Movie Review The Eyes of Tammy Faye

This is day three of COVID quarantine. And you know what that means. The wife is tired of hearing me share my opinions with her. So I've decided to share them with you. Conversations with a Calvinist starts right now.

Movie Review of The Eyes of Tammy Faye

Welcome back to Conversations with a Calvinist. My name is Keith Foskey and I am a Calvinist. I'm glad to have you on the program today. And you know what we haven't done on the program in a while. Yes, it is a movie review.

Yep. I've done movie reviews in the past. I enjoy doing them. And this one is particularly interesting because I'm going to be reviewing a movie about the late Tammy Faye Baker. And I'm going to tie it into a connection with Calvinism because I said on the program this year I wanted to start focusing in on more Calvinistic issues, more Calvinistic questions.

This is Conversations with a Calvinist after all. So recently my wife and I watched a film about the life of the late televangelist Tammy Faye Baker. And I want to say right away I didn't know much about her going into the story except that when I was a kid I remember seeing her on television.

I think I was more familiar with the Crouches, Jan and Paul Crouch. And of course Jan Crouch had a very Tammy Faye-esque look. In fact I think she took her look from Tammy Faye which is the very bright makeup, big bright hair.

That was something that obviously Tammy Faye was known for. And something that the movie actually does address is her look, her unique look. And Jan Crouch of course had a very similar look probably having borrowed it from Tammy Faye.

There are parts in the movie having now that I've watched it I went back and did a little research before I did today's program. And there are parts of the movie that are exaggerated. There are parts that are telescoped for film that happens anytime a bio film or bio epic is produced.

It has to sort of truncate some of the story. So nobody should be surprised by that. The story does though seem to hit the major beats of her life, the basic beats of the life of Tammy Faye Baker. And I want to give a review of the film and then I want to again like I said I want to talk about some of the theology that was presented in the film.

And I want to talk about Calvinistic theology and sort of in response to that. But first of all let me say this. From a purely entertainment perspective my wife and I did enjoy the film. We like documentaries especially documentaries that are like this.

It was very similar to a few years ago we watched one on the Waco situation with David Koresh. That was a mini series. It was very well done. We enjoyed that. Felt like we learned some things from it even though we know it was fiction.

It was a story a fictional account of a true story. We you know there were still some things that we were able to go back and see were actually the case. And I think the same thing is true with this. It was produced well.

This movie was produced. It was acted very well. I believe it's up for some awards Jessica Chastain plays Tammy Faye Baker. And to my surprise Andrew Garfield yes Spider-Man plays Jim Baker. In fact that was what made me first tell my wife I was I was all for it.

She said do you want to watch this movie? And I said well let's watch the trailer. The great thing about Prime is when you want to watch a movie on Amazon Prime it has the trailer you can watch beforehand to see if you really do want to get into watching it.

And so I did. I sat down and watched the and as soon as I saw Spider-Man as Jim Baker I was like I'm in. I don't have to go any further. I don't even want to watch any more of the trailer. I have to watch this movie.

And so we did. I was also surprised to see some other folks pretty famous people. Vincent D 'Onofrio was in it. He played Jerry Falwell. That was the one that was least believable for me. I've seen the real Jerry Falwell on television.

I don't think Vincent D 'Onofrio looks like Jerry Falwell at all. I think his his portrayal of him was almost almost intended to be a caricature because Jerry Falwell is to the left a almost comic figure.

He's not meant to be taken seriously and I think honestly Vincent D 'Onofrio tried to play him as almost like a Batman villain. If you want my opinion he sort of comes across very very much like a almost like the penguin in the Batman movies.

Very very conniving very evil looking guy. Certainly did not give off any any type of positive thought for Jerry Falwell. In fact somewhere somewhere in the movie I think it's toward the end he is referred to as that fat Baptist.

So just to give you an idea of how Falwell is treated in the film. But it wasn't like I said it was a legitimate production. It wasn't certainly wasn't cheap. It was it was done very well. I do want to give a warning though for those of you who may want to watch it based upon my review.

I as a minister and as a as a as a father I like to give some sort of warnings. There are a few scenes I wrote this out there are a few scenes which are a little racy in regard to their sexual content.

