God's Not Dead

I went to see the movie God's Not Dead this past weekend, and helped to propel it to fourth place at the weekend box office, earning $9.2 million total in only 780 theaters. This total ranks seventh in all time openings for faith-based films, and first for those that opened in less than 1,000 theaters. This record-breaking opening weekend happened because of one very important reason: it is an amazing movie.

The sold-out crowd at the showing I went to was clapping, cheering, laughing and singing throughout the almost two hour running time. One of the reasons is because the main character, Josh, is a stunning example of being willing to stick with doing what God calls you to do even when no one understands. The main story begins with Josh entering his Philosophy 150 class, taught by Professor Radisson. To easily avoid the debate posed by the religion section of the course, Professor Radisson instructs the students to hand in a signed paper with the words "God is dead," but since he is a Christian, Josh refuses to do so. Professor Radisson challenges him to instead provide a well-researched argument to prove that God is not dead, a challenge that Josh nervously accepts. His parents and girlfriend think he's crazy for accepting the challenge. His girlfriend even unsuccessfully attempts to get him to change his mind and give in to what Professor Radisson wants him to do. Since he refuses to listen to her rather than God, she dumps him, but he still is undeterred. He knows he may never change Professor Radisson's mind, but he may reach someone else in the class.

Additionally, the movie shows how annoyances can be used by God to help further his kingdom. Reverend Dave, the pastor of a local church, is being visited by Reverend Jude, a foreign missionary who wants to go see Disneyworld. The problem is, Reverend Dave's car won't start, and every time one is brought from a local rental car place, it won't start either. Their trip is delayed for a few days as a result, but that keeps them at the church where they are able to help others, including helping Josh as he is struggling with his decision and wondering how to proceed. About a week later, Reverend Jude prays that the car will start, and it does because they are no longer needed at the church. Instead, they are needed to help someone on down the road in need of a second chance.

The movie also has some examples of common reasons why people choose to not believe in God. Christianity is a powerful religion spreading around the globe in places where it is illegal, but yet here in America where we have the choice, people are choosing not to believe in the saving grace of Jesus Christ. Here are some of their arguments, and reasons why they don't make sense.

Unanswered Prayers: Professor Radisson tells Josh at one point in the movie, "You'll find that some of the most vocal atheists were once Christians." Unfortunately, this is very true. Someone is a Christian, that person prays for something important, like a new job or saving the life of someone they love, and God "doesn't" answer the prayer. Instead of considering that maybe there's some reason that they are not meant to know, they conclude that God must not exist. The reason this argument makes no sense is clear when considering the following scenarios between parents and their children.

• A teenager asks his parents if he can borrow the car to go to a friend's house. His parents tell him that he can't borrow the car because they need it that night. They are willing to drive him there, or he can wait and go another night.
• A little girl comes home from school and tells her mother that another student told her that the stork does not bring babies. She wants to know the truth about where babies come from. Her mother responds that she will eventually tell her daughter where babies really come from, but not until she is a little older.
• A teenage girl wants her parents to take her to see an R-rated movie. The parents know that the content of that movie is not suitable for their daughter to see, so they tell her no.
• A little boy is playing outside with his friends on a hot summer day when the ice cream truck comes. He runs into the house and asks his mom to give him some money so he can get an ice cream to help him cool off. His mother pulls out her purse and hands him some money.

How many of these children had their question answered? Most would agree that all four did. However, using the logic of the former Christians described earlier, only the mother in the last example did because she was the only one that said yes. God's answer to our prayers may not always be the one we want to hear, but He does always answer them.

Think of the chaos that could ensue if every prayer was answered with a yes. The movie Bruce Almighty has an example of this. In the movie, Bruce thinks he can do a better job than God, so God lets Bruce have his job for a few days. When faced with an e-mail inbox filled with millions of prayer requests, Bruce replies "yes" to all of them. As a result, thousands of people win the lottery, but with so many winning, each person only wins about $7. Riots break out, and Bruce realizes that maybe God's job isn't nearly as simple as he thought it would be.

