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Dallas Jenkins

The Shady Business Practices of Dallas Jenkins and The Chosen

Dallas Jenkins has been on the defensive over allowing pride flags on his set of The Chosen, a show that dubiously claims to depict the “authentic Jesus.” On Sunday, Dallas Jenkins released a video explaining his position in allowing pride flags on his set. In that video he insisted that The Chosen was not a church or a ministry, and that it was a “for profit public company.”

It’s worth noting that Dallas Jenkins casually lies about The Chosen being a public company. The Chosen is an LLC that initially launched its product through equity crowdfunding based on a Christmas pilot Jenkins produced. But as these shares are privately held, functioning as a democratized alternative to angel investing or venture capital fundraising.

The Chosen is undoubtedly a for profit company with an increasing shrewdness that blurs ethical lines. Whereas the first season used equity crowdfunding to raise over $13 million, the subsequent seasons would rely on the innovative pay-it-forward model offered by its distributor, Angel Studios. Angel Studios is the Mormon own distributor and (prior) funding mechanism of The Chosen.

Dallas Jenkins has claimed that The Chosen only makes money through “gift sales and commercial licensing.” The former is its merch shop which includes devotional materials. The latter would likely include DVD sales, ad revenue from YouTube, a share of theatrical releases, and a cut from its distributors.

So what about the expenses? Last year The Chosen (indirectly) set up a ministry to cover their own major expenses called the Come and See Foundation. On December 10, 2022, Dallas Jenkins unveiled the Come and See Foundation as the go-to place to donate to The Chosen. The 501c3 organization was established to fund the production and marketing of the series. In addition, it also has accelerated the show’s translation into many languages. Jenkins states that donations will be matched until the fundraising goal is met. The production itself appears to be where the donations are going whereas the matched donations will be going towards marketing and translation, per Jenkins. This revenue stream for The Chosen stands in stark opposition to the status quo with Angel Studios (more on that below.)

Come and See

The Come and See Foundation is eerily reminiscent of the He Gets Us Campaign which also struggled to present the biblical Jesus, and was near universally panned for its vacuous commercials. For starters, the board of directors includes Mart Green, a prominent figure behind the He Gets Us campaign. Green is part of the Hobby Lobby family and serves as their Ministry Investment Officer. Perhaps the same mechanism used to fund He Gets Us is also at play in matching donations, but as this public charity is new, this information is not yet available.

Stan Jantz a Big Eva executive is the CEO of Come and See after helming the Evangelical Christian Publishers Association (ECPA) and has been on the board for Biola University.

As the pride flag appeared on set of season four during its ongoing campaign to fund the season, Evangelical Dark Web reached out for comment on allowing pride flags on set and then subsequently glamorizing them in a behind the scenes video, Dallas Jenkins’ claim that there is no corporate prayer on set, and whether the Come and See Foundation believes that homosexuality is a sin and that it’s promotion has no place in a production about the “authentic Jesus.” The response we received was a generic response from Stan Jantz who pointed us to Dallas Jenkins. Jenkins is not listed among the officers or board members of Come and See, yet nonetheless he is a spokesperson. However, it does appear that they may refund upset donors should they email them about this issue, given the response we received having never donated.

Trouble In Paradise Utah?

The Come and See Foundation seems directly at odds with Angel Studios and is one of three major moves by The Chosen that seems as though it is asserting control from its Mormon business partners. Earlier this year, it was announced that Lionsgate secured global theatrical release rights to The Chosen just as Angel Studios invested in theatrical distribution. It still appears as though domestically, Angel Studios has the rights.

Additionally, The Chosen made its own app which will play a key role in this divide.

But the Come and See Foundation is the biggest threat to this relationship, as Dallas Jenkins is pushing his followers to bypass the Mormon company.

Fans of The Chosen are clearly incentivized to maximize their dollars by donating directly through The Chosen app or the Come and See Foundation. Angel Studios is viewed as a middle man in this new dynamic.

