He's a man on a mission—a mission to reach Christians and save us from ourselves. Dan Merchant believes we Christians are our own worst enemies. All too often we fight, we judge, and we want to be right. We've gotten off track. Instead of loving God and loving one another, he says, we focus on our differences and the things that don't really matter. He's written a book about it and spent the past four years working on a movie that examines the question, "Why is the gospel of love dividing America?"
Sadly, in my 4+ years covering the topic of Christianity with About.com, I've witnessed a great deal of ugly division between my brothers and sisters in Christ. Not that I'm looking for sympathy, but if I'm being honest with you, I have to say that I've been treated more harshly from Christians than from non theists. After a few days of reading my inbox, you'd get the picture. I agree with Dan. Many Christians are derailed from the mission of love. If you want to find out how the average secular American views Christians today, you won't want to miss this film. Are we Christ followers truly the "salt and light" God wants us to be? Lord Save Us From Your Followers, is an entertaining, humorous, and inspiring documentary about a subject of great interest among both Christians and nonbelievers in our turbulent and divided culture.
Last week, Dan took a break from his film tour to speak with Kim Jones, About.com's Guide to Christian Music. During their chat he pointed to one potential reason for the problem of division in our society—a missing part in the equation that equals Christianity. He suggested that Christians have forgotten that we are all made in the image of God. We don't look at each other the way God looks at us. It's an interesting revelation with the potential to revolutionize our relationships and impact our society in the radically attractive way Jesus had in mind.
Dan Merchant Discusses the "Great Divide" in Faith and Culture Today
Kim Jones - It seems like you've gotten a really good response so far from people that have attended the screenings.Dan Merchant - Yeah, we have ... from everybody.
Kim Jones - So many Christians today have a "my daddy can beat up your daddy" mentality where religion is concerned. We focus on the things that divide us rather than the things that we have in common. While making this film, you have talked with so many people from just about every walk of life. So, here's a hard question: Did you get any inkling as to why we allow religion to divide us rather than bring us together?
Dan Merchant - That is a tough question. A good one, but a tough one. There certainly are lots of folks that run right to the "my daddy can beat up your daddy" position rather than taking a look at exactly what Jesus preached about our faith, which is the exact opposite. We somehow run right by the humility and grace, the loving kindness and compassion, to do God's job for him and judge. I think it's just human nature. I don't think it's a uniquely Christian characteristic by any means. It feels better to be right than to be contemplative, or even to find yourself on the wrong side of things.
I don't know about you, but I know I've done plenty of running from what I knew I was supposed to do because it cost me. I think that's a big part of the gospel of Jesus. He teaches us that it is going to cost us something if we're doing it right. If we're willing to trust in God and engage with him and his creation—the fellow image bearers who may or may not agree with us—it's going to cost us. Nobody said that being a Christian is a cake-walk. Nobody said that becoming a Christian means your life goes from "in the dumps" to being super happy. In America, we've tried to turn it into that, but that's not the gospel. I think it's a whole lot easier to be right than to love people that you don't like.
Kim Jones - We have so many denominations in America. I grew up Baptist. My mom's parents were Methodist. My dad's family was Episcopalian. One of my best friends was Catholic. Now that I'm grown, we go to a non-denominational, spirit-filled church. What some denominations teach or don't teach seems to scare people. What are your thoughts on that?
Dan Merchant - Everybody does it a different way. You said it at the beginning of the interview ... as human beings we need to be focused on the similarities, not the differences—particularly if we claim Christ. Somewhere along the line we decided that the splinter in your eye got more important than the log in my eye. I'm not sure how or when that happened but I don't think that's okay. We need to not get focused on whether we're sprinkling water or doing full immersion in the river, because I'm not sure that the technical mechanics actually matter. What matters is that connection to God ... understanding his love for us and the grace.
