Signal Crest UMC to host students shining a light on biblical Christ

Will Bakke said he and three Texas college friends realized several years ago that by doing everything right, they'd gotten it all wrong.

"The Jesus in the Bible," he said, "is not the healthy, wealthy Jesus we've been trained to love."

So, armed with a film they made in which they examined the relevance of their faith in today's world, they are touring the country in an attempt to make students aware of the differences between American Christianity and what Jesus called people to do with their lives.

Two of the four friends, Bakke and Alex Carroll, will be at Signal Crest United Methodist Church at 5 p.m. Sunday to screen their film, "Beware of Christians," to answer questions, and to provide an explanation of the Gospel message.

The public is invited, according to Kristin Robertson, director of youth ministries at the church. She said both youth and adults are welcome.

The tour also is scheduled to stop at Lee College on April 16.

Bakke said their aim is "not shoving the Gospel down anyone's throats" or adding to the caution students get on the likes of sex and alcohol.

"They aren't the problems," he said. "It's our hearts [which allow the abuse of such] that need to change."

Bakke said the film title, "Beware of Christians," refers to hypocritical people like they realized they were, people who are living differently than the Gospel message they proclaim.

To confront their beliefs, the four, which also included Michael Allen and Matt Owen, all raised in privileged, Bible Belt homes, went to Europe see how Christians are perceived.

Their journey included sword fights, missed trains, stolen passports, an encounter with an Austrian pop star, a surprise discovery of a nude beach, train-station ballerinas and a romantic postcard entanglement.

Part narrative, part documentary, the film "plays more like a story," said Bakke, the Baylor University film school graduate who directed the film and a first movie with three of the four, "One Nation Under God."

Robertson said a parent of one of her youth members had come across YouTube clips of the films and referred her to them.

"[Their message] was a wonderful picture of what I believe Christianity is changing into - less mainstream church/organized religion and more of a personal relationship with God," she said.

Bakke said the experience wound up strengthening their faith.

"Where we grew up [in a culture] where it was cool to be a Christian," he said, "we went to a culture where it's not popular."

Yet, Bakke said, "Christians there seemed to be living out their faith more than we were used to seeing. Even with people who don't believe, you didn't have to get past the layers [to their understanding]. In the U.S., it's hard to get past the surface to what they really believe."

Robertson said she appreciates the honesty with which Bakke and the others answer questions.

"These guys are real," she said, "very blunt but very loving. They don't cut corners. They don't hide from controversial topics. Often, we're afraid of difficult or hard-to-answer questions. They bring out their own mistakes, and you realize they may have made mistakes, but look how God is using them now."

Bakke said students who watch the film feel bit more emboldened to ask about their faith. Up to then, he said, they've just been spoon-fed answers from a young age by their parents and church leaders without formulating the questions themselves.

"We want them to be able to ask the questions without feeling guilty," he said, "and in an environment where no one will judge them."

One of the most frequent questions they get from students, Bakke said, is how can they keep their faith decision from weakening in a week or fading after a month.

Unfortunately, he said, many people return to self-will and get back into the bad habits that plagued them before.

"We haven't fixed our heart," he said. "We need to fall in love with Jesus. It changes you on the inside, and that reflects [the ability to act upon] all those topics on the outside."

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