The Influence of The Chosen

Conventional wisdom would tell us that there is a significant difference between popularity and influence. Godly wisdom will tell us that popularity is to be shunned and that, when we have found ourselves popular, we can be sure our influence is short-lived. Jesus says with good reason, "Woe unto you when all men shall speak well of you! For so did their fathers treat the false prophets" (Luke 6:26). In other words, people (and their inventions) that become popular usually tell us what we want to hear. The Chosen is no exception. By design, the show features a "more human" Jesus who is affable, humorous, charitable, and nearly always likeable. Unsurprisingly, there is no doubt as to the popularity of Jenkins' show. In the seven years since its inception, this show has picked up over 280 million viewers in over 175 countries, with a goal of being translated into over 600 languages, so that it may reach approximately 95% of the world's population in the near future. AI tells me that, as of May 2025, this show has generated a total of nearly $140 million, with Dallas Jenkins' personal salary increasing significantly (although exact figures are undisclosed).

In addition to its now-seven seasons, The Chosen series has also spawned an impressive display of merchandize, including clothing, coffee mugs and tumblers, journals, Bible study books, devotionals, and other publications designed to coach viewers through the series. Rumors of even a Chosen Bible appear to be false, but many churches have established study groups to follow the show. An animated children's series known as The Chosen Adventures was released in mid-October of 2025, and Jenkins is also planning three new series, one about Joseph of Egypt, another about Moses, and still another about the Acts of the Apostles. As validation of its global influence, The Chosen has won numerous awards from faith-based organizations. In fact, the show has become so popular that its influence would appear to defy expression. Popularity of this nature would also seem to insulate the show from criticism, but when criticism comes in the objective form of Biblical "fact-checking," Jenkins virtually always leaves himself an "out"--The Chosen doesn't claim to be Scripture. How this claim relates to the show's influence is a question worth investigating.

Without a doubt, the show most certainly does claim to shape viewers' understanding of Jesus--and, let's be honest, it aims to do this with 95% fiction. Those who allow their emotions to rule their intellect will find a deep and abiding loyalty for The Chosen that would affirm its life-changing influence, and how can anyone argue with another person's personal epiphany? Unless, of course, what The Chosen is offering is something less than true. And the simple fact is that we have to find out whether the show's integrity warrants the enormous popularity it now enjoys and whether this popularity brings an influence that is truly Biblical. Those who are becoming increasingly uneasy at the unprecedented popularity this show enjoys bear the same responsibility of discernment that they bear towards anything that is inexplicably popular, Christian or not. And if it feels as if a giant is calling out from the hillsides of Palestine daring us to slay its gargantuan power, we need to answer the challenge in the Name of the Lord of Hosts. But, as David found with Goliath, all that is needed to go head to head with a colossus is the perfect aim of God's Word.

If we return undaunted to the opening premise that the show's enormous popularity bears close examination, and if we place the show in a historic context of world evangelism, we find a fundamental inconsistency: The Chosen is popular among an audience of nearly 40% unchurched peoples, including Mormons and Muslims, but it remains at the heart of controversy among conservative Christians and Bible scholars. Why is this necessarily a problem? Wasn't Jesus popular with the common masses but hated by the leaders of established religion? But one question demands an answer: if The Chosen is penetrating the darkness of an apostate age with the light of the Gospel, we would expect it to reap Satanic opposition. Are we to characterize the valid complaints of conservative Bible scholars as Satanic opposition?

The fact is that none of the Apostles who fulfilled the Great Commission escaped persecution, and most faced martyrdom. If we know anything at all about evangelism across 2000 years of church history, we know that the Gospel has always sparked spiritual warfare within Satan’s territory. The Chosen would appear to be the grand exception. Not only is the show not at all unpopular among unbelievers, with this group accounting for nearly 40% of the show's viewing base, this base would appear to confirm Jenkins' ability to reach millions of people that churches cannot reach. But the old argument that if it’s too good to be true it probably isn’t leaves us begging for a reality check. It cannot be that we now live in a kinder, gentler world more receptive of convicting truth than we saw in generations of the great Billy Graham Crusades.

