Is The Reformed Church for the Beards?

Disclaimer: If you take this post too seriously then you obviously shave every day (or worse yet, you don't have to). Secondly, although this is meant to be satirical, there is a teenie-weenie bit of truth behind it. It's all in good fun, but at the same time, I hope it makes you think.

So, there's a growing trend I've noticed over the past few years or so in Reformed circles that never ceases to amaze me. It's a trend that is growing at an alarming rate, it is rarely cleaned, trimmed only when necessary, and has many men all over the country covering their faces. Reformed theologians around the country are calling it quits when it comes to shaving. It's a growing trend that is becoming synonymous with reformed theology. Nationally, the sale of Gillette razors has plummeted as more and more men sport a long, scraggly, and unkempt beard in Duck Dynasty fashion (shaving cream sales remain steady as bearded men utilize the product for "smack cam" videos that are wildly popular on YouTube).<-----Not making this up: click here.

Nothing is more manly than beards. It separates the men from the boys. It separates the manly men from the sissy, girly men. It was once a rite of passage for a father to teach his son to shave, but not anymore. Now, the rite of passage entails the son's ability to sport facial hair that covers his entire face and the father to acknowledge the density and quality of his hair follicles. Beards are in. Skin is out. The only thing that should be as smooth as a baby's bottom in reformed circles is a baby's bottom.

Obviously, there is a biblical theology of men having beards. It's scriptural. Throughout scripture, almost every time beards are mentioned it is in reference to men. There is that troublesome passage in Leviticus 13:29-30 that states that, "When a man or a woman has a disease on the head or the beard, the priest shall examine the disease." Undoubtedly, it is understood that Israelite women did not have diseases in their beards. They didn't have beards, of course. It is only a matter of silly sentence structure, really. This passage is not at all implying that women could have a beards. That's plainly absurd. Therefore, men touting beards is biblical.

There is a very popular quote circulating around reformed circles by Charles Spurgeon, in which the Prince of Preachers lectures his pupils to grow their beards in order to protect their throats from colds because beard growing is, "A habit most natural, scriptural, manly, and beneficial." This important bit of advice for preachers follows this equally important direction:

If any of you possess delightfully warm woolen comforters, with which there may be associated the most tender remembrances of mother or sister, treasure them — treasure them in the bottom of your trunk, but do not expose them to any vulgar use by wrapping them round your necks.
(Of course, no beard touting preacher would be caught dead with a woolen comforter knitted by mother wrapped around their neck. This was obviously advice given to clean shaved boys in the room.)

Beards are for manly men and clean shaven faces are for courageous soldiers or ninnies (talk about different sides of the spectrum). It is widely accepted that a fight between a bearded man and a clean shaven man will always result with the bearded man as victor:
Chuck Norris vs. Arnold Schwarzenegger
Clint Eastwood vs. John Wayne
Karl Marx vs. Immanuel Kant
Abraham Lincoln vs. George Washington
Fyodor Dostoyevsky vs. Ralph Waldo Emerson
Clark Kent vs. Bruce Wayne

Of course, the theological prowess of bearded men is far superior to that of men with little to no facial hair. It is a fact widely accepted in reformed circles. A pastor with a large, scruffy beard is hands down a better preacher than Joel Osteen, Rob Bell, and Pat Robertson (I know that's not Pat Robertson in the picture...ironically, I wrote this before I saw the picture...two out of three). A man with a big, bushy beard knows his theology better than a man without a beard. The bigger the beard, the wiser and more biblical the man. You can tell the difference between a reformed pastor and an evangelical pastor by just looking at their face. The difference is as stark as night and day. Beard vs. no beard. Crystal clear. No questions asked.

There's not room for a lot of pride in reformed circles, so there's hardly any room left for pride after our beard-growing capabilities. We do not boast about much, but if we are going to boast, it's going to be in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ (Gal. 6:14) and our beards; the gospel and facial hair.

Reformed theology is manly, robust, dense, and healthy just like a good beard. It only makes sense to use beards as the image of good, solid, biblical theology. Nothing says, "I'm reformed," like a good, healthy, dense beard (well, perhaps a refrigerator full of microbrews or a cabinet full of imported coffees).

