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How to use God is not Dead (The Movie) as a conversation starter

God_is_not_dead_Movie_Poster

I recently saw the movie God is not Dead.

My own reaction to the movie is somewhat mixed to the movie.

But a wise evangelist could suggest this movie to a truly seeking friend and allow it to open further conversational opportunities.

This movie will likely not successfully engage those who’s minds are already made up or hostile to the Christian faith.  Some of the story lines and character arcs may seem too simplistic for people who are not seriously considering the claims of Christ.

The basic plot

A Christian guy (Josh) enrolled in a presumably secular university takes a Philosophy class.

On the first day of class, Professor Radisson wants students to sign a declaration of their belief that God is dead so that he can dispense of such notions without having to prove it.

Josh is unable to sign the declaration and the Professor assign him a task to present is arguments to the class.

The movie follows the presentation of various apologetic arguments and counter arguments.

Some of the class members change their mind and at least one becomes a believer.

Along the way, other story arcs are introduced

  • Why the professor is an atheist.
  • A Muslim employee in the school is a convert Christ.
  • A chaplain, apparently struggling in his own faith, finds renewed faith through an African sidekick.
  • Josh’s decision to defend his faith has a cost.
  • A Chinese student is influenced by Josh’s argument.
  • A secular humanist left-leaning reporter faces a crisis her worldview can’t handle.

Reactions to God is Not Dead in our family.

Our family discussed some of the hard choices forced upon the various people because of their faith.

Each character had a point of view and a hard choice to make because of their belief and worldview.

While the Professor character was an exaggeration, the arguments that he puts forth are real arguments that Christians should have a reasonable answer for. (That is what Apologetics is)

The problem of evil and the why of our existence are two apologetic challenges that have been discussed for centuries, so the philisophical problems are not solved in the film.

Rather, our family discussed the reasoableness of the arguments.

We also discussed how many people have a personally painful reason to reject God.  While not everyone has such a story, it is a common enough basis that we wanted our kids to see it.

Not For Everyone

This is not a movie to bring an intellectual atheist to evaluate or enjoy. The atheist position is a bit of a caricature and will be more of a distraction than a conversational help.

The problem of evil and the existence of God continue to be some of the greatest philosophical challenges. The movie won’t solve it, but it does show us a good way to defend our faith and show that our faith is reasonable.

I have friends whose logic had lead them to different conclusions and they are as angry as the professor.

It’s hard to argue with someone who hates God, but the movie shows Josh sharing a reasonable basis for his faith without being obnoxious.

Ways to use God is Not Dead in your ministry

I’ve seen online reviews that criticize the theology in the movie (and complain about too much leg skin by the Duck Dynasty lady causing lust), but most of the critics complain about the exaggerations and stereotypes in the movie.

Rather than walk down that road, I’d rather suggest ways to use this movie in your ministry.

I imagine a couple of ways this movie could be helpful to the evangelist in personal evangelism:

  • Discussion starter for youth groups
    • Standing up for your faith
    • How to be reasonable and respectful in debate
    • Faith may require sacrificial choices
    • How evangelistic moments are not scripted, but happenings in life.
    • Are you prepared to help a person come to faith at a unplanned moment?
    • The role of apologetics on our belief.
  • Discussion starters for seekers
    • Why was the professor an atheist?
    • Have you had doubts about God because of unanswered prayer?
    • What is your answer to the problem of evil?
    • Is it possible to have a conversation about faith without anger?
    • Religion asks “why?”  Science asks “how.”
    • How you’ve had to make your own tough choices because of what you believe.

Other reviews:

Your Turn:

Did you see this movie?

Please share with me your thoughts, reviews, etc. of this movie in the comments below.

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Characteristics of Postmodernism

Postmodern Evangelistic Questions

I’ve recently been teaching on postmodernism to students preparing for cross cultural missions.

Their reactions indicate that postmodernism is still somewhat of a new concept in some portions of the church, particularly for generations older than mine, attractional church cultures, or fundamentalist / separatist (withdraw from the world)  cultures.

Their church is not growing or in decline and people are beginning to want to do something about it, reengaging the culture around them.

Does everyone know what postmodernism is?

When I first started my evangelism studies nearly 20 years ago, the term postmodernism was somewhat new in the academy and it’s implications for the church were still unfolding.  Here 20 years later, in some parts of the world and the Church at large, it is still a new concept.

