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What Is ‘The Chosen’ Director Dallas Jenkins’ Religion? Overcoming His Porn Addiction Through Faith
Dallas Jenkins is the man behind The Chosen, the first multi-season series about the life and ministry of Jesus, so it’s not surprising that his faith played a part in the TV show‘s success.
Seen by over 200 million people since the series debuted in late 2017, The Chosen is created, directed and co-written by Dallas and stars Jonathan Roumie as Jesus. In Touch takes a look at the filmmaker’s religious background and beliefs.
Dallas Jenkins Is an Evangelical Christian
“I was a Bible major in college,” Dallas explained on a February 2024 episode of the YouTube series “THE BEAT by Allen Parr,” adding that he came from a “strong” Evangelical conservative Christian background.
Born into a Christian family, Dallas is the son of writer Jerry B. Jenkins — best known for writing the Left Behind book series — and he has been married to his wife, Amanda, for over 20 years.
In June 2020, he shared a sweet photo to Facebook of himself and his wife, writing in the caption, “22 years today married with this one. My favorite person in the world, hands down. ‘He who finds a wife finds a good thing and obtains favor from the Lord.’ Prov. 18:22.”
Dallas Jenkins Didn’t Want to Create Christian-Based Projects — at First
In a 2021 interview with Eternity News, Dallas said he was “almost embarrassed by the idea of being called a Christian filmmaker.”
In fact, when he first moved to Los Angeles to work in Hollywood, he didn’t want to do Christian movies at all. “I wanted to include my faith in the stories, of course, but I didn’t like Christian movies,” he said.
However, his mind changed one day after he felt a calling from God. “I remember I was mowing the lawn, cutting my grass — it was probably back in 2006 or so 2007 — and I was just thinking and praying a little bit, and I felt like God, just like a thunderbolt, was like, ‘I want you to make movies for my people. I want you to stop apologizing for making a Christian movie,'” he explained.
“In my mind, I was thinking, ‘No. Christian movies are so bad.’ And I felt like he was saying, ‘So make them good. My people deserve good movies, too,'” he continued, adding that he told his wife Amanda: “I feel like I’m being called to, to just unashamedly do Christian movies and just go for it and stop trying to ‘beat around the bush,’ as we say, or trying to be cautious and hide the message a little bit, or trying to appeal to mainstream secular audiences.”
Dallas Jenkins Overcame a Pornography Addiction Through Faith
During his interview on “THE BEAT by Allen Parr,” Dallas also revealed that he once dealt with an addiction to pornography.
“I had a long-term struggle with pornography that went dormant for years because I was doing well and hadn’t struggled with it, and then it kind of had a relapse,” he said. “And I went, ‘Alright…’ I was married at the time. I have kids, ‘This can’t happen again. And it’s not enough for me to just have all these protections on my computer. I need to change the heart of what causes this idolatry or this addiction.'”
Dallas said that he sought out help and read books to overcome the addiction, but most importantly, he leaned on his faith.
“The habit of wanting to get affirmed, or the habit of lust or whatever, I restarted replacing with Scripture,” he said. “I really have become someone who has replaced my desire to please or to avoid criticism with God’s desires. … On a personal level, does it hurt my feelings? Does it impact my family? It really, really doesn’t. And that takes time. It takes effort. It takes replacing those thoughts with Scripture, but it has happened to it has gotten to a place where I can chuckle at it sometimes.”
Dallas Jenkins Addresses His Stance on Gay Relationships
After a gay pride flag was seen on the set of The Chosen, it sparked a heated debate online about LGBTQ+ relationships being considered sinful. Dallas said that, while he believes marriage is for a man and woman, he does not discriminate when it comes to the cast and crew of his television show.
“We are a for-profit company,” he said. “We don’t have a litmus test for who is going to work on our show outside of, ‘You’re going to work hard, you’re going to do a great job, and we’re going to do this work together. And whether whatever your motive is, whatever your background is, is not my concern.”
“We have people on our cast and crew who come from multiple backgrounds, and our camera operator is gay and has a three-inch pride flag on his own personal equipment,” Jenkins said. “He is allowed to have his own equipment; he is allowed to express himself within the context of his equipment. And we have a guy in the catering team who wears a MAGA hat, you know. I don’t police any of those things. And our cast and crew know that when they come on, if they have personal issues with someone else’s personal issues, they’re going to have to put those at the door because we’re here to work together, regardless of our politics, regardless of our backgrounds. We’re going to work together on this.”
Dallas then added, “Everyone knows where I stand. I’m an Evangelical Christian, and I believe in a biblical viewpoint of sexuality. But I also don’t require that the cast and crew sign on to my own personal beliefs.”
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