There's there's pictures of you know or scenes where people touch each other in a sexual way. No no nudity. But there's discussions of affairs. There's discussion. There's one scene that depicts an affair again.

There's no nudity but it does depict an affair. I don't want to spoil anything but there are discussions and allegations of homosexual relationships particularly with Jim and there's also a section where a a penile implant is discussed and modeled and demonstrated which or a model is demonstrated and apparently this took place on the PTL program.

This was like a real thing that that Tammy Faye did with it with a with a with her part of the program which is weird but it was there it was in the in the film. There were a few curse words not not it was basically relatively tame but all in all I would say I wouldn't watch it with my kids.

I don't think you should watch it with your kids but for most you know adults it would be fine just you know just know that those there are a few things in it that are a little racy but it's telling us trying to tell a story of what happened and so again without spoilers that's my my warning for for the movie.

My review is ultimately it was a a basically a it was it it was good at telling the story that it told. There's a lot about the story that I didn't know didn't realize sort of where they came from their relationship with the 700 club their relationship with Pat Robertson and all of these other figures that of course I'm very familiar with having seen them on television having grown up I remember being in my grandmother's house when I was a kid seeing the 700 club on on television not realizing according to the film what was actually the brain child of Jim Baker and was later sort of taken over by Pat Robertson because Pat Robertson was the one who was producing all of these things and and he had the power to do that so it's just an interesting interesting little tale of of how people who are who are looking to be in a a ministry that is is going to be financially successful and in in their financial success they they have a terrible fall and the movie of course does depict that it doesn't doesn't really seem to be hiding much about their about their failures and one issue which is prominently displayed in the film is Tammy Faye Baker's support of the LGBT movement.

In fact she is seen early on discussing her concerns with Jerry Falwell as Jerry Falwell is depicted by D 'Onofrio as being very anti-gay anti-LGBT you know saying that these the the gay agenda we have to go against the gay agenda we have to go against this against that and she is she is seen as sort of challenging him as they is sort of their all God's children argument.

And she's also seen at one point and this did happen. I understand she interviewed a homosexual man on her television show I believe he had AIDS. I had to go back and check on that but but he was also supposed to be a a homosexual pastor.

And I learned after watching this because that that that sort of interest me because at the end they they showed the the real pictures of people they sort of showed like this was the real Tammy Faye Baker and this person playing her this is the real Jerry Falwell and this is the guy playing him.

And it showed the man who she interviewed on in the movie and then said here's the real man behind this interview. So apparently it really happened and I learned after watching that she was considered a hero in the LGBT community or the movement.

And and and the film is actually based on a documentary which was put together by the team that that's behind RuPaul's Drag Race. Now I don't watch RuPaul's Drag Race. It's a television show about men who dress in drag.

I have heard of it have never seen it but apparently RuPaul's Drag Race the men behind that or the people behind that were the ones who who were responsible for putting together a documentary about Tammy Faye and RuPaul the famous drag queen was the one who actually was the narrator of that documentary.

Well that documentary became the seed which became this movie. See I didn't know any of this watching the film I saw this after afterward. So now knowing that I can look more at the film and see how much influence there was from the LGBT movement trying to portray Tammy Faye as a hero in their movement.

She was essentially a she was a hero to them because she was a person who was a Christian who was willing to say that you could be homosexual and be a Christian. And of course I've dealt with that on the channel before I've dealt with with what I believe the Bible teaches.

The Bible teaches homosexuality is a sin and the Bible teaches that if we do not repent of our sin if we do not turn from our sin if we do not recognize our sin and and and turn from it then then we are we cannot rightfully call ourselves Christians.

So so of course I take issue with her position on this and of course she's she's passed away now so it doesn't I'm not really taking a point issue with her position. I'm saying from the program's perspective certainly there there's an issue with what the movie's intending to put out but but overall that was a that was part of the narrative and if you if you recognize that going in you'll kind of know what is going to happen in that regard.

They do they do sort of point the fingers at Jim Baker saying and there were allegations that he was that he had homosexual liaisons with men in his employ and with other men and with things and certainly he he got into a lot of trouble because of a of a sexual encounter with a woman that was later found out that he had paid her off and that was part of the major downfall of of Jim Baker and why he ended up ultimately going to jail.