When I give evangelism seminars in churches, I continue to be asked: What is post modernism?

At a denominational conference I attended last year, one of the most popular workshops was “What is postmodernism?”  It is as if people are just beginning to hear about it and realizing that they need to know what postmodernism is and how it will impact a new cycle of growth in the church.

In the US, lots of books and papers have been written about evangelism and post-modernism.  Most books in the field have one or two chapters devoted to trying to explain postmodernism and what it means for evangelism and church planting.

Magazine articles that make mention to postmodernism now give it just one or two sentences as if the readership knows what they are talking about.

It may be old news to you, but as I share with the students in my classes — it’s a new discovery that is suddenly making sense of the world.

What is post-modernism?

Postmodernism is difficult to define, because to define it would violate the postmodernist’s premise that no definite terms, boundaries, or absolute truths exist.  But I’ll try to describe it anyway.

Postmodernism is a worldview that is centered on the individual, and how the individual interprets reality.

The Enlightenment laid the foundation for Modernity – where people believed

  • truth is universal
  • truth can be discovered
  • humans  are essentially good
  • Human progress will master the universe.
  • Science and reason can explain everything.
  • Truth can be discovered through investigation and reason
  • The universe is a closed system (no God, or God is not involved)

However, with two world wars, and the ongoing injustice in the world, the events of 9/11, generational suspicion of authority, a postmodern worldview

  • Doesn’t believe in ultimate truth
  • A trust of personal feelings and intuition.
  • Has a suspicion to claims of institutional authority
  • Doesn’t believe in a universal story to explain everything
  • Locates authority in the experiences and feelings of the individual

Truth and Authority is in the self, in what a person experiences and feels about that experience.  Personal preference and relativism has replaced human reasoning.

Morality is ultimately shaped by what the individual thinks or feels is right.

For example, Walt Mueller tells this story:

[In 2008] a young 20-something named Katy Perry sat atop the music charts thanks to kissing another girl and liking it. This pastor’s daughter/former CCM singer turned mainstream pop star told her impressionable young listeners that she was conflicted about the experience, based not on any sort of enduring moral standards, but on her feelings: “If felt so wrong, it felt so right.” In the end, feeling “right” yielded to “like,” which turned into alright, and Perry’s message came through loud and clear. The old ’60s counter-culture motto—“If it feels good, do it!”—is now embraced and embodied as a mainstream cultural mantra.

Source: The Center for Parent/Youth Understanding

A few characteristics of postmodernism.

Some writers have tried to capture it this way:

Prior to the Enlightenment, people said “I belong, therefore I am”

Under the influence of the Enlightenment, people said “I think therefore I am.”

Postmodern people now seem to be saying: “I feel, therefore I am.” . . .  or “I am, so what?”

Celtic Way of Evangelism – p. 97

Ravi Zaccarias is quoted saying:

This is a generation that hears with it’s eyes and thinks with its feelings.

Reel Spirituality: Theology and Film in Dialogue

This of course is not exhaustive, but shows a few ways to describe postmodernism.

Image credit: Bowie15 /123RF Stock Photo

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Contextualizing the Gospel Crossculturally

06 June 09 050 Being cross cultural missionaries, I run into a clash of worldviews.

Likewise, teaching in a missions institute on worldviews, I seek to offer explanations and suggest strategies to contextualize the gospel.

We may not see it a lot in the US, but a common worldview I encounter when I minister in Latin America is animism.

Perhaps you encounter it in your conversations with those outside of the church.

We see it in the US when one looks into some of the pagan or new age religions.  Samples from reality TV shows, reports on summer solstice celebrations, and personal contact that I have with practitioners of these religions show me that an animistic worldview is at the root of how they interpret their world.

What is Animism?

Animism is a worldview or system of belief where every thing: people, animals, plants, rocks, natural forces like thunder and lightening, mountains, rivers, have a soul or spirit (Wikipedia).

Inanimate objects or natural forces are treated as if they have a soul, or are animate.  Humans are a part of nature rather than superior to it or even separate from it.  According to Wikipedia, rituals are for survival to win the favor of the spirit or ward off malevolent spirits.

According to Darrow Miller in Discipling the Nations: The Power of Truth to Transform Cultures, animism’s solution to poverty and hunger lies outside the spiritual world.

Natural disasters are manifestations of irrational divine or soulish forces in the universe.

