A friend recently loaned us the movie Facing the Giants, which we watched last weekend. We both expected a family-friendly Hollywood-made film about football.What we found was a Christian movie produced by a church. If I had know this at the beginning, I doubt I would have watched it at all. I've seen one too many saccharine-sweet, poorly acted, poorly produced Christian movies and typically choose not to view them.
That being said, this movie was pleasantly surprising. While it was not up to Hollywood production or acting standards, it was much better than I expected. It told the story well, didn't sugar-coat the main characters' lives, and challenged viewers to look up from their life's circumstances to find the bigger picture.
I took issue with two elements of the movie. First, at one point, a friend approaches the main character, who is overwhelmed and deeply discouraged about the sudden flood of insurmountable obstacles in his life. In a conversation about God's promises, the main character explains that he has been bringing his problems to God. The friend tells this story:
"Two farmers facing drought prayed to God for rain. One prayed and then went about his day. The other prayed and then went out and prepared his fields for rain. Which one believed God would answer?"
The obvious answer is the one who prepared his fields for rain.
My problem with this is that the story assumes that God always works by giving us exactly what we ask for. Maybe what those farmers needed was not rain to water their fields but a push out of their comfort zone to a new area desperately in need of godly farmers! Maybe they needed to leave farming altogether and do something else. God is God and He knows what He is doing, whether we understand it or not. And just like a parent whose child asks for a snack when the parent is preparing their favorite meal for dinner, God knows when "no" is the best answer to a given request.
My other issue with the movie was the ending. I knew how it was going to end as soon as the story revealed all the major challenges for its characters. They wrapped it all up in a nice neat package and put a bow on top. That isn't real life for anyone, and it certainly isn't real life for God's people either... not in this life.
The Bible doesn't promise an easy life or a happy ending for us here on earth. It promises that we will suffer in this life. It promises that God will wipe away every tear in the next life if we are faithful to Him and glorify Him despite and through everything He allows us to experience here.
I would have liked to see the movie leave the character continuing to praise God and trust Him even though many of his problems remained unresolved. To me, seeing faithful Christians enduring sorrow, pain, and persecution with unshakable confidence and joy in their God is so much more encouraging and inspiring. It challenges me to rise above my own difficult circumstances, yank my gaze from my life to my God, and continue to praise Him no matter how little sleep I've gotten, how sick the kids are, how drastically my plans are changed by unexpected news, or what just broke.
For some thought-provoking reading on movies, Christians, and Christian movies, consider the ongoing series "Godless Hollywood?" by Tom Neven on Boundless Line. (Part 2 is here, and Part 3 is here.)