If you're reformed and you know it, grow a beard. (If you're a woman, don't worry about it.)

But seriously, I hope that's not how the reformed church is perceived. After all, what's up with the beard-lore in reformed circles? At first I found it amusing and satirical, but now it has me kinda worried (just a little, though). I am just as guilty as everyone else about this beard craze (or beard praise). I've had a beard since I started college in 2005. Honestly, I didn't grow one because I was trying to demonstrate my masculinity but I got too lazy to shave. After I got married, my wife forbade me from shaving my face. I did once. That was not a good idea.

One of my pastors has been modeling a huge follicle monstrosity for years, and although many in our congregation found it disturbing at first, it's grown on a lot of us (not to mention on him...literally). Naturally, an informal beard-growing competition took place amongst many of the younger men in our congregation. Taking our pastor's lead, we each tried to see how long our beards would grow. Mine didn't get very long before it started to drive me insane with its incessant itching. Over the years, several young men have joined our church. When they first started coming they didn't have beards. Now, no shave November was almost a year ago, and they still haven't shaved.

There seems to be a daily barrage of beards on my Facebook news feed. Just the other day I saw a pro-beard video and I had to share it with my pastor (don't know why). Beards in reformed circles are like pogs in my elementary school. I don't know why, but you just have to have them and brag about them. If you didn't bring a bag of pogs and at least three genuine, stainless steel slammers to lunch then you were a nobody. I hope the same is not said about beards in reformed circles.

Beard-lore might just be a weird phase that reformed churches are going through. I have noticed that more and more young people are interested in reformed theology because of its theological rhetoric and biblical scholarship. More and more hipsters are flocking to reformed churches not because it's progressive but because it's genuine. Unlike most modern denominations, reformed churches are not catering to young people with flashy, modern, new-age marketing ploys, but rather, they are just sticking to their historical roots as confessional churches. More and more young people appreciate a side of Christianity that takes the Biblical narrative seriously both historically and theologically. They know that the Old Testament is more than a list of names, nations, and laws with a few moral fables intertwined here and there. They know that the New Testament is more than just a bunch of one-liners to be pulled out of context to convey a political agenda. They're happy to find a reformed church that offers them a historical alternative.

The face of reformed theology has changed since I started attending a reformed church. No offense to anyone, but when I first started going to a reformed church I felt like I was in a retirement home. It was full of older, wiser men than my dad who knew their stuff theologically. It was a breath of fresh air compared to the evangelical church we left where more and more people were attending the worship service in their pajamas and fuzzy slippers. Thanks to a growing interest in reformed theology, there seems to be more and more young couples in attendance today. That's a great sign of a growing church. Beards are popular with the younger crowd and hipsters, and as more and more young people join reformed churches, the look and feel of reformed theology will obviously change (on the outside, at least).

There are a lot of images attached to reformed theology that are not a result of purposeful marketing: microbrew aficionados, imported coffee connoisseurs, theological literature fanatics, and large beard growing gurus. To my knowledge, it's not an image that reformed churches sat down, discussed, approved, and tried to market. It just seemed to happen because many reformed believers like beer, coffee, books, and beards.

With that said, there's a danger behind marketing an image or brand. Yes, if people fit your image or if they like your brand then they're more likely to check you out. However, if people feel like they don't fit within your brand's image, then they'll be turned off and go somewhere else. That's not to say that reformed churches are marketing a specific brand or image purposefully, but I can't help but wonder if we're doing it intrinsically. Obviously, we don't want people to check us out because of our hobbies but because of our love for the Lord, our appreciation for His grace, and our preaching of His Word. We might not be able to help it if outsiders view us as bearded, white, middle-class, eggheads that homeschool our children and prefer all-natural foods. Then again, we might.

The beard-lore is all in good fun, and I understand that. However, I think we need to be careful and have bearded fun in moderation (like all things). I don't know that we're alienating others from reformed theology with our beard-lore, but I think it's something to be careful of. As a member of a church plant, I can't help but wonder if our intrinsic image drives people away. I know that you don't have to be a bearded, white, middle-class scholar that feeds your homeschooled children all-natural foods in order to come worship with us. I just want to make sure you know that. We reformed Christians sure can make a big fuss about our beards, but were not fanatics like the Amish. It's all meant for sport, nothing more.