Uh so all of these things are uh just part and parcel of the movie telling the story. But you can tell there's sort of a sort of a driving force behind it. They're they're wanting to to present the fact that that Tammy Faye was was correct from their perspective that um that it was okay to be gay and be and be a Christian.

Obviously I don't agree with that. And uh while it's obvious the film doesn't shy away from failures um it's also clear that Tammy Faye is the hero of the film. If you watch the film closely it sort of attempts to show her as a as a legitimate Christian rising to fame falling from the grace of her viewers ultimately concluding with a portion that seems somewhat redemptive at the end.

And again spoiler this is a spoiler at the end she does um she ends up triumphantly singing the battle hymn of the republic at the oral roberts university she was invited to come and sing and that that's how the film closes sort of her having redeemed herself in the eyes of the sort of uh you know community that she had that she had fallen with her husband from um and so and so that's it right.

So that's that's the movie. And what concerns me most I think about the movie ultimately uh is is part and parcel the the LGBT stuff. Uh I think people who have a position on that this movie isn't going to move you one way or the other.

So I really don't see that being a huge issue except it is promoting the idea that you can be gay and Christian and then that's not a problem. There's not a there's not a sin that needs to be repented of there and I think that's certainly something we should consider.

It's important it does have to be addressed. But what concerns me more uh in this review is the theology which sort of undergirds the whole film because there is a theology in the movie um which is was held by Jim Baker it was held by Tammy Faye Baker continues to be held to this day by men like Pat Robertson and many other televangelists.

And it is a dangerous theology and it is the theology of God being almost like a genie in a bottle. It seems as if this film tries to present Tammy Faye and even Jim Baker in one sense as as people who legitimately were doing God's work and they just fell into temptation.

But in reality the theology of Jim and Tammy Faye Baker was flawed long before their personal failures long before their financial indiscretions long before any of that was exposed outside of anything to do with LGBTQ or any of the rest or or Jim Baker's supposed homosexual situation outside of any of that just what was on the television just what they were presenting was not biblical Christianity.

And um obviously I would take issue with almost everything uh if not everything that Jim Baker said in regard to God and uh and not just because he's a charismatic because yes he's a charismatic. I am a Baptist and they do make jokes about that in the film.

You know I mentioned earlier about what they said about um about Jerry Falwell being a fat Baptist. Well okay um you know they certainly make a distinction between Baptists and Charismatics in the movie.

So they recognize that and I recognize the theological difference but they represent something else not just Charismaticism. But they represent um really the the the the growth and and spread of what would be known as the Prosperity Gospel and that's that's more dangerous than anything that is just inherently Charismatic.

Um and and if you're not familiar with the Prosperity Gospel I've talked about it before I'll give you this quick definition. I found this this was from a historian uh her name's Kate Bowler and she I think she gives a very good explanation.

She says the Prosperity Gospel was formed from the intersection of three different ideologies Pentecostalism New Thought and an American Gospel of Pragmatism Individualism and Upward Mobility. And I just love that last phrase.

That's why I wanted to give her credit because an American Gospel of Pragmatism Individualism and Upward Mobility it was all about what can God do for me what can God give me what you know my service to God is not because he is God.

My service to God is because God has something for me and God has something for me that I need to go and get and therefore to get it I have to get I have to get him because he's part of the package. And Prosperity Theology is dangerous uh if you've never heard me talk about if you've never if you've never looked into it I I would encourage you to please be careful the Prosperity Gospel is is uh it is plutonium it is it is uh deadly.

Um and if you want to learn more about it I would recommend another movie. If you've never seen American Gospel um there are actually two American Gospel films now there's a third one on the way so let me give you the exact.

It's the the first one if you want to learn more about the dangers of Prosperity Gospel look up American Gospel Christ Alone that's the the full title and the second one is American Gospel Christ Crucified and I recommend both but but if you're looking for specifically the Prosperity Gospel American Gospel Christ Alone there's a short version online.

There's a long version online. I recommend the long version if you have time but if you don't obviously the short version is uh useful uh but watch it and it gives you sort of a history of and the dangers of the Prosperity Gospel.

