The Christian movie, God’s Not Dead, garnered a decent amount of attention for a lower budget, Christian produced film. Churches throughout the nation rallied around the movie, publicized it, and encouraged people to start sharing the movie with unsaved family and friends. Although it’s far from a Hollywood Blockbuster, the movie is made pretty well and has decent acting, including the talents of Kevin Sorbo. The movie’s plot follows college student (and Christian) Josh Wheaton’s attempt to prove that God’s not dead in front of his philosophy class peers, and his anti-God philosophy professor, Mr. Radisson. The movie is worth a watch, and whatever your particular take on it may be, it’s clear that there are some life lessons that can be learned from it. Here are 5 life lessons to learn from God’s Not Dead.
God’s Not Dead
Well, let’s start with the obvious. The title gives away the entire message of the movie, and it’s a very important one. Within the philosophy world, people will recognize the statement and there are still adherents to the view that God is dead and no longer a concern in this world. In the Christian community, believe it or not, a similar view can be adopted—believing that God is no longer active in this world. God’s Not Dead teaches us all to remember that God is certainly alive and still active within our world today.
Boldness takes courage
Josh Wheaton needed boldness to stand up in front of his class and publicly say that his teacher was wrong. But, it wasn’t just boldness that he had—it was courage. He knew he had to fight for what he believed in, so he did it with all his might.
Commitment is extremely important
The movie clearly portrays how committed Josh Wheaton was in his assignment to prove that God is not dead. He’s constantly pouring over countless numbers of books in order to study and come up with valid arguments to disprove that God is not dead. When his girlfriend tries to sway him away from all the studying, Josh stays strong and committed to what he agreed to do. He didn’t do it halfheartedly and did not waver at all.
Make sure friends are pulling you up, not down
We’re known by the friends we keep; Proverbs teaches us that much! The company we keep can do one of two things: pull us up, or pull us down. And, it’s much easier to be pulled down by someone than it is to be pulled up (if you don’t believe me, stand on a chair and get someone to try and pick you up. Then, when they fail, pull them down.). When Josh Wheaton’s girlfriend continually discouraged him from what he believed God was telling him to do, he made the tough decision to part ways with her. It was certainly difficult for him, but he made a wise choice.
Reaching out to people is a necessity
Josh wasn’t just trying to get a good grade in his class and show up his professor. In fact, he was interested in showing his peers the truths of the Bible. When asked questions outside of class, he answered them and took the time to talk to his peers. By the end of the movie, one of his classmates even accepted the Lord and Josh immediately included him as a friend and brother, than took him to a Christian concert. Ultimately, Josh had the heart of an evangelist and an apologist, which all of us should have today.
Conclusion
In the last handful of years, Christian movies have definitely been getting better. True, they may not be up to par yet with the kind of stuff Hollywood is producing, but they are finally giving a voice to Christians in the area of filmmaking. God’s Not Dead proves that there is much value and utility to creating a positive, gospel driven movie. It can impact lives, and not just the characters within the film. The movie has many great life lessons that can and should be adopted by people, especially Christians, in their everyday lives. But, I’d love to hear what you have to say about the movie! What life lessons did you see within the film, if any? Please feel free to let me know your thoughts by providing a comment below! There is sure to be many of you who found other great life lessons in God’s Not Dead!