All I'm saying is that we need to make sure what is meant in good fun is understood as only good fun, and nothing more.

As the saying goes: It's all fun and games until someone shaves their beard, then it gets serious.
 

A sympathetic comforter in the midst of tragedy

And the LORD restored the fortunes of Job, when he had prayed for his friends. And the LORD gave Job twice as much as he had before. Then came to him all his brothers and sisters and all who had known him before, and ate bread with him in his house. And they showed him sympathy and comforted him for all the evil that the LORD had brought upon him. And each of them gave him a piece of money and a ring of gold. (Job 42:10-11)

A man of many companions may come to ruin, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.
(Proverbs 18:24)

When I think of Job, I cannot help but think about poor counseling and luke-warm friendship. Job's story is a tragic one. Here we have a righteous man, upright and blameless, who God has prospered out of His own good pleasure. Job is a man who fears God, and who loves God's Law. Job continuously offers burnt offerings on behalf of his children, wanting to consecrate them just in case they cursed God in their hearts (Job 1:5).

Satan enters the Heavenly court, and tells God that if He were to take away all that Job had on earth, then Job would no longer fear God, but that he would curse God to His face (Job 1:11). God then relinquishes authority over Job's life to Satan, allowing Satan to do as he pleases as long as he does not harm Job. Satan goes to town, as it were, and completely decimates Job's life. Satan takes everything from Job, so that he has nothing left but the shirt on his back and his wife at his side. Job's response? "The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord" (Job 1:21). Job did not curse God. He worships God and magnifies His name instead.

Satan once again enters the heavenly court. God asks Satan once again to consider Job and his uprightness, and Satan replies, "Yeah, yeah, yeah. The loss of his property, his prosperity, and his posterity didn't phase him, but if you take his health away, he'll quickly crumble and shake his fist at you in derision." God, again, hands authority of Job's life to Satan to do with as he pleases, as long as he does not kill Job. Satan fills Job's body with diseases. Job's wife tells him to curse God and end the pain, but Job responds, "Shall we receive good from God, and shall we not receive evil?" (Job 2:10). Then the author of Job tells us that throughout this trial, Job did not sin with his lips. But, did Job sin within his heart? Perhaps Job cursed God in his heart, as he feared his children might have, but he, nevertheless, never let the wickedness escape his lips.

Most of Jobs friends ditch him and leave him to suffer alone. Three friends came along to comfort him and show him sympathy. Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar. A most sympathetic and comforting bunch. Here is a short snippet of their comforting counsel for Job:

"Remember: who that was innocent ever perished? Or where were the upright cut off? As I have seen, those who plow iniquity and sow trouble reap the same. By the breath of God they perish, and by the blast of his anger they are consumed." (Job 4:7-9)

"He (the wicked) has no posterity or progeny among his people, and no survivor where he used to live. They of the west are appalled at his day, and horror seizes them of the east. Surely such are the dwellings of the unrighteous, such is the place of him who knows not God." (Job 18:19-21)

"Utter darkness is laid up for his treasures; a fire not fanned will devour him; what is left in his tent will be consumed. The heavens will reveal his iniquity, and the earth will rise up against him. The possessions of his house will be carried away, dragged off in the day of God's wrath. This is the wicked man's portion from God, the heritage decreed for him by God." (Job 20:26-29)

What comforting friends Job had. Dude, what did you do to make God hate you? You must have done something, because God doesn't just smite people for no reason. Job, however, continued to argue that he was righteous, and that such destruction in his life did not make sense. The message was clear on both sides: God prospers the righteous and destroys the wicked. Good things happen to good people, right?

It is the same for all, since the same event happens to the righteous and the wicked, to the good and the evil, to the clean and the unclean, to him who sacrifices and him who does not sacrifice. As the good one is, so is the sinner, and he who swears is as he who shuns an oath. This is an evil in all that is done under the sun, that the same event happens to all. (Ecclesiastes 9:2-3)

Terrible things happen throughout our lives. A righteous man, resting in the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross, does not live a lavish life marked with prosperity. A wicked man, who curses God with his heart and with his lips, does not live an impoverished life marked with hardships. A tornado does not sweep away the wicked and leave the righteous unscathed. A destructive wildfire does not distinguish between the houses of a Christian and a non-Christian as if it were the Passover. War does not spare the adopted sons of God and only claim the lives of the sons of Satan. There is evil in this world, there is destruction in this world, there is suffering in this world, there is death throughout this world, and it falls upon the righteous just as hard as it falls upon the wicked. When disaster, destruction, and suffering strike, the same event happens to all. Job and his three counselors did not understand this.