Um but based on that there's there there was one thing that kept kept being said in the movie uh that I want to uh I want to address and this is going to where the program's going to take slightly a turn because because I want to I'm going to move now into my Calvinism conversation.

But one of the things that the film depicts over and over is the couple saying into the camera God loves you he really really does God loves you he really does. And one might think that well that's the least controversial thing in the whole movie.

I mean that's that that's true isn't it God really loves you. So um that's where I want to turn now because now I'm going to switch we're going to go to our second segment of today's program and we're going to talk about specifically the question of does God really really love everyone.

God's Love, Election, and Common Grace

Okay so now we're going to move to part two of today's program and part two of today's program is where each week I'm going to be having a Calvinism section where I deal with a specific Calvinistic issue and today's issue is going to be the question of God's love.

Um does God really really love everyone as was presented by Jim and Tammy Faye Baker at the end of their program they would say God loves you he really really does. Well this is actually a pretty big issue when the subject of Calvinism arises because Calvinism teaches that God has not chosen to save everyone but that God has chosen to save only his elect.

And the word elect means those whom he has chosen and Calvinism believes that God chose the elect before the foundation of the world before they had done anything that God chose to set his affection on his elect.

And according to Romans 9 he did he set his affection before we had done anything good or bad so that his purpose and election might stand. So God has chosen to save his elect. Therefore some conclude that God only loves the elect.

And that is an argument that some Calvinists do make. Um and so I don't want to say that there's universality in what I'm going to say today. I'm going to say this is one Calvinist position on this I do believe I'm holding the biblical position uh but but if if it is in fact the case that there are some Calvinists who would disagree with me out there that's fine I'm I'm okay with that uh you know we we sometimes will hold different small different views but but I am to present what I think is the is the is the classic Calvinist position on the subject of God's love.

And uh how we distinguish in in regard to God's love and that and that's what we want to talk about today. Um and and we want to talk about it because of this whole thing God loves you he really really does.

Well is that the case is is it the case that God loves every single individual. And um can we say that uh without any qualification. And my answer is no. We cannot say that without any qualification. The subject of God's love requires us to consider several things about the nature of God the nature of man uh our relationship to God and our relationship which is in Christ the relationship of the elect which is in Christ.

So I want to give you three thoughts today on the subject of the love of God. All of these I'm going to I'm going to try to give a biblical foundation for these these positions. Number one God does show loving kindness to all men uh in his providential mercy.

And when I say all in that in that case because I know the word all sometimes is debated about does it mean all without exception or all without. Um uh all without exception or all without distinction.

Let me just say. And when I'm saying the word all here I'm referring to universal. So God does show a universal loving kindness to all men in his acts of providential mercy. Sometimes this is referred to as common grace though.

Uh there are those who do not like the term common grace. So for the sake of argument we can call it maybe common mercy or God's universal benevolent mercy which is shown to all men. We see this in two specific passages.

One old testament. One new testament. The old testament passage is psalm 145 verse 8. It says the lord is gracious and merciful slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. The lord is good to all and his mercy is over all that he has made.

Okay. So again the word good is used there. The word mercy is used there. And the word is the word all is used twice in it says the lord is is good to all and his mercy is over all that he has made. God is God is constantly showing mercy to his creation that would include all men and women who are part of his creation.

Uh and this is how we see this explained to us in the new testament. Matthew chapter 5 verse 45 says. Um so that you may be sons of your father who in heaven. For he makes his son to rise on the evil and on the good.

He sent rain. He sends rain on the just and on the unjust. So God sends rain on the good and the bad on the evil and the the good get get get rain and sunshine. That is a part of his universal benevolent providential mercy.

And i'm using big words. But that that that is shown to all men. Um and so no one can say that God has not given them good. That God has not shown them kindness. That God has not given them mercy. You know we we often say the very beating of our hearts and our chest is is is at the mercy of God.

And therefore uh the fact that he has not immediately judged me and sent me to hell is an act of his mercy. And so because men are living currently under his mercy we could say that God is is showing loving kindness to all men in his providential mercy.

Um now this that one shouldn't be debated even though i know some will. Um that one i think is fairly simple. Second one is is more more difficult for some people because this one's a little harder for them to accept.

