LORD, SAVE US FROM YOUR FOLLOWERS

Dan Merchant clearly wants to talk with people about Jesus. He travels the country in a white jumpsuit covered with contradictory bumper stickers, asking people what they think about Jesus, the Church, and Christians. The film also raises a real concern: Christians can fail to show grace, listen well, or oppose evil wisely.

But the movie's answer is deeply flawed. Merchant confuses love with tolerance and presents a lawless gospel that separates mercy from God's justice and moral law. Its repeated arguments become tedious, while its theological errors could confuse viewers who need the truth and bore viewers who need more of God's grace.

Because the film has some important questions but serious worldview problems, adults who watch should do so at home and discuss it carefully. Families with children or young teens should choose something else.

Filmmaker Dan Merchant travels across the country in a white jumpsuit covered with contradictory bumper stickers. He interviews people about Jesus, the Church, and Christians, including Tony Campolo, Al Franken, and others.

Merchant begins by explaining how disappointment with false End Times doctrines made him cynical about Christians. He then explores the Church's treatment of people, the meaning of love, and the place of moral convictions in public life.

Two stars means this documentary has a worthwhile starting point but does not sustain its ideas or execution. The opening concept is clever, and Merchant's evangelical zeal is genuine. The film wants to engage both Christians and non-Christians in a conversation about Jesus.

Unfortunately, it eventually becomes tedious and long-winded as Merchant continues promoting his gospel of tolerance. Its message is also weakened by theological confusion and repeated arguments. The movie has an important message for some Christians and non-Christians, but it does not develop that message clearly or faithfully.

The film exalts love, mercy, personal confession, and concern for people who believe they have been mistreated by the Church. Merchant wants Christians to recognize their failures and speak about Jesus with compassion. Those concerns can be valuable.

The problem is that the film removes justice and God's moral law from its understanding of love. It treats opposition to abortion, homosexuality, pornography, and other moral issues as if it were inherently unloving. It also confuses personal repentance with national repentance and presents a false antinomian gospel that separates grace from obedience. The film uses references to Jesus, the Bible, Augustine, C.S. Lewis, and the early Church, but often out of context or for unbiblical purposes.

The film's public-square argument is also one-sided. Its treatment of the Religious Right leaves the impression that Christians should avoid opposing moral evil and limit their calling to acts of mercy. A more complete Christian witness would pursue both truth and mercy, while taking care not to cause needless offense. As the source review argues, neither the Religious Right nor the Religious Left possesses the whole truth.

The film longs for a Church that loves people well. Scripture gives that love a truthful shape: “Love does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth” (1 Corinthians 13:6).

This documentary asks important questions about Christian hypocrisy and public witness, but its answer confuses love with tolerance and grace with lawlessness. Its ideas require careful adult discernment, and its presentation grows tedious. Watch it only at home, if at all, and discuss it with Scripture open. WAIT FOR HOME — ADULTS ONLY.