My wife and I were watching the movie again. I love the picture of a young man standing strong in the face of great opposition, defending God, believing no matter what.
I don’t find myself liking the movie very much.
Yep, I’m still a Christian.
The scene that kills it for me is the final argument between the mean, atheistic professor and the noble protagonist. He asks the villain, “why do you hate God?” And when he finally gets his answer, he finishes off his foe with one fell swoop.
We see him as standing against an intellectual Goliath. I see him as winning an argument against a twelve year old boy who lost his mother to cancer. And, I think Jesus would have handled it differently.
I also am bothered by the fact that the end is summed up by our hero receiving the praise he is due, being lauded from the stage by both a big name band and a video from Willie Robertson. Now my appreciation of the Robertsons and the News Boys should not be diminished by the fact that this is simply not how it normally happens.
When we stand for Jesus, we stand alone. The movie producers caught that part. What they didn’t catch is that we fail our classes too. We are mocked and shamed and no one stands with us in the end. We die in the arena. We are beaten, burned, broken.
It is the blood of Jesus that flows through our veins and pours out on the ground that stands as our witness to a dying world. It is our life given up that gives life to those around us.
And we shouldn’t expect anything else.
Please don’t miss the blessing of what God would do because you’re waiting for man to tell you, “well done.”
God’s not dead. But we are crucified.
The Healing Worshipper 
It’s the exact same way for me, it’s just the polar opposite.
Help me understand what you mean. Same but polar opposite, hmmmm. I’m intrigued!
Well, whether it is the Christian or the atheist being persecuted depends on the cultural environment. Every demographic or psychographic has at some point been the minority or has been persecuted. For me, as an atheist, I live in a very Christian-populated area and I attend a Christian college, and over 90% of the people I come into contact with every day are Christian. I am far outnumbered, and I keep my atheism to myself (as I’m in the closet) because if I were to stand against Jesus, I would stand alone. I am sure that scenarios similar to that in the movie do happen and that there are a lot of times when Christians are outnumbered and in a David and Goliath scenario, but it goes the other way around too.
Appreciate your honesty and thank you for responding.
I don’t like bullying or ganging up on someone no matter what fence we find ourselves on opposite sides of. Plus, it doesn’t work. Forced submission only leads to greater rebellion (though I did make my kids go to church).
But then I’m lead to a greater question. Organized religion is not the answer, Christians are not the answer. And I would submit to you that atheism is not the answer either. I believe with all my heart that Jesus is. I certainly have demonstrated inconsistencies to my children, hypocrisy, addiction, anger, doubt. My parents were the same with me, flawed, human. But Jesus, he is unique in all the world.
As a scientist I had to ask myself, life, the world some pretty pointed philosophical and practical questions and found nothing that compared to Him. That’s why I believe in Him and why I failingly attempt to live my life for Him.
I really did appreciate you coming “out of the closet” for a second to talk with me.
O my Matt! This is Dad on Mom’s computer! You have aged as a believer to an amazing point and I am so blessed by it. Yes, we LOVE happy endings and for the good guys to win. And we do NOT particularly like the Jesus concept of that where it is done by our death, as you so aptly put it. That never gets easier to deal with, does it? Aging makes you understand it better, but it does not make it easier to DO! ONLY Jesus! Only Jesus! God, YOU build Your church, which cannot be prevailed against by the very gates of hell. If anybody else tries to do Your building work, the whole thing falls down on us! Take me, Lord! Do what I do not want You to do most of the time and make me a Godly man. Let me walk in the shadow of Your holiness. Else I can never be what You created me to be! ONLY by Your Grace! Teach me love and true surrender, I pray!