However, pastors actually use Scripture similarly to how “The Chosen” relates to the Bible, Jenkins said, because in sermons pastors will “give some color or context. But as long as we know what Scripture is and what it isn’t, I think that we’re free to imagine and to think about these people because they were people, human beings, just like we were. And that’s often easily forgotten.”
The director said that “one of the coolest stories” he heard when “The Chosen” came out was from a woman in China who was the only person in her family who spoke English. During the pandemic she and her family binge-watched the first season, “and her husband and her kids were desperate to watch each episode,” said Jenkins, “even though they didn’t speak English and the show hadn’t been translated in their language yet. And that was an indication that people of all ages, which I didn’t expect, were getting moved by the show.”
“The fact that they couldn’t even understand the words made me realize it wasn’t about me,” he continued. “I mean, all these words that I’m writing and dialogue that I’m writing, these kids couldn’t even understand it, and yet they were still moved. And so that made it clear this is much bigger than I am and God clearly has something to say.”
![Pinterest](https://pinterest.com/pin/create/button/?url=https://churchleaders.com/news/458047-dallas-jenkins-the-chosen-encouraging-engage-scripture.html&media=https://churchleaders.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/the-chosen-dallas-jenkins.jpg&description="The Chosen" director Dallas Jenkins says that, rather than it becoming a substitute for the Bible, he has actually seen the show encourage people to engage with Scripture more than they were before. ){kind=link}