Beware of Christians

If you haven't heard of the film Beware of Christians, I hope this review persuades you to check it out. Their website and trailer were enough to peak my interest, so I took the risk and ordered a copy for my Campus Ministry.Beware of Christians is a 93 minute film about four college students - Alex, Matt, Michael, and Will - who grew up as Christians, became somewhat disillusioned with America's version of Christianity, and decided to reexamine what Jesus had in mind to follow him.They wanted to spend time away from the place where the majority of people believe, and go to a place where the majority of people don't believe. Their adventure led them through Europe, visiting London, Paris, Barcelona, Rome, Budapest, Vienna, Munich, and Lucerne.The opening scene of the film has the four guys sitting around a table, laughing and reminiscing about the trip. Those table conversations serve as the common thread throughout the film, along with frequent individual time in front of the camera (in the spirit of The Office).Along The WayAs you can imagine a film with four college guys would be, there's lots of footage filled with funny banter, practical jokes, wrestling, and talking about girls. They stayed in hostels, got sick from the food, lost their passports, tried fasting, and made friends with homeless people.There's also enough shots of impressive landmarks and beautiful scenery to make you want to buy a ticket to Europe yourself.The conversations are the real meat of the movie. The guys take on seven specific topics, each one complete with interviews from strangers and scriptures from the Bible. Those topics are:* Identity* Materialism* Sex/Relationships* Church* Wealth/Poverty* Media/Entertainment* AlcoholI especially appreciated the way the film concludes with "Seven Months Later", as the guys ask each other, "Now what?"Some of My Favorite Quotes* "The greatest single cause of atheism in the world today is Christians who acknowledge Jesus with their lips and walk out the door and deny him by their lifestyles. That is what an unbelieving world simply finds unbelievable." ~Brennan Manning* "Some people don't follow Christ because of the Christians they know."* "I know I'm a Christian. I just don't know if I'm following Jesus."* "I claimed one thing and completely lived a secret life behind closed doors."* "Christians are just people who are busy on Sundays." ~Someone interviewed in Europe* "Does the media you engage in line up with the gospel you believe in?"* "My humor gets shaped by the movies I watch. They affect the way we speak."* "I grew up hearing sex is evil."* "The Christian influence in my life was: successful people that loved God that had nice things. It shaped the way I view materialism."* "We ignore verses and highlight around it."* "I spent most of my college life church shopping."* "Extreme wealth is just as dangerous as extreme poverty."* "We aren't going to reach people without going to where the people are."* "Poor people need to become our friends."* "Bring Jesus into the equation."* "It's not our job as Christians to police the rest of the world and try to rid the world of evil."* "We need to stop being little girls."* "Radically embrace God's vision for the world."* "It's the hardest decision you'll ever make in your life. You're handing your life over to God."Five StarsI give this film five stars, and heartily recommend it, especially to Youth Ministers and teenagers, as well and Campus Ministers and college students. Whether your audience includes people who are Christians or people who are not, there is much to be gained by everyone.Three Practical Ways To Utilize This Resource:* Buy a copy for your Student Library (enabling individuals to watch it at home).* Host an event for your High School group or College group (see website for details).* Use in a Small Group (the DVD includes a Study Guide).*****Tyler EllisCampus Minister at the University of Delaware;author of Question Everything[...][...]

I was intrigued by the title and premise. Having spent a semester in Europe myself as a collegiate Christ-follower, I anticipated seeing other college-aged Christians explore their faith and engage with European locals on film.However, their questions were theologically simplistic, they seemed unorganized and unprepared to properly engage with the culture/citizens of the various countries, and their playful immaturity sometimes crossed a line into cringe territory.But the most unfortunate aspect of the film is that the young men end up exactly where they began; with faith that is too focused on how, what, and when they DO Christian things. Works based, in other words. And by the end of their European adventure, they haven’t really moved the ball toward a deeper, more spiritually mature and satisfying faith based on a relationship born of the sacrificial love of Jesus, and the grace and freedom that flows from living within that kind of encompassing love. One of the men they interview touches on this kind of deeper faith, but our American filmmakers don’t seem to catch on, and he walks off without engaging them further. It’s as if he senses they aren’t ready for a deeper faith, and are stuck in a superficial place.Unfortunately, that is what the viewers sense, as well.One of the filmmaker’s closing comments reflects on how he can’t fathom how much God loves him, and it’s the most enlightened moment of the film. It’s a hopeful glimmer that maybe his journey will eventually lead him toward a faith that can never be earned by doing enough of the right things.

When I first started watching this movie I clicked out of it because you hear the word "Documentary" and you associate it with the word boring. Somehow I ended up watching it again the summer going into my senior year on Netflix and I watched it probably three times in a row picking it apart and writing down some of the stuff they said because it was so relatable and eye opening in many ways. It's great because I can come back to this movie and it speaks to me in one way or another because they hit on so many topics that are huge struggles in society and especially in college. They are a charming, funny bunch with good heads on their shoulders. And now that I am a sophomore in college I find it even more relatable. You should definitely give this movie a shot. The worst that could happen is you end up liking it or it ends up changing how you do life. :)I have so many favorite quotes from this movie, this is just one of them:“The bottom line is that I am not perfect, and I am not gonna have all the answers and I screw things up all the time, but the crazy thing is that God loves me anyway. And despite all the crap that I do, He loves me. And that is crazy. And it is crazy that I am just now figuring out what that means.”-Beware of Christians

It is a great movie on how it tells how religion is very damaging, and it takes the time to show how Christianity, not religion, is the way to go. There were a few scriptural gaffes, but it is a movie people need to see. The downside, is that it has a great appearance of being very amateur. It also had the appearance of being a feature only to find that it is a documentary. Photography and directing could have been done much better.