Job does not understand what he did wrong or what he did to deserve this treatment from God. He cries out:
"If I sin, what do I do to you, you watcher of mankind? Why have you made me your mark? Why have I become a burden to you? Why do you not pardon my transgression and take away my iniquity? For now I shall lie in the earth; you will seek me, but I shall not be." (Job 7:20-21)

In the face of calamity and great suffering in our lives, as Christians, our default setting is to think like Job. We forget that God is gracious and merciful. We look to our works rather than remembering that God has always and only loved us by grace. Our warped and sinful perceptions of God begin to resemble idol worship of ancient Egyptian and Greek gods, as we think that rain dances will bring rain and a lack of rain dances will bring famine. When the famine strikes, we look at our rain dances and wonder what we did wrong. We forget that famine causes the righteous to hunger along with the wicked. Disaster is not necessarily punishment, but rather, a result of the Fall that hurts all men alike. Job believed his prosperity was a result of his faithfulness and that his destruction had to be a result of wickedness in his life. He searched for the great sin he committed to deserve such suffering from the hand of God, but blindly, he could not see that one sin in his life required suffering.

However, it took an eaves-dropping young man to come along and set Job and his friends straight:

"Man is also rebuked with pain on his bed and with continual strife in his bones, so that his life loathes bread, and his appetite the choicest food. His flesh is so wasted away that it cannot be seen, and his bones that were not seen stick out. His soul draws near the pit, and his life to those who bring death.

"If there be for him an angel, a mediator, one of the thousand, to declare to man what is right for him, and he is merciful to him, and says, 'Deliver him from going down into the pit; I have found a ransom; let his flesh become fresh with youth; let him return to the days of his youthful vigor'; then man prays to God, and he accepts him; he sees his face with a shout of joy, and he restores to man his righteousness. He sings before men and says: 'I sinned and perverted what was right, and it was not repaid to me. He has redeemed my soul from going down into the pit, and my life shall look upon the light.'

"Behold, God does all these things, twice, three times, with a man, to bring back his soul from the pit, that he may be lighted with the light of life." (Job 33:19-30)

Suffering, pain, loss...it is the human condition. Elihu's response to Job and his friends is clear and articulate. All men know pain, hunger, disease, and death, the wicked and righteous alike. All men know the sting of death, and only a mediator can remove that sting. Matthew Henry writes:

He (God) deals with them by conscience, by providences, by ministers, by mercies, by afflictions. He makes them sick, and makes them well again. All these are his operations; he has set the one over the other (Ecc. 7:14), but his hand is in all; it is he that performs all the things for us. All providences are to be looked upon as God's workings with man, his strivings with him. He uses a variety of methods to do men good; if one affliction do not do the work, he will try another; if neither do, he will try a mercy; and he will send a messenger to interpret both. He often works such things as these twice, thrice; so it is in the original, referring to Job 33:14. He speaks once, yea, twice; if that prevail not, he works twice, yea, thrice.

If there be for man a mediator to declare to man what is right, a mediator that is merciful to man, and pleads with God, "Deliver him from going down into the pit; I have found a ransom; let his flesh become fresh with youth; let him return to the days of his youthful vigor," then let us accept him, and sing, "I sinned and perverted what was right, and it was not repaid to me. A mediator has redeemed and ransomed my soul from going down into the pit, and my eyes shall look upon the light!" Elihu points the suffering soul to Him who ransomed our souls from the grave and eternal judgment, and not only became the propitiation for our sins, but gives us exactly what our sins do not deserve: to look upon the light...standing before the presence of our Holy God in pure, undefiled robes as white as snow.

