A new evangelistic course was launched this week at All Souls Langham Place as a punchy, cinematic upgrade of the traditional Christianity Explored course.
Presented by Rico Tice, Barry Cooper and Nate Morgan Locke, Life Explored is modelled on the now-common evangelical model of a short film-message followed by discussion. The course is based around seven short clips shot to an impressively high quality all around the world and can be used in a one-to-one context or in larger discussion groups.
The initial promotional film is slow at first and tries to build tension as the narrator gradually asks: "Seven billion of us all searching for the same thing – but its so hard to find...We're all looking for it, all hoping to find it, that one thing – If you had it, wouldn't it put everything right?"
Behind the beautifully produced films is a straightforward message that our deepest desires can only be satisfied in Christ. "We're far too easily pleased," one promotional says. "Why put up our with tiny drops of happiness, when we're made to experience whole oceans of it?"
And this gets to the core of Life Explored's aim: to expose the idols or "little Gods" that promise much and deliver little.
The evidence of its predecessor, Christianity Explored is still very much there. The overall message is based on penal substitution and emphasises Jesus' death was "not just to deal with my sin but to be reconciled to God" and "in order that I could know God".
But Tice denies there is "nothing new under the sun" and insists the course is "uncovering something pretty fresh".
He speaks of "the way idolatry is blinding" particularly when it comes to the worship of good things such as education. "We have these churches set up around these little idols and suddenly this is unpicking the apathy that leads from that."
He also suggests the idea Christians should enjoy God is "pretty buried" and something the course focuses on. He says Life Explored is uncovering "very fresh things prophetically" for the Church in a way its ancestor Christianity Explored did not.
In a similar vein Morgan Locke speaks of some gospel presentations that "just present Jesus as the answer to the problem" like a form of "eternal insurance".
"But actually we want people to just marvel at the glory and the beauty and the majesty and the splendour of God," he continues. "And we see that in the face of Jesus.
"So the idea for the resource is to hold him up like a jewel and say 'can you see how this shines'. Look at it from every facet and compare it to whatever little pebble you have found.
"There is no comparison."
The focus on God's beauty, coupled with the dramatic cinematography, is a powerful combination. Under the banner question, "What's the best gift God could give you?", the course is packaged to present a slick, enticing exploration into the gospel. It is less dense than Christianity Explored and more engaging for it.
The big downside seems to be the £33.99 for the leaders kit. All the resources from posters to handbooks to DVDs have a charge and will be a major barrier to some.
But other than that, Life Explored looks set to offer the heavyweight gospel engagement with the easy and entertaining film package. And the umbrella group of Christianity Explored Ministries is the richer for it.