Consider also the following example. Two young men are dying in a hospital: one from a brain injury received in a brutal car accident, one from a liver disease that can only be cured by a transplant. Both men have family and friends praying for them around the clock. Two days later, the young man injured in the car accident dies, and his organs are donated to others, including the other young man, which saves his life. One group's prayers received a no, but that allowed the other group's prayers to receive a yes. That's why this argument doesn't make sense.

Life's Fine as it is: Though this argument is portrayed in the movie, it isn't one you're likely to find very often. Only the really wealthy have the security to say this because in their minds, they don't need God because they've achieved so much without Him. In the movie, Mark Banks, a high powered attorney, is visiting his mother, who has dementia and is fading fast. He tells her "I'm the meanest person I know and I'm doing great, yet you're the nicest person I know, and you're dying and can't remember anything. Explain that to me." He doesn't expect her to respond, but she does, explaining that maybe Satan wants it that way. "You're in a prison cell," she tells him, "but you're so comfortable you don't want to leave. The door's wide open, but you don't even notice. But a day will come when that cell won't be comfortable anymore. That day you'll want to leave, but won't be able to because the door has slammed shut." Satan wants people to not turn to God, and he will use any means necessary to make sure that they don't, even things that are seen as good. Those people are still missing something in their lives, but Satan keeps them from realizing it until it's too late.

"I'll get right with God when I'm old.": This excuse is mostly used by young adults that just want to have fun. They see believing in God as a hindrance to living their life to the fullest and doing whatever they want to. "I have plenty of time," they think, "I can have fun now, and then get right with God when I'm old." The problem with this argument lies in the definition of the word "old." When a person is considered "old" is not based on a certain number, but is based on the culture where someone lives. In America, people are considered elderly at about 65 or 70, but in some third world countries, elderly people can be as young as 35 or 40. When we are "old" depends on when we are expected to die. The greater the life expectancy, the longer it is before we are considered "old." My family expected my Grandma Rohmeyer to live to be at least 100, so we still didn't consider her old when she died at 87. Therefore, these young adults could be waiting for an old age that never comes. Someone who dies at 30 was technically old at 28 because they were only two years away from their death. So it's foolish to wait when they can accept God right now. 

Hypocrites: I read a quote recently that said. "Not going to church because of all the hypocrites is like not going to the gym because of all the out-of-shape people." That's basically what hypocrites are: Christians that are spiritually out of shape. In my post "Christianity: We're Doing it Wrong," I go into this in more detail, and encourage fellow Christians to watch their actions because of how those actions can affect nonbelievers' perceptions of Christians. However, we are not perfect, but we serve a perfect God who loves us perfectly. For this reason, it makes no sense for those who don't know God to refuse to believe in Him because of our imperfections.

Family: I saved this argument for last because it's a hard one. On the surface, it seems easy. People not believing because their families don't doesn't make sense because by believing, they become a part of an even bigger family: the family of Christians. They may not want to spend an eternity away from their families, but an eternity in Hell would be so horrible that being with their loved ones would not bring their souls any comfort. Ayisha, a young woman in the movie, is kicked out of her traditional Muslim family because of her conversion to Christianity. She questions her decision because she still wants to be a part of her family, but Reverend Dave helps her to see that her acceptance of Christ has brought her into the family of God, and an eternity in heaven with her new family is better than a life on Earth with her birth family.

What's difficult about this argument is that some Islamic families see conversion to Christianity as a great sin punishable by death. Having someone of a different faith brings shame to the family, and murdering that family member is their way of purging out the family's shame. Fortunately, many in America are like Ayisha's parents and just make them move out, but not all of them are, and those that aren't are willing to take the family member back to their home country where honor killings are still legal. In this case, the people in question have a very legitimate reason to not believe, and without being provided a safe place to go, they likely never will.

Now in discussing these arguments, I'm not challenging my fellow Christians to go out and tell every atheist they meet how stupid they are. I'm simply providing things to think about, and discussion points to use with those that are searching for the truth about Christianity. I believe that even though none of these arguments for atheism make sense, it's not my job to go out and beat every atheist on the head with them. I can only plant the seeds of faith in others' lives, and maybe discuss these points with those willing to listen. Only God can give the growth. I prayed this weekend that the movie would change someone's life, and now I pray that this post will as well.