As Christians, when suffering becomes a part of our lives, we can often find it confusing and it causes us to doubt our salvation and God's love for us. We scan through our lives, searching for a specific sin that has caused God to forsake us. Our works righteousness trigger gets switched on, and we begin to wonder if we're not praying enough, if we're not reading God's Word enough, or if we are not listening to the sermon on Sunday morning's close enough. Obviously, when we suffer, we must have done something to deserve it. Certainly, evil cannot cause the righteous to suffer along with the wicked.

But then there is this merciful mediator that Elihu points Job to. There is this mediator that declares to man what is right and provides a ransom for those suffering, delivering them from the sting of death. Is this mediator an angel; a perfectly righteous creature that has committed no transgression from the Law? No, He is infinitely higher than the angels, but for a time became a little lower than the angels. What ransom can this mediator possibly provide that will ransom sinners from the sting of death and deliver them to eternal youthful vigor? What sacrifice can take away the sins of the world?

And they made his grave with the wicked and with a rich man in his death, although he had done no violence, and there was no deceit in his mouth. Yet it was the will of the LORD to crush him; he has put him to grief; when his soul makes an offering for guilt, he shall see his offspring; he shall prolong his days; the will of the LORD shall prosper in his hand. Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see and be satisfied; by his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant, make many to be accounted righteous, and he shall bear their iniquities. Therefore I will divide him a portion with the many, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong, because he poured out his soul to death and was numbered with the transgressors; yet he bore the sin of many, and makes intercession for the transgressors.
(Isaiah 53:9-12)

For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. (2 Corinthians 5:21)

Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God, is this mediator that knows not sin but, bearing our sins, provides his own righteousness as a ransom for our transgressions to that we might become the righteousness of God.

As Christians, when we suffer, does it strengthen our gaze upon Christ Jesus our Lord, or does it diminish our hope in His sacrifice? We tend to think, Certainly, God would not let such evil happen to the ones he loves. Do we curse God with our lips? Do we curse God in our hearts? Do we cry out, "Injustice! Injustice has been done to me!" Do we doubt God's care for us? Do we doubt our adoption as sons and daughters of the living God? How could God our Father allow us, His children, to suffer along with the wicked?

When we suffer hardships and grief in this life, let us look to Jesus. When we lose comfort and hope in this life, let us gaze upon the cross. When destruction and evil bears down upon us, and we suffer along with the wicked, let us know Christ and Him crucified. The righteous one suffered along with the wicked so that he could provide a ransom to save sinners from the sting of death. Throughout the whole of history, there has only been one man and one man alone that has suffered great evil when his righteousness truly did not deserve it. It's not you or me. It is Jesus, our Lord and Savior. Our divine mediator. Our suffering should remind us of the Gospel, and what a precious price was paid to ransom us from death. When we cry Injustice!, let us be reminded that our righteousness is a gift from Him who suffered infinitely more than we ever will so that we might eternally know peace and comfort forevermore.

Job had many friends. When affliction and suffering marked his pathetic life, most of his friends left him. The three that came around to comfort him and show sympathy, were not very comforting or sympathetic. When tragedy strikes, when the people we love suffer lose and pain, what comfort or sympathy do we bring them? Do we stand fast by their side, or do we distance ourselves from their hurt and their pain? Do we encourage them to straighten their paths before God, or do we press them to fix their gaze upon the cross? Do we tell them they suffer for no reason, or do we tell them of Him who had no reason to suffer but did on our behalf?

I can be a pretty lousy friend when my friends are dealing with hardships and grief. I can tend to say, "I'm praying for you," and expect that to excuse my tendency to distance myself from them. I never feel like I have any words that can take their pain away. I fear they are inconsolable, and only God knows how to bring some peace to them in the midst of such great suffering and tragedy. When they cry out, "What did I do to deserve this?" I can often be like Job's friends and want to reply, "You're a sinner." I can remind them that tragedy strikes Christians along with the rest of the world. I can remind them that Christians are not immune to the evils in this world. As a friend, how can you comfort those suffering from evil in this world?