And that is that God does not love everyone the same. Okay so the first one God does show loving kindness to all men in his providential mercy. Number two God does not love everyone the same. Um and i i i have remembered certain conversations i've had about this with my friends who are not calvinist.

And here here's how the conversation usually goes. Uh they'll say God loves everybody the same. And um i'll say okay what about Romans 9 13. Jacob i loved Esau i hated. And they'll say oh no no no no no.

The word hate there simply means to love less. Okay you just proved my point if that's your if that's how you understand Romans 9 13 is that it doesn't mean God hated Esau but that he loved Esau less than Jacob.

You're still proving my point that God's love is not the same for every individual. And i think that that has to be that has to be uh affirmed that God's love is not the same for every individual. Um and certainly his his demonstration of mercy is not the same for every individual.

We would never say that God has extended the same amount of mercy to the Canaanites that he extended to the Israelites. Would we say that God extended the same amount of revelation and and love and grace to to the Amorites as he did to to Moses.

Um not at all. And and so God does have a uh ability to choose how to love and to whom he will show his love. And God does not love everyone the same any more than than than i do i have the freedom to love Dr. White.

Dr. James White points this out a lot. He says i have the freedom to love different people different ways. I love my wife differently than i love other men's wives. I love my children differently than i love other people's children.

I love my father in a different way than i love my fellow elders. We have a different relationship and we have a different love. And God has a special love for his elect. And this does not mean that he doesn't show loving kindness to the non-elect.

But the elect are the recipients of a special form of love from God. And here's the thing we don't deserve it. Nobody deserves it. Everybody deserves hatred. In fact the Bible does use the word hate in regard to the wicked.

And we do have to address that too because in like in Psalm 11 5 it says the Lord tests the righteous but his soul hates the wicked. And the one who loves violence the Bible says he hates them. Now again if you want to interpret that as loveless because there are times where that idiomatic phrase hate does mean to love less.

Jesus said unless you hate. You know if any man who comes after me and hates not his mother father that have certainly meant loveless. And so there is a time when the word hate can be an idiomatic way of saying to love less.

But even even if that's what it means it's still it's still proving the point that God's love is not the same when people talk about the universal unconditional love of God that is not a biblical concept.

It's not. God does not have a universal unconditional love. God has a benevolent kindness that is shown to all men but a special love that he gives to his elect. And I want to bring up the third point.

Okay so the first point was God does show loving kindness to all men in his providential mercy. Number two God does not love everyone the same. But three God does express a disposition of benevolence.

Now this is sort of similar to number one but I want to go further because I remember one time and I think it was Dr. R .C. Sproul I could be wrong but Dr. Sproul was talking about God's disposition of benevolence and and I just remember that stuck with me because there is a sense in which when we talk about God the Bible says God is love.

And as Calvinists I think we I think sometimes we forget that because we know God hates evil God is holy God is angry with the wicked. These things are true and and we should always remember those things are true.

But at the same time God's disposition is one of love. Therefore we can proclaim John 3 16 for God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son. And some people think that Calvinists think that that means God only loves the elect and therefore the word world means elect.

That's not what we believe. That's in fact that's not. That's not. That's not what I teach. So when I say we have to be careful because I know not all Calvinists interpret things the same. But when when the Bible says for God so loved the world in that passage I I don't think that it's in one sense trying to distinguish the elect from the non-elect.

In that I think what it is saying it actually is saying this. It says in this way that the actual Greek of what Jesus said in this way God loved the world that he sent his only son his monogamous his only begotten son that pass hop is still on.

All the ones believing will not perish but have everlasting life. All the ones believing are the recipients of God's ultimate expression of love that comes through the work of Jesus Christ making the atonement on the cross.

That's that's how we actually benefit from the love of God in the eternal realm. We may benefit from God's mercy and his loving kindness in this realm for a season. But we will not benefit from it eternally if we refuse to receive his son Jesus Christ.

You see that's the point is only the elect will believe in Jesus and only the elect will be beneficiaries of God's eternal unfailing agape love. So when we talk about God's love we have to understand that the only ones who are going to experience the eternal benefit of God's love are his elect.

And the reason why I bring this up is because years ago it was common very common for people to say hey the gospel is this God loves you and he has a wonderful plan for your life. That's not the gospel.

