God is Not Dead

References:
- “God's Not Dead” on imdb
- “God's Not Dead” official site
- Matthew 16:24-28 NAS
- John 3:22-35 NAS

This evening I watched a movie with my roommate called “God's Not Dead.” I have seen a number of Christian/Faith based movies over the years. Some I have enjoyed, but quite a few I have not. I enjoy a movie that has a good, though out plot, good acting, and has meaning. A pet peeve of mine is a movie that is shallow or is just cliché-ish. There are several Christian movies that I have seen over the years that are very good, “Faith Like Potatoes” (which used to be on Netflix) and “Rumors of Wars” (currently on Netflix) are two that I have enjoyed. “The Prince of Egypt,” “The Passion of the Christ” and several of the Veggie Tales are other movies that I have enjoyed.

Unfortunately, I have also seen quite a few faith based movies that I quickly lost interest in. Either because they seemed to be shallow or unrealistic. It has been very frustrating to me trying to find a good, wholesome faith-based movie. I have been walking with Christ since January of 1994 and have faced many, many difficulties. I have experienced many things that have challenged my faith and forced me to grow as a person and as a Christian. Although I have not understood all that I have endured, I have trusted God to guide me through them. Not just that, but I trust God to use my experiences for His glory.

The standard plot of any movie is that a person faces a problem and how he or she overcomes this difficulty. They have a beginning, a middle, and an end. Any good story needs to have this. For a faith-based film, the central theme is how God helps a person get from point A to point B. A well made faith-based movie can show just that if the plot is developed well. However, at least to me, many of these films seem very shallow in how they address problems. To some extent every movie is going to have its problems. In reality, you can only do so much within 80 to 200 minutes (one hour 20 minutes to 2 hours and twenty minutes, the typical length of a movie). However, many faith-based movies seem way too cliché-ish and shallow with how they address the issues in the movie.

From my experiences in ministry (both paid and volunteer), I have learned that there are often no easy answers. When someone is going through a difficult time, it is sometimes more important to walk through that difficulty with them instead of trying to 'help them find answers.' There have been times when I have sought to share a burden with someone. Instead of sharing it with me by listening, they have sought to 'answer my questions' outright. That is, to try and solve the problem instead of letting me verbalize what I was feeling and just being there for me. And, unfortunately, I know I have done that to others. We are all guilty of that. Although we knew that trying to answer people who are sharing a burden is a good way to shut them down, why do some people feel it needs to be done in a movie?

From my experiences in ministry, in the Army, and in corrections, I have realized that there are often no 'easy answers.' There are things that I have struggled to understand for many years. One that I continue it wrestle with is why did God call me to get a Master's of Divinity, but then not open the door for full-time ministry? The longest that I have worked a paid ministry position, outside of seminary, is 8 months. That was while I was seeking ordination with the United Methodist Church in Nebraska. I was thoroughly enjoying ministering to others and I could see God using me to touch lives. Because of my personality and military and corrections backgrounds, God used me to connect with several people in the communities that I was serving. These were people that other minister would have a hard time relating to. One was a Vietnam Vet who felt that others just did not understand him. However, we connected during our first conversation and had several very enjoyable conversations after that.

But yet, that door of ministry was closed less than a year after it had initially opened. While job hunting for almost a year, I earnestly prayed that God would only open the door for employment that He wanted me to enter. Eventually God did open the door for employment, once again with the Nebraska Department of Corrections. Although I did not want to return to this kind of work, I choose to be obedient and accepted the position when it was offered. God has opened some very interesting doors to me for ministering to others, both staff and inmates. But, it is not the kind of work that I would have chosen.

As a child, I had known that I was adopted. The only specifics, though, were that I had been born in South Dakota and that my biological mother had been 16 and my biological father had been 21 when I had been born. I had no idea if I had any siblings, if my biological parents were still alive, specifically why they had given me up for adoption, etc. When I turned 18, my adopted Father followed through upon his promise that, when I turned 18, he would help me try and contact my biological parents. This is, assuming that they wanted to be contacted. And it turned out that they did. In the spring of 1991, I started talking with members of my biological family and reconnecting with them. This was a dream come true to me!

In January of 1993, my biological Mother, Cindy (Zeeb) Packard, died because of health problems. I was astounded and heartbroken that this happened. Not even two years after I had first started talking with her, I felt that she had been stolen from me. I wasn't as angry with God about it as some other members of my (biological) family were, but I was still grieved that I would not be able to get to know here more. Because I had grow up a pastor's kid, though I was not walking with God at this time, I have a vague notion that God has a reason for allowing it to happen. My (half-)sister grew up with Cindy, had known her well (not to mention Cindy's mother and sisters) and they were very upset about loosing Cindy before she had turned 36. For me, having known her for less than 2 years….

Although I sometimes feel some sadness for her loss, I focus on the short time that I did have with her. I also rejoice that I am in contact with other members of her family. Considering how bad her health was at the time I had first made contact with her, I now realize that God was showing us both His Grace to have some time together. But, it has taken a number of years to really recognize and accept that.