As Christians, we have all experienced hardships and tragedy. Some more than others. Suffering is no stranger to any of us. When tragedy strikes, we look to our left and to our right, but no one seems to stick around. Many of our friends abandon us, and those that stick around to comfort us have no comforting words to give. Some of our friends even point us to Christ, but the message of the Gospel is lost on us sometimes. If the Gospel is true, then why am I suffering? If Jesus has bore my transgressions, then why does God now smite me like the rest of the wicked? If I am a child of God, then why does he allow evil to touch me? We may not curse God with our lips, but we curse God in our hearts. We feel abandoned by our friends, we feel abandoned by our family, and we feel forsaken by our God. However, there is a friend that sticks closer than a brother:

"This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you. No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you. You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you. These things I command you, so that you will love one another." (John 15:12-17)

Jesus Christ is the friend that sticks closer than a brother. In the midst of tragedy, He never abandons us. We might suffer great loss in this life, but never the loss of a friend that sticks closer than a brother. We might be struck by a natural disaster that takes from us everything we ever held dear in this life, but we still have a friend that sticks closer than a brother. Our friends might not have any words that bring comfort to our downtrodden hearts, but there is a friend that sticks closer than a brother.

Even Jesus, the only begotten Son of God, God incarnate, was not spared from suffering. Even as Christians, we do not suffer undeservedly. We are still sinful creatures living in a fallen world due to the disobedience of our first parents and the transgressions of their progeny throughout all of history. We might fear God, we might delight in His Law, but we are sinful nevertheless. We are men, and suffering is the name of the game.

However, Jesus is God. Jesus is perfectly righteous and perfectly holy. God became a man, but unlike you and I, He knew not sin. He became sin, however, that we might know and be the righteousness of God. He suffered the very pain He cursed upon His creation. He felt the tragedy and sorrow that He cursed His fallen creation with. Ultimately, He died a more gruesome and painful death than most men will ever know, and He did not deserve it infinitely more than any man could ever claim.

Jesus suffered, and He suffered so that when you suffer you can have a friend that sticks closer than a brother. He suffered so that when you suffer you can rejoice in His sacrifice and remember that a time will come when you will suffer no longer. He suffered so that you might know peace. He became sin so that you could know righteousness. He suffered death so that you might know life. He ventured into the deepest, darkest depths of the pit that He might carry you out within His loving embrace. He bore your transgressions so that you could wear His radiant robes. He was not spared by His holy Father so that you might be spared. He suffered so that you might have comfort and peace in the midst of suffering. Jesus suffered, and so will you. However, your suffering will come to an end only because He who should have never suffered for the sake of evil humbled Himself to death on a cross so that transgressors who should only ever suffer might know everlasting peace in Him.

What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? Who shall bring any charge against God's elect? It is God who justifies. Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died--more than that, who was raised--who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? As it is written, "For your sake we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered." No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8:31-39)

  

"Beware of Christians": A Review

Don't let the title fool you, Beware of Christians is not another anti-Christian documentary that seeks to portray Christianity as a dying, two-faced, legalistic, judgmental, and hypocritical religion. After watching a fair share of documentaries about Christianity, both pro and against, I have found all of them lacking. Those that are pro-Christianity typically seek to reform the church by advocating a post-modern, "Love is God", why can't we all just get along, let's stop being so judgmental approach that has absolutely nothing whatsoever to do with the Gospel message of Christianity. Those that are anti-Christianity typically seek to choose a radical group that calls themselves Christian and demonstrate just how strange, spooky, judgmental, hypocritical, and two-faced Christians are. Beware of Christians was a breath of fresh air, and was a nice escape from the cliché Christian documentary film.

The concept behind the film is four college dudes take a trip to Europe and travel to various countries in order to help them better understand Christianity in a global context. In each country they visit, they try to focus on a topic and how Christians should respond to that topic given their worldview and paradigm. It sounds like an interesting concept, but considering that none of them speak another language besides English fluently, they are limited to interviews with those who speak English in the countries they visit. Honestly, they would have reached the same conclusions state-side, and seeking to understand Christianity in a global context seems to be more of a ruse for four college guys to travel all around Europe for the summer. Every once in a while the countries they visit play a role in their experiences, but overall, it feels more like a road-trip than a global search for Biblical answers.