That is not the gospel. That is never how the bible presents the gospel. You'll never open your bible and find a verse that says God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life. That is not ever how the disciples presented the gospel.

That is not the gospel. The gospel has to do with sin. The gospel has to do with righteousness. The gospel has to do with our desperate need for salvation. Our desperate need for God's sacrifice of his son.

Concepts like justification substitution atonement all of that is wrapped up in the gospel. The idea that God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life that is not the gospel. In fact sometimes that's not even the the best thing to tell people.

Because honestly people don't need to hear God has a wonderful plan for their life. People need to hear. They need to repent and believe. And and if you want to know more about how to present the gospel I would recommend Ray Comfort even though Ray's not a Calvinist I'll admit to that.

But he certainly has been influential in many lives. Many Calvinist lives to to present the law as a way of showing people their sin. Because unless we understand sin we will not understand the need for salvation.

We won't understand how we are saved through the blood of Jesus Christ. If we don't understand that we have been condemned by the law and that we are only saved through faith in the Christ. So so I would encourage you if you don't know Ray Comfort you can just look up Ray Comfort on YouTube.

You can find him giving the gospel on thousands of videos. Livingwaters .com is their website. You can go and find more information books that he's written hell's best kept secret. One of the best sermons I've ever heard by Ray Comfort tells about false conversion.

And why many people are false converts because they were saved with a false gospel. And what do you think the gospel is God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life that he says that's a false gospel.

That's not the gospel. And getting back to what we originally talked about the Tammy Faye thing. You know they ended their program. God loves you. He really really does. Well even if even if there is a sense in which God is universally benevolent toward all and has a has a disposition of benevolence toward all.

Is that the gospel. No the gospel is we. The gospel is good news which is predicated on bad news. And the bad news is we're sinners. And the good news is Christ is a better savior than we are sinners.

That that's the the gospel. And a gospel that doesn't talk about sin is not a gospel at all. So should we be telling unbelievers God loves them. Um I think it depends. And I'll end with this. I if somebody said well would you tell an unbeliever that God loves him.

Well I I don't think I should use that term to try to win people. Because that's not the way the disciples did it. The disciples didn't go around saying God loves you. God loves you God loves you. That's not the way they presented the gospel.

Um but it is true that as I said God shows loving kindness to all men. So it would depend on the person I was speaking to. If I was speaking to a person who was insulting God was spurning him was hating him.

Um I don't think an overture of God's love would be necessarily moving to that person. Uh I think it would be mocked and blasphemed. I think it would be like pearls before swine. I think I would stick with the law.

I would point them to Christ. And I would say unless you turn from your sin you're going to die in your sin and go to hell. I don't think I would be trying to win them over with overtures of God's love.

However if I met a person who was broken if I met a person who was lost who was wondering if they had any hope I think it would be appropriate to point them to God's love to say something to with effect look how how gracious and merciful God has been to you already.

He has already kept you alive to this very day to where we could have this conversation. He's already opened up an opportunity for me to talk to you about his son Jesus Christ about your sin about your need for a savior.

And God is love. And you will experience no greater love than by placing your faith in the Lord Jesus Christ the Holy Spirit coming and living inside of you. And and and instructing your heart. And how to love God and receive the love that he has through his son Jesus Christ.

I think that's the way that I would say it. I wouldn't just say God loves you. He really really does. I would try to explain more about what that means. And I would certainly help a person who was broken understand there is a God who is able to heal broken hearts.

And that's the God that we serve. I want to thank you for being with me on the program today. I want to ask that you continue to pray for me and my family as we go through this time of quarantine and healing pray that the Lord will heal us and bring us back to full health so we can continue to minister in his church and to minister his word.

Thank you for listening to conversations with a calvinist. My name is Keith Foskey.

And I've been your calvinist. May God bless you. Thank you for listening to conversations with the calvinist. If you enjoyed the program please take a moment to subscribe. And if you have a question you would like us to discuss on our future program please email us at calvinistpodcast at gmail .com.

As you go about your day remember this. Jesus Christ came to save sinners. All who come to him in repentance and faith will find him to be a perfect savior. He is the way the truth and the life and no one comes to the father except through him.