Yet, even if we attributed The Chosen’s enormous success to a revival sweeping the world—despite Scripture’s prophecies of a great falling away before the Lord returns--we would still have to reckon with the source of The Chosen’s controversy. If we take this controversy seriously, we must admit the disconnect between the show's enormous popularity and its true influence for Christ. A deeper dive into the true purpose for the show seems like a necessary first step in examining the influence of the show. But if you can figure out Jenkins’ true purpose for The Chosen, you are doing well. If we take him at his word, his primary purpose is to produce topnotch entertainment. It isn’t even faith-based entertainment anymore, if you listen to his most recent interviews with filming gurus.

And yet if you hear him defending his controversial moves to his rumbling viewing base, his primary purpose is to bring people to Jesus. So, is evangelism the primary or the secondary purpose of the show? Or is it really the purpose at all? It has appeared that the answer to this question depends upon the context in which Jenkins finds himself, and the same goes for his most loyal viewers who parrot his favorite arguments and defenses. The same viewers who defend the show’s aberrations from Scripture as mere entertainment also frequently attack the show’s critics as legalists and Pharisees for not embracing it. What makes me a Pharisee if I choose not to imbibe in a show that professes, at the end of the day, to be mere entertainment? Am I also a Pharisee if I choose not to watch the Great American Family channel?

Jenkins' argument speaks with a forked tongue because he believes that his purpose to entertain ensures the show's ability to evangelize. His lengthy interview with Jordan Peterson certainly leaves this impression. Logically, that would imply that the purpose to evangelize is the end for which entertainment is the means. And yet in the same breath, Jenkins seems to need free rein to entertain for the sake of entertainment, for, as he says, The Chosen is "just a show," and he has recently backed away from characterizing it as faith-based. Voila! Isn't that why the show has become so popular? It has become a chameleon of sorts to change to the color of its surroundings, and if you can't always locate it on the Christian landscape, just wait awhile and it will reappear at the opportune moment. Or, to alter the imagery, it would seem that the hand Jenkins plays seems to change every time, and he always seems to be hiding something until the last play.

Jenkins doesn't seem aware of his contradictions, but those who have borne with his frequent video defenses are aware of them. And many by now have caught on that Jenkins cannot claim that a show whose purpose to evangelize is secondary at best will be the best at evangelizing. And yet he does claim this. And the show's popularity would back him up. Somewhere in the dirty dilemma of whether to serve God or mammon (for we can assume that, where popularity rules, mammon is never far behind), Jenkins would do well to heed the words of Paul: “For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God. For the Jews require a sign, and the Greeks seek after wisdom: but we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumbling block, and unto the Greeks foolishness; but unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God” (I Corinthians 1:18,22).

It seems to me that the purpose to entertain guarantees the popularity that The Chosen is now enjoying. But popularity is like dew falling during the night that evaporates under the rising sun of truth. Which has greater influence--the dew or the sun? I don't think we need to ask. Or, to use the metaphor Jesus uses, we would juxtapose the broad road and the narrow road. The apparent inaccessibility of the narrow road in no way undermines it influence or determines its destiny, for it leads to life. The broad road, however, so user-friendly and scenic, is but a lullaby ending in horror. Which would you prefer? Tragically, popularity has chosen the broad road--or, to turn the point around, the broad road ensures popularity. The road to life, on the other hand, is not only narrow but lonely, and "few there be that find it" (Matthew 7:14). It doesn't sound to me as if the narrow road is likely to become popular or as if the popular road ever leads to life.

The more popular any presentation about Jesus becomes, therefore, the more reason we have to examine it, especially when our Lord warns that the deception of the last days will be so sinister and so imperceptible that even the elect would be deceived, were that possible. Anyone who has read the entire New Testament even one time is aware that warnings against false christs, false prophets, and false disciples abound. How do we know whether a prophet is false or whether someone has created "another Jesus"? Although this question deserves an answer far beyond the scope of this post, we need to refresh a working knowledge of the principles of Biblical discernment. First of all, the Lord has given His children the Spirit of Truth to live within us, and He will guide us into all truth (John 16:13). The Holy Spirit will give us warnings in our spirit, and we will always be able to objectify these warnings with confirmation from God's Word. The Holy Spirit and God's Word are, therefore, the "two witnesses" necessary to protect us from the false witness that pretenders will bear in the last days.