Too often, people seek to give out 'pet answers' to others when they are dealing with heartache and loss. Sometimes it's to fill that 'awkward silence.' Sometimes they say things that they feel sound good, or assume that the person is looking for answers. And it could be that he or she is looking for answers. However, especially while they are initially experiencing the pain of loss or because of other difficulties, most people are just seeking someone to walk with them. Unless a person specifically asks what someone else things about a situation, it is better to just be there with them. And when they do ask, one has to be very careful with responding. And many times, it needs to be a dialogue over a period of times, honestly wrestling with the issue, than a 'one size fits all quote.' And I know how easy it is to try and offer such a thing.

There are many things that defy understanding. The loss of a young child to cancer, an accident, or because someone purposely took their life is just one of many things. Callously telling a grieving mother that had a stillborn, “Oh, if you had had enough faith and prayed hard enough, this would have not happened,” is gross kind of irresponsibility and it thoroughly disgusts me. I do believe that God always answers prayers, but not always the way we expect. On this side of Heaven, there are few things we will understand. It is our human nature to want to understand and to control. But yet, many times God calls us to walk in faith, in spite of not understanding. It is just gross spiritual arrogance to think such a thing. And, doing so can cause deep emotional and spiritual wounds.

An example comes to my mind that I have experienced. When I first joined the Army, I was married to a young woman. Because of her emotional and mental health issues, I was experiencing great difficulties. For over a year, I had been trying to work with her to face them. Unfortunately though, she refused to do so. On top of that, she and her parents were trying to manipulate me into believing that all of her problems were my fault. After lots of wrestling in prayer and talking with godly people that I trusted, I realized that divorce might be the only good option for me. Please understand, I knew that God does not like divorce and I was not thinking about it haphazardly. At one point, I talked with a Chaplain's Assistant at the base where I was training. I explained the situation (without names) and asked for prayers that God would help me do the right thing. The next thing I knew, the Chaplain Assistant started telling me how much God hates divorce and how I had to be reconciled to my wife. Instead of showing me Christ's love and helping me, he did the exact opposite. I admit, I had a very hard time not saying anything in response and just walking away.

For me, quite a few of the faith-based movies that I have seen come across like the above example. To be able to get all that they want within the 90ish minutes of the movie, and 'to provide good answers' to very hard theological questions, they make the unfortunate mistake of 'providing a pat answer' with plenty of Scripture quotes. This could be done well, if it is wrestled with through out the movie. But, it has to be done intelligently and with the understanding that not everything will be understood. Unfortunately though, this often not the case. Instead, at a 'critical juncture' late in the movie, a pastor or other person pulls out a Bible, quotes a Scripture or two, and then the 'problem is solved.' That is not real life. That is a very good way to turn people off from God's Grace and healing.

The only thing that I think the writers of “God's Not Dead” could have done to make things a little less 'cheesy' was to cut out one or two sub-plots. During the movie, they looked at the lives and struggles of at least 7 different people. In real life on a large college campus, there are literately thousands of people interacting on any given day. Each with their own joys and struggles. However, to make a 90ish minute movie good, I think they should have focused more on 4 or 5 main characters. One relationship I wish they would have explored in more depth was the young Muslim woman, Ayisha (played by Hadeel Sittu). She had been a 'closet Christian' within her Muslim family. Developing more her story, especially with the Missionary from Africa, Rev. Jude (see below), I think would have really helped the movie. That's just my opinion.

There were two things that I thought the writers did well. One was how they portrayed the atheist professor and developed why he was an atheist. They showed how he was very proud of his 'anti-god' ideas, how he almost always had a very good comeback (pat answer), and how they allowed him to be developed throughout the movie. The other thing I really liked was the 'challenges' that the minister and his missionary friend had with taking a trip. Instead of just spouting out 'pat answers' about how 'it has to be God wanting us to do something,' they focused instead of 'let's just trust God.' They then just 'rolled with the punches.' Through out the movie, it became clear that part of the plot was that God wanted to use them to touch the lives of others. Because they allowed themselves to be available, even though they were not where they had planned, God used them to touch several lives. Then, God allowed them to take their trip.

It has been my experience that we rarely appreciate or understand why we are going through something at that particular time. It is almost always later on that we see how God used our experience, or just our availability, to touch the life of another. Sometimes we don't get that glimpse on this side of Heaven. It depends on what God wants us to know. In the movie, one can tell that the missionary from Africa (Rev. Jude, played by Benjamin A. Onyango) had a better understanding of walking with God 'in the moment' and just being available. It wasn't that the pastor, Rev. Dave (played by David A.R. White). But, though he challenged the minister with this, he did not come across as patronizing him. To me at least he didn't. Instead, it was a more mentoring “follow my lead” kind of response to Rev. Dave being frustrated with the whole situation. I really liked how they did that.

All in all, I think that the move, “God's Not Dead” was very good. It didn't just through out 'pet answers' to solve all of the problems. And, to their credit, they did not try to wrap up every problem within the movie. For example, the woman who finds out she has cancer, the last thing the show is several Christian people taking the time to listen to her and then pray for her. There were other things that they allowed to 'just leave you hanging.' That's real life, and I am glad that the movie reflected that. There are suggestions for how to understand things, but I didn't get the sense that 'you can only understand them from this perspective.' I also liked how they played out the philosophical debate. But, I will make you watch the movie to learn more.