The first few minutes are very confusing as the guys introduce themselves and banter back and forth. As one of them explains why they are going overseas to better understand the Christian faith and how they relate to it, the documentary seems to start off on the typical post-modern approach. All four of the guys are professing Christians and grew up in a Christian home. They say that they want to go to Europe, leave everything they know about Christianity in America behind, start afresh, and figure out what it means to be a Christian via Europe. This is the part of the film where I began to have my doubts. It seems, however, that they eventually subconsciously reach the conclusion that the Christian faith is based upon objective truths revealed in the Word of God, and therefore, a European Christian should believe the same thing as an American Christian. The post-modern idea is quickly jettisoned and you hardly even think about it again throughout the film.

Traveling across Europe with four college guys seems very juvenile, and that's how the documentary feels most of the time. As juvenile as their antics are, however, they reach some very important conclusions about the Christian faith, and their discussion and interview segments reveal a more mature side of each of the young men. Their interviews with strangers in Europe are usually followed by video of them discussing what they learned when they got back to America. Although the discussion can feel very "youth-groupy" (if I can make up a word), they search the Scriptures and talk about what the Scriptures teach on the subject. Although almost all of them are not able to articulate themselves coherently, you're able to pick up enough of the pieces to construct a solid, worthwhile conclusion. For instance, in Spain they interviewed several people at a beach about sex and relationships. They then discussed what the Scriptures teach about sex and relationships, what that means for Christians, and how Christians must be set apart from the world in our approach to sex and relationships. They all talk about dating, pre-marital sex, what the Bible teaches about lust, and then they provide relevant personal testimonies about how they are struggling with sex as college students.

I feel comfortable saying that this documentary has the potential to greatly influence the church in America if enough people watch it. Although the explicit Gospel is provided only once throughout the whole film (by a man they meet in Rome), these four college students emphasize over and over that Christianity is much more than many of the churches in America make it out to be. They discuss seven topics throughout their journey, and they reach a Biblical conclusion on each of the topics. For example, on the topic of wealth and poverty, they reach a very similar conclusion to Steve Corbett and Brian Fikkert in their book When Helping Hurts: Christians can tend to have a god-complex when it comes to giving, and we would rather send a check in the mail than actually get to know people and their true physical and spiritual needs.

The film is juvenile, full of testosterone, quirky, and inarticulate at times, but I would recommend it to everyone to watch at least once. It is reassuring to see that the next generation of Christians are not buying into the health-and-wealth gospel of prosperity, are appalled by alter calls and revival tactics, are searching the Scriptures for answers to their doubts, are recognizing that Christianity has become a label for myriads of self-righteous heathens, are realizing that Christians cannot go with the secular flow of the world that surrounds them, and that Christianity is much more than a get-out-of-hell-free card.

Throughout the documentary, the Gospel of Jesus Christ is on the tip of the young men's tongues, but all they manage to talk about is "a better way to live" and "a better way to do things." They recognize the Gospel when it is explicitly given to them by a man they interview in Rome, but they never manage to share it explicitly with their audience. Perhaps it is a problem of articulation, but one cannot help but feel nervous about the lack of the Gospel throughout the documentary. After all, apart from the Gospel, Christianity has nothing to offer the world rather than another system of do's and don'ts to further fuel the fire of our fallen reconfiguration of self righteous behavior. One of the young men recognizes this, but he never fully articulates what Christianity has to offer instead of do's and don'ts (except "a better way"). This was by far the most disappointing part of this film.

The documentary is available on Netflix, and I would encourage everyone who reads this to watch it. I would especially recommend it for families with teens and college aged youth to watch as a family. Ladies, you will find the documentary lacking a certain couth and finesse, but bear through it for what it does have to offer. There are scenes where the young men are not wearing shirts, and one of particular note also includes a very manly slapping game that has nothing to lend to the film but more juvenile testosterone antics. Nevertheless, the dialogue is well worth your time and maturity. It is refreshing to see that there are alternative conversations taking place amongst the church's youth today besides the post-modern, subjective, love-is-God, and tolerate everything but intolerance conversations that are reeking havoc on the church today. You'll laugh, you'll wonder why you're laughing, you'll be surprised, and you'll be edified by the conclusions these young men reach about what it means to be a Christian in America and around the world. If nothing else, watch the film so you know why it is called Beware of Christians. It is not reformed, but neither are most Christians today. I assure my reformed readers, though: You will not be disappointed.