In addition to these two faithful witnesses, the Lord expects us to develop trained instincts to second guess things we should "beware" (Matthew 7:15-23). As Jesus makes clear in His Sermon on the Mount, we are not to judge by appearances, lest we be deceived like Eve, who thought the forbidden fruit looked "pleasant to the eyes" (Genesis 3:6). In an ironic sense, however, we are to judge by appearances, for an unusually pleasing appearance may in itself be cause for alarm. If Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light (II Corinthians 11:14), small wonder if his servants would be. Satan depends upon a pleasing appearance to deceive, for a pleasing appearance resonates with uncrucified flesh. The broad road is easy to travel, and the wolf in sheep's clothing looks friendly, but the broad road leads to destruction and the wolf devours his prey. A pleasing appearance can be a disguise for evil and, in fact, has been since the beginning of time. Perhaps for this very reason, our Lord chose to come to earth bearing "no form or comeliness" that we should desire Him (Isaiah 53:2).

When we remember that The Chosen is marketing its Jesus worldwide and that this marketing endeavor has been enormously successful, we dare not adopt the naive mindset that. as long as a show is about Jesus, it's harmless and should be applauded. On the contrary, Scripture's explicit warnings against doing that very thing lead us to realize that the very show that appears to be leading so many people to Christ may, in fact, be leading people far away from Him. Without a doubt, The Chosen series is marketing worldwide a Jesus that looks really, really good. But if we put together the thousand-piece puzzle that creates this Jesus, we will find a picture that is indeed less than Christian by traditional standards.  

It might be difficult, but we would have every right to argue that the influences behind writing and filming The Chosen have indeed guaranteed its popularity and that they, therefore, also limit its influence for Christ. After all, isn't popularity what Jenkins had in mind when he handpicked each artistic voice for his show? The facts bear out that The Chosen seems to have a closer relationship to culture than it does to The Bible. And just because Jenkins calls Jonathan Roumie "Jesus," that doesn't mean that Christ is being represented in this show. And yet, Jenkins' fans are carrying his "Jesus" (Jonathan Roumie) over into the real world in a way that seldom happens with any other show. Roumie himself is certainly aware of the stir his presence creates in public among his enamored fans. All of this makes even that much more disturbing Jenkins' favorite phrase that his show portrays the "authentic" Jesus.

It seems obvious that the show's enormous popularity makes any disconnect between Jonathan Roumie's personal life and his portrayal of Jesus even more serious because his influence is connected with "Jesus" even when he is not playing the role. This reality, in fact, has given Roumie a platform upon which to push his devout and passionate Catholicism. The stakes could not be higher for any actor who missteps in such a way to bring harm to the cause of Christ. And yet Jenkins is not reining in Roumie's personal popularity off the set; nor is he muffling his overt display of superstitious and even idolatrous practices such as grave soaking or papal veneration or praying the Rosary, which of necessity includes praying to Mary. On the contrary, Jenkins enjoys the popularity Roumie enjoys off the set because of his role on set, and he even has fanned the popularity flames by endorsing The Chosen Showdowns in which Roumie plays "Jesus" outside of The Chosen. To the faithful student of Scripture, it is bad enough that anyone is playing Jesus in a movie, but to hint that Roumie is Jesus outside the movie is cheeky indeed.

The Chosen Showdowns miniseries shows Roumie as Jesus engaging in an ax-throwing contest with Judas. This episode is not only shockingly tasteless, with "Jesus" joking about Judas's upcoming "rope burns," it is blasphemous in its entirety for trivializing Judas's betrayal of Christ in a manner that suggests undertones of Judas himself being betrayed by Christ. Judas alludes to the fact that he's "on his own," saying, "Figures." When he loses the contest, he adds, "I guess it just wasn't my day. It almost never is." Jenkins himself closes the video by telling viewers they are watching one of "our videos," and he puts in a plug to hit the "subscribe" button so that viewers may be notified every time they create something new. It would certainly appear that Jenkins believes his influence to be synonymous with the show's popularity, but even if Jenkins' influence outlasts his popularity, whether that influence is good or bad depends upon his fidelity to the truth.

At the very least, it seems clear that Jenkins' Jesus does not arise from Scripture or even from a uniquely Christian perspective. He is a composite of many unseen influences that beg to be exposed.