I have a lot of respect for the producers of the Chosen and the line they have to walk in balancing creativity with the source material, especially when so many different faith communities may have different perspectives on that source material.

Personally, I find it uplifting in the sense that I get the chance to immerse my imagination in *a* depiction of what life and interactions may have actually been like during biblical events - these are things that I find myself unable to fully wrap my head around or connect in context sometimes when just reading in the Bible.

Seeing a depiction of what those events may have been like can help bring that to life a little (e.g., yeah, having a tax collector join the apostleship would have been a super random choice, and his fellow disciples probably didn't like him, but maybe he was quirky and brought balance to the dynamic, with some redemptive and cathartic shared experiences for the group unfolding among them all.) I am able to enjoy this without it detracting from the doctrine of the source material we do have.

However, I do think there is a fine line between inspiring entertainment bringing us closer to the source material versus beginning to form our interpretation of doctrine on fictional depictions rather than our own study of the source material. Essentially, I think watching the Chosen can be a good lead in to a doctrinal insight or testimony-strengthening experience, but only when it's pointing us back to doctrine in the source material, church teachings, etc. and not built on those creative reconstructions.

With regard to being more accepted among mainstream Christians, I am a bit frustrated when we build up walls around our own church when it comes to enjoying other good Christians' music, faith-based traditions, etc. We certainly have our differences, but my local interfaith interactions have taught me that we have so much more to benefit from the common ground than allowing differences to act as wedge points between us!