Short Take: Where do you see the Evangelical church heading?

In making these two films now, what do you see as the future? Not just Christianity in the most broad sense, but let's just narrow it down to, let's say, the Evangelical Church, the more professing biblical church. What do you think the future of the Evangelical Church is going forward?

And part two of the question is, how did these films change you in making them? I think from the very beginning, the lie of Satan has always been, you will be like God, and has God really said this? And both of those questions, and the questioning of Scripture and what God has said in Scripture, and the belief that we can be little gods, you find that in both the prosperity gospel and in progressive Christianity. In the prosperity gospel, it's this little gods thing where you can control your reality and create health and wealth.

Your dreams can come true. In progressive Christianity, you have Richard Rohr's view that everything is Christ. We all have the divine DNA, and we're already in Christ, and we don't need to be reconciled to God. Whereas the biblical gospel teaches that we are all dead and lost without Christ, and we need Christ to come and rescue us. Whether the teaching is ignoring that or focusing on other things, they may acknowledge it in their belief statements on their website, or may mention a brief thing at the end of the sermon. That gospel isn't the focus in maybe a prosperity gospel church. Or it's either rejected completely by subtracting away those parts of the gospel, the wrath of God, hell, the atonement. In either case, whether you're adding to the gospel or covering it up, or you're subtracting from the gospel, you have a different gospel. So I think false teaching will always be in the church from reading scripture that there's a great apostasy coming and happening. As culture changes to be more and more against Christianity, people are going to pick sides. If they're a nominal Christian, they're going to probably be honest and give up their faith. They weren't Christian to begin with.

I would say Bart Campolo's case, that's what he did. He was honest. He recognized that he didn't really believe any of these doctrines anyway, and so why should I continue calling myself a Christian? In the film as well, Bart tells the progressive Christians, why don't you just come over and help me? It's better that you're honest than for these people to be in the church under the label of Christian and deceiving people. Just the process of making both films has definitely changed me even while making it. I left a church I had attended for over a decade because I recognized that there was moralistic preaching, and the gospel was being assumed, and it was more about attracting non-believers into our church by making it more seeker-sensitive and not wanting to offend people. I got into a more solid church, and I just pray that these films can actually wake people up to recognize that maybe they're in a church that they need to get out of and find a healthy biblical church that preaches the true gospel and doesn't try to hide it.