Bad things happen because the gods are angry.

Thus rituals of appeasement keep the peace.  Mankind must live in harmony with the gods.  Other than that, nothing can be one (p. 61).

It’s not my place here to write an academic paper, but to raise a question.

The challenging task of contextualization

Part of the missionary’s task then is to contrast that worldview with a biblically theistic one and help provide an alternative explanation to the world.

What would you do?

Here is the setting (and a real life one from my experience):

You are the missionary speaking with an indigenous woman who has an animistic worldview.

She is afraid of the river alligator.  You’ve learned that her fear is based in the god of the alligator who might steal her child in the night.

To keep her child safe, she offer sacrifices of some kind to the alligator in the river.

What would you do?

How would you contextualize the gospel?

Does starting with “You are a sinner in need of a savior” make sense?

Or does one take the time to help such a person learn from Scripture?

Does one use the academic language of worldview, or simply show how the Bible interprets the world differently?

What would you do?  Share your thoughts in the field below

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They Like Jesus But Not The Church – A Review

likejesusnotchurch.jpgI recently picked up and reread my copy of They like Jesus, but not the Church by Dan Kimball, in reaction to a post I read this week at the Christian Manifesto.

Kimball gears his book at those who want to get out of the Christian subculture and actually engage people in spiritual conversation.

Most of Part I is how he came to that discovery in his own life as a pastor and church planter.

I found myself nodding in agreement way too many times, guilty as charged.

Most of us, including many of you who read this blog, would probably agree that

we are too busy inside the church to know those outside the church.

To me, this was one of the seminal books in my missional thinking. Many others have followed in its path, such as

I’m sure there are other books, but these three immediately come to mind in terms of reengaging the culture.

Part 1 of They Like Jesus

Part 1 of Dan Kimball’s book describes how the culture is changing, particularly in North America.

These are not statistical observations, but observation based on his real life conversations and interactions with the culture.

What he states may seem obvious now, as many others have followed in Kimball’s footsteps.  I need not spend a lot of time here.

He’s quite brutally honest about how the church has failed to stay connected with the culture.  The message may not have failed, but we are failing in our method.

Part 2 of They Like Jesus

Part 2 asks the question: What Emerging Generations Think about the Church.

This 6 chapter section reflects hundreds of personal conversations that Kimball has had, and many of the same things that Barna’s statistical research revealed in unChristian.

Anyone who is seeking to engage the current culture shapers should be aware of these items.  This part provides an excellent window into North American Culture.

A list of non-Christian perceptions of the church addressed in this book are as follows (taken directly from the table of contents):

  • The church is an organized religion with a political agenda
  • The church is judgmental and negative
  • The church is dominated by males and oppresses females
  • The church is homophobic
  • The church arrogantly claims all other religions are wrong
  • The church is full of fundamentalists who take the whole Bible literally

Part 3 of They Like Jesus

Part 3 is on how the church can respond.

His book has excellent ideas about conversation, dialogue, and theological discussions about conversational evangelism.

I like what he has done with the Bridge Illustration, by adding a 2nd chasm to cross – that second chasm is the Christian subculture that has so alienated seekers, that one needs to build bridges of connection there as part of the gospel explanation process.

Bridging that gap by being in the world but not of it, spending time in conversation with non-Christians are all part of that trust building process.

Main takeaways:

  1. “We must see ourselves as missionaries vs. having an evangelism department or program.”
  2. “We must become listeners of people and watchers of culture.”

Let me ask you this?

What can you do this week to have a spiritual conversation with someone outside of your church?

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Where is Christ in Christmas

At my kids Christmas school musical this year, the emcee said “No matter what holiday you celebrate this time of year, it’s all about giving back.”

Our kids school is multi-cultural, made of immigrants from more than 30 countries and likely just as many different religions.

[Read more…] about Where is Christ in Christmas

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Is Neighborhood Outreach Evangelism?

In the course of my consulting and speaking at evangelism training workshops, I’ve encountered many churches that have very active outreach and community service programs:

  • After school tutoring
  • Shut in or Prisoner Visitation
  • Habitat for Humanity work projects
  • Medical outreaches for the community
  • Participating in Crop Walks for Hunger Relief
  • Food pantries, clinics, shelters for the homeless
[Read more…] about Is Neighborhood Outreach Evangelism?
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