Jerry Jenkins Reveals the Advice He Gave Son Dallas Jenkins as ‘The Chosen’ Took Off
Bestselling author Jerry Jenkins offered advice to his son Dallas when The Chosen became a global hit -- wisdom drawn from his own experience 30 years earlier. In 1995, Jenkins and the late Tim LaHaye released the first book in the Left Behind series, which became a sensation in the Christian world and a No. 1 bestseller. The elder Jenkins' name -- much like his son's today -- was known by millions.
"We're kind of astounded by the fact that lightning, in a sense, has stricken the same family twice in a generation," Jerry Jenkins told Crosswalk Headlines.
Fans of The Chosen know the elder Jenkins as the author of The Chosen novels, including the latest, The Chosen: Not My Will, which is based on Season 5.
But Christians of an earlier generation still know him as one of the names behind the Left Behind books.
"It's sold around 64 million in total, [and] it's still selling around 10,000 units a month," he said. "And I think one of the unique parts of this is that that phenomenon hit when I was in my mid-40s, and The Chosen hit when Dallas was in his mid-40s. And so I was able to counsel him and say, you know, you ride the success of this, but you don't emphasize that. That's not the point, as you know. And he knows that."
Jenkins remembers struggling with humility, albeit briefly, after the first three books sold a total of 1 million copies.
"The next day, the vice president of editorial from Tyndale called me and said, 'Have you seen the sales on Amazon for book four?' And I said, 'Well, book four doesn't release for two weeks, right?' He goes, 'Yeah, but you need to check it.' And I checked Amazon, and it's number one on Amazon two weeks before its release.
"... It just slayed me. And I thought: Wow, I will never again take any credit for this. This is clearly a God thing, and I'm just going to hang on, and I'm going to stick to the knitting and do what I'm called to do, and not try to pretend like I had much to do with this."
Dallas Jenkins often shares how he came up with the idea for The Chosen when a previous project, The Resurrection of Gavin Stone, bombed at the box office.
"He was humbled and really got his mind changed about what it's all about by that failure of Gavin Stone," Jerry Jenkins said. "And [he] realized that you just sort of hang on for dear life and honor the Lord.
"We're not sure how [success] happened to the same family twice in a generation, but we really feel blessed and humbled by it."
Jenkins credits much of the success of The Chosen to its authenticity.
"It feels real," he said.
The novels are an expansion of The Chosen universe.
"What Dallas and his co-writers wanted from me was added value. So they said: Feel free to invent more characters, more dialogue, more inner monologue. And so I've had great fun researching these. …And of course, when [readers] do come to something in the novel that's been on the screen, I want it to be exact."
The novels stay true to Scripture while carefully exercising creative license, he said.
"Anytime we cover anything that's in Scripture, it's exactly the way you see it in Scripture. We're simply asking for the literary license to say: What if there were fictitious characters in advance? [What] if we put them in the way of this event? How might this have happened?"
Jenkins said he is aiming for "plausible authenticity."
"We simply take the Scripture … and say, 'Is it plausible this could have led up to that event?' And it makes it engaging for people -- brings it to life. And we're hearing great things from people saying, 'These disciples look like real people. They don't look like stained-glass window figures.'"
Photo Credit: ©Broadstreet
Michael Foust has covered the intersection of faith and news for 20 years. His stories have appeared in Baptist Press, Christianity Today, The Christian Post, the Leaf-Chronicle, the Toronto Star and the Knoxville News-Sentinel.
Listen to Michael's Podcast! He is the host of Crosswalk Talk, a podcast where he talks with Christian movie stars, musicians, directors, and more. Hear how famous Christian figures keep their faith a priority in Hollywood and discover the best Christian movies, books, television, and other entertainment. You can find Crosswalk Talk on LifeAudio.com, or subscribe on Apple or Spotify so you never miss an interview that will be sure to encourage your faith.
Originally published July 01, 2025.
