Christians - Why Can't We All Get Along? Why Must We Criticize?

The past couple of weeks I have seen a few things I'm not proud of.  And, frankly, that have upset me a bit.

Christians belittling other Christians or ministry avenues.

Not cool.

First of all, I was shocked to see a select group of Christians berating the movie God's Not Dead.  Yes, I know it wasn't perfect and there were extreme stereotypes.  And no, maybe taking someone to the movies isn't the best form of evangelism...but maybe it is.  You see, in my opinion, you telling me I shouldn't see the movie because of reasons x, y, and z could keep me from aiding someone else's walk with the Lord.  

Now, I need to clarify,  Movies like the recent Noah, should be brought to the spotlight for what they aren't - a remotely accurate Biblical interpretation.  If movies are seriously taking Scripture out of context, then yes, tell everyone.  Don't encourage it.  But if a movie just has a few tiny things you might not agree with, like extreme stereotypes of atheists, or if you think it might, then let it be.  Please, if you haven't seen a movie like this yourself, keep your opinion to yourself.

I saw God's Not Dead this weekend, and while it still has a tiny bit of that cheesy Christian feel, I loved it.  Christian films have come a looooong way from back in the day!  And I know, for a fact, that it really strengthened the faith of a few that have seen it, including young ones.  And if the movie did that for only one person, it would be worth it wouldn't it??  It would be worth if for that Christian who is riding on the fence to be moved enough to get off the fence.  It would be worth it for that child who has kept their faith to themselves to be able to share it with their friends or family...even if it was a simple text message.

I really don't believe that the movie gives anyone any false perceptions of anything as I was led to believe by a few articles posted, not Muslims, not atheists, not young people trying to defend their faith.  That movie is changing lives.  Whether you want to believe it or not, God is using it!  Because it is Good!  

Who are you to get in the way of that?  To tell people that they shouldn't go see the movie?  How many people that could have been changed for the better were stopped because you convinced someone to not go to the movie?  Sometimes, instead of getting on our soap box (which I know I do myself sometimes...probably on one now actually), we should look at the bigger picture.  Sometimes our soap box can become a road block for others.  

After talking to others that have seen this movie, I just couldn't get past all the things I had "heard" from other Christians about how horrible it was.  And I had to get this off of my chest.

Okay...done with that rant.  Moving onto rant #2.

I stumbled across a Facebook group, on accident, that was specifically for a certain "type" of Christian.  You see, we're categorized sometimes by the things we believe.  And I'm okay with that.  What I'm not okay with, is a discussion (that was obviously public enough for me to see) about why the "other" group of Christians would or could ever believe a certain thing.

Pause for a second here for an interjection.  I have often wondered these same things myself.  And I have asked the very same question. But I have done so privately and without condemning the other side.

That was not the case this time around.  The conversation was public on Facebook.  And it was not civil.  The "other" side was made to sound uneducated and naive.  It was like they were poking fun instead of trying to honestly learn (which was probably the original intent of the question).  

My heart hurts because of this.  Why can't Christians just get along??  When we fight each other we aren't fixing any thing.  We're just hurting ourselves and giving the world a poor view of who Christ is.  Yeah, you might think your soap box is worth the argument, but in the end...is it helping or hindering?  Is it really worth it.  And, yeah, sometimes those small things can become big issues.  I stand firm when it comes to such things.  But some of those small things are really just small things.  Let...it....go.

Let's all make some effort to get off of our soap boxes and to really love all of the other Christians - no matter what subcategory they might fall into.  Let's keep our theology arguments to private messages.  And let's not get in the way of true a ministry opportunity...even if we might not fully agree with it.