07:24):
People can see Jesus. And so I would say to people who are critical, don’t be critical. Instead, open your eyes and look at how God is using this to bring people to heaven.
Ricky Kim (07:34):
I go back to what Jesus said when his disciples said and came and said, Hey, we’re your disciples. But they’re doing stuff to me. It’s like if they’re talking about me, they’re doing a good thing.
Evangelism Coach Daniel King (07:46):
If
Ricky Kim (07:47):
They’re getting the name of Jesus out there, they’re doing a good thing. So the scholarship behind the theology of making this story is amazing. There’s so much integrity put into the actual depiction of Jesus. Jesus is not going to do anything outside of that. But the storylines around it, the first disclaimer says, if you read the disclaimer, it’s a story about Jesus, about the stories around Jesus. But I wouldn’t say, take this and make it your main Bible study teaching and make it your main discipleship. Cheating. It leads towards conversations that leads towards biblical engagement that leads towards going to the church,
Evangelism Coach Daniel King (08:20):
Which is so valuable. Like in marketing, they say that you have to have seven positive
Ricky Kim (08:25):
Impressions
Evangelism Coach Daniel King (08:27):
Before you’ll try a product.
Ricky Kim (08:28):
Exactly.
Evangelism Coach Daniel King (08:29):
And so for someone who is here in Asia, maybe they come from a Buddhist background, maybe Muslim, maybe Hindu, and they’ve never heard about Jesus. If they can watch several episodes, they get a positive impression about Jesus. And then when someone comes and tells them, Hey, Jesus has a blessing for you. Jesus wants to save you. Jesus wants to heal you. They say, oh, I know who Jesus is.
Ricky Kim (08:55):
Can you say something very fascinating there? And data shows that if you say someone’s name seven times, you’ll remember it. If you are driving on the highway and you see a billboard seven times, you’re going to remember it and eventually go to the market and buy it. Well, it’s amazing that every season’s eight episodes, you get through the seventh one, and then hopefully we can remember the name of Jesus and tell everybody about it. I would like to challenge people that maybe are thinking about watching it or have so many opinions about it. Sit down with your family and watch it and see what happens. And it’ll start conversations and it’ll bring in emotions and thoughts and sometimes things that’ll open up, it’ll open up areas that maybe you kind of have shut down. And it’s season 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7. It’s amazing.
Evangelism Coach Daniel King (09:38):
Yesterday here at the conference, you showed one scene from the woman at the Well from John chapter four. And I’ve preached that passage hundreds of times. I’m a scholar. And so I’ve looked at top scholarship on that passage.
Ricky Kim (09:51):
Yes.
Evangelism Coach Daniel King (09:52):
And I was so fascinated about how you brought some of the different concepts into the visual portrayal of what happened there at the well. And it was so beautiful seeing the woman’s emotions as Jesus impacted her life. And I saw something in watching it that I had never seen before.
Ricky Kim (10:17):
I am here with a lot of leaders and a lot of people that really want to see the chosen it out there. I come from also a teaching background, so I always want to teach and engage what I’m experiencing. And yesterday we had what’s called an encounter is basically you show a clip, you read the scripture, you show the clip. Afterwards, one of the leaders that came here with me, he paused afterwards and I’m waiting for him to say something and teach something. And he said, anybody want to share? And it’s amazing what reading the scripture and showing it visual and utterly, you’re seeing it. It’s sight, it’s sound, and you start to talk about things that are very personal, that lead towards a conversation that leads towards Christ. And I was just so impacted by yesterday. We had this thing called the Encounter. It’s, it’s not rocket science. You read the scripture, you show the small clip, and you ask questions. That’s awesome. You start conversation. I think that’s the biggest power about telling about Jesus, that it’s going to start conversations with the chosen.
Evangelism Coach Daniel King (11:12):
Alright, so if someone wants access to some of the tools that you’ve put together around the chosen, what’s the website that they can find those at?
Ricky Kim (11:20):
If you go to the chosen searching, the Chosen in any searching in Google or wherever, you’re going to obviously pop up our first main page. But I’d like to share you the link which you’re going to be putting down here in the post. Is this on YouTube?
Evangelism Coach Daniel King (11:32):
Yes, sir.
Ricky Kim (11:32):
So right under the post here, we’re going to share the link with you to this Tell Everyone Movement we have, it’s not a project, it’s not a campaign, it’s not a program. It’s a movement. We don’t want to make the chosen Famous. We want to make the name of Jesus Famous. And through the Tell Everyone movement, we’re getting tools and the ability to get quick access to these clips, quick access, these materials. And so putting that link down there, but also just searching the chosen, you have the access to watching it for free or whatever country you’re in. It could be on Netflix, it could be on the platform, it could be like here in Korea, it’s on cts, it’s on lg, YouTube plus on a many, many platforms here in Korea. And we hope to expand that to get easy access and great opportunities. And then do you have it in different languages as well? Yes, we do. Right now, I don’t want to boast about some of the successes we’ve done, but we did get the Guinness World Record for the most translated and dubbed show ever. And we’re not stopping.
Evangelism Coach Daniel King (12:28):
Wow.
Ricky Kim (12:28):
Stopping. There’s more to do. There’s more work to be done.
Evangelism Coach Daniel King (12:31):
That’s awesome. Well, thank you so much for sharing with us. Thank you for being on the Evangelism Podcast. God
Ricky Kim (12:36):
Bless you. Thank you so much.
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