Tuesday, April 8, 2014

God's Not Dead! - The Movie and The Truth!

I've been interested in and waiting for an opportunity to view the new movie God's Not Dead! This past Sunday my wife and I finally had a chance to see it and I am pleased to make the following observations:

The quality was good. Christian movies sometimes have a "low budget" feel to them, and while this didn't have the blockbuster, over-the-top, special effects of a Transformers, Iron Man, Avengers type of movie, it was well done and commendable. In fact, it wasn't a "special effects" kind of movie; importantly its emphasis was on the special nature of the story-line content: the question of the existence of God. In addition, the acting was also at a higher level and included at least two well known actors, Kevin Sorbo of Hercules fame and Dean Cain of Lois and Clark:The New Adventures of Superman. The ancillary supporters' acting was good and did not leave one wishing for better performances.  In particular, the lead character played by Shane Harper did an admirable job and seemed comfortable in his role and compelling with his portrayal of the character's faith convictions.  A "job well done" to David A. R. White (who played the role of the pastor) for his work in the film, as well as other credits.

The plot captured the current cultural dilemma faced by Christians and presented a well-versed apologetic, based on the book by Dr. Rice Broocks titled God's Not Dead. The onscreen debate scratched the surface of the often heated dialogue between believers and non-believers; but it revealed, in part, one of the most significant and inherent flaws in atheism: that it requires a great deal of belief (faith) to hold to an atheistic and evolutionary philosophy of creation. As an aside, the story highlighted that the anger held by Dr. Raddison (Sorbo) toward Christianity was rooted in a personal disappointment in God when his mother wasn't healed from a disease. This kind of hurt and woundedness seems to be a frequent root of the antipathy that atheists hold toward God and thus harbor against Christian beliefs.

For me the most telling facet of the experience was the emotion and involvement of the audience members, who from the very beginning of the movie were engaged and at times vocal in their responses to the dialogue and scenes.  This response typifies, I believe, a greater reality that there is still a strong undercurrent of believers who not only support a film such as this, but who hold deeply to Christian faith and convictions.  While culture around us continues to change (and it appears to be shifting rapidly away from God and a biblical worldview) there is certainly a wide swath of people who do believe, and who yearn for a robust Christianity. The applause in the theater at the end of the movie is an indication of the groundswell and interest in authentic Christianity!

This is what we hold to be the Truth: God's Not Dead! He is very much alive and at work among us.  It may be that Christianity will continue to lose it's "market share" of cultural influence and among the cultural elite; but that does not change the reality of a vibrant and living faith in the hearts and minds of those who claim the name of Christ.

In short, the movie is warm, inspiring, and sometimes funny. It reveals the christian/culture dilemma quite pointedly, and thus is well worth seeing.