“Go and make disciples of all nations.” This command from Jesus in Matthew 28:19 — known as the Great Commission — is a centerpiece of the Christian faith.
But this training of people to embrace the true nature of the Gospel is lacking today in some portions of the church. And that’s the topic filmmakers Alex and Stephen Kendrick are tackling in their new feature film, “The Forge,” hitting theaters Aug. 23.
In many ways, the brothers told CBN News the movie is a follow-up to their 2015 hit, “War Room.”
“If you liked ‘War Room,’ you’re going to love ‘The Forge,'” Stephen said. “This one is actually part two, in a sense, because ‘War Room’ is a call to prayer, and this one is a call to discipleship.”
He went on to say that some of the same characters from “War Room” return to deal with the discipleship issue, exploring what it looks like “to engage someone in relationship, friendship, and teach them how to fall in love with Jesus, and walk with Him, become a mature believer to the point where they’re ready to go out and reach someone else.”
Alex said “The Forge” was the result of a season of prayer during which the filmmakers asked God to direct their path for the next movie. Once they did that, the direction became clear.
Watch the Kendricks explain:
“He pointed us in the direction of discipleship,” Alex said. “Reading through Scripture, Stephen and I would go through looking at the specific aspects or principles.”
One of the verses that resonated with them was Luke 9:23 (NIV), a Scripture quoting Jesus, which reads, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me.” Alex said walking like a disciple means dedicating one’s life to becoming more like Christ.
“I have to die to myself,” he said. “So, to deny yourself, take up your cross daily.”
Alex said truly being a disciple means not allowing oneself to be “lukewarm,” as Scripture warns against. These verses and realities challenged the brothers as they embarked on their journey to make the film.
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“‘The Forge’ is about the process of someone becoming a disciple,” he said. “[In] this process of discipleship in the movie, a group of men are pouring into a younger group of men on their walk with Jesus, and we specifically follow one named Isaiah.”
Alex continued, “He’s 19, and so he learns what that process is. But by the end of the film, he … is passionate about his faith in Christ, and is ready to pour into someone else.”
Stephen echoed the importance of sometimes saying, “No” to self and “Yes” to the Lord.
“Jesus said, ‘No man can serve two masters,’ and we can’t serve ourselves and him at the same time,” he said. “So, when we’re surrendering our lives to the lordship of Jesus Christ, He doesn’t make things worse; He makes everything better. He’s a really good driver. He’s a really good Lord.”
While the process of helping make disciples is a biblical commandment, the Kendricks said some churches have missed the mark or have struggled at moments to live it out.
Sometimes, they said such failures are the result of a refusal to give up control.
“We want to depend too much on our own logic, so going deeper with Jesus means denying yourself and moving your priorities out of the way if they conflict with Scripture or what God’s calling you to do,” Alex said. “And determining, ‘I am going to follow the Lord.'”
Stephen said it’s important to get to a place with discipleship where a person is able to model and teach how to move closer to the Lord. He noted this is something that should be fostered within churches.
“In so many churches, pastors are doing a great job communicating the Word from pulpits, but the people can’t raise their hand and ask a question in the middle of the service,” Stephen said. “And many times, he doesn’t know what’s going on in the marriages, and the lives, and the families, because there’s so many people that are in the room.”
He added, “True discipleship means small enough groups and close enough relationships so people can ask the hard questions, they can be held accountable, we can deal with deep issues together, we can take the Word of God and not just deal with general issues, but your specific concerns and needs.”
The Kendricks hope “The Forge” will help Christians create smaller discipleship groups to model the Christian walk and confront difficult issues.
Find out more about “The Forge” here.
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