Ethical Issues

It must be nice for a for profit company to create a charity to have its largest expenses covered. Dallas Jenkins claiming that The Chosen isn’t a ministry is functionally a lie. According to the IRS:

The exempt purposes set forth in section 501(c)(3) are charitable, religious, educational, scientific, literary, testing for public safety, fostering national or international amateur sports competition, and preventing cruelty to children or animals. The term charitable is used in its generally accepted legal sense and includes relief of the poor, the distressed, or the underprivileged; advancement of religion; advancement of education or science; erecting or maintaining public buildings, monuments, or works; lessening the burdens of government; lessening neighborhood tensions; eliminating prejudice and discrimination; defending human and civil rights secured by law; and combating community deterioration and juvenile delinquency.

It would appear that Come and See would apply for 501c3 under religious qualifications. According to Come and See:

Come and See is a 501(c)(3) established by a group of passionate believers and experienced professionals to come alongside The Chosen to grow its reach and impact globally. Our goal is to provide resources, technology, ministry connections and expertise to help The Chosen reach its goal of having a billion people experience an authentic Jesus through this series and related content.

By any conventional understanding, Come and See is a ministry, one created for the sole purpose of advancing the interests of a for-profit company.

The public would rightly be indignant if Disney had a 501c3 to fund the live action remake of The Little Mermaid. Yet The Chosen can get by with this by taking severe advantage of nonprofit laws.

Additionally, this means that the production of season four, of which the pride flag was displayed was funded by the religious nonprofit organization. Dallas Jenkins assumes that the production wasn’t a part of a ministry, ignoring the nonprofit organization he peddled to fund his expenses and the common understanding of what donating through the ministry entails. It is highly unethical for The Chosen to embrace values on set that contradict the stated or implied values of the nonprofit organization funding them.

It appears as though The Chosen is riding the gravy train, with its new infrastructure of tax deductible donations to cover the major expense, theatrical releases, and the sources of revenue that they do not have to share or reinvest in the show.

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4 Responses

  1. The worst part of this is that many are still referring to him as a brother. Just a half hour ago I read an article at Not the Bee, from a respected author, that did so. SMH

    No, he is continuing in sin, defending sin, promoting sin, and is perverting the grace and love of God into a license for immorality. It doesn’t get much worse than promoting porneia in Jesus’ name. The Bible is clear that individuals who do such things, and bear such bad fruit, are not born again. And some, such as those mentioned in 2 Thess and Jude, are already eternally damned as they live and breathe. Jenkins is clearly not a born again Christian.

    A truly born again Christian will not endorse, support, engage in, promote, accept, or celebrate sin, much less abominable porneia. The Holy Spirit will not allow it. God’s word is as straightforward and clear on this fact as it possibly can be.

    Dallas serves mammon.

    Some will counter this truth with, “you don’t know his heart”. Well the Bible is also clear that we don’t need to know his heart, the fruit of the tree is plainly evident. The perversion of God’s grace and love are plainly evident. The promotion of porneia is plainly evident. The service to mammon is plainly evident. The continuance of others sins is plainly evident. And scripture is plainly clear.

  2. There is nothing in scripture that instructs us to behave and act differently depending on whether or not it’s a ministry or secular setting.

    Nothing.

    Either one is a Christian at all times, in all places, in all circumstances, or one is not a Christian at all.

    “It’s a secular business” is not a valid excuse, from a Biblical standpoint.

    The contrived delineation has been constructed for political purposes, by both sides.

  3. They all need to sit down and read Matt. 19, Mark 7, Rev. 21 and 22, and the many other instances where Jesus himself specifically and directly condemned licentiousness, sensuality, and sexual immorality.

    Jesus directly condemned it.

    And that is the authentic Jesus.

  4. Look at ya’ll. Say what you may, but in the end many many people will turn their heads and take a step closer to Christ because of The Chosen. Maybe even some will live up to YOUR standards. That’s all I have to say. Continue casting stones…

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