Do You Believe?

Do You Believe? has been promoted as the Christian version of Oscar-winning 2004 film Crash. Like Crash, Do You Believe? is an ensemble drama that interweaves twelve characters whose stories intersect and climax in a literal crash at a Chicago bridge underneath a giant glowing cross. And again like Crash, its worthy message can sometimes be bogged down by overwrought emotions, overdramatic narrative, and underdeveloped characters.

I understand why Pure Flix, the same producing company behind God’s Not Dead, chose to make the movie this way. God’s Not Dead’s surprising success batted it right into the big leagues, and Pure Flix is grasping its chance to present the gospel to a broader audience—the explicit, cross-bearing, blood-shedding gospel—and not just twirl pretty pirouettes around it. “If anyone walks away without an understanding of the cross, then he must have been sleeping,” producer Michael Scott told me.

Narrator and pastor Matthew (Ted McGinley) is driving one Saturday night when he comes across an elderly man (Delroy Lindo) lugging a life-sized wooden cross, who stares intently at him and asks, “Young man, do you believe in the cross of Christ?” Matthew gives him a smile. “I’m a pastor.” The man leans in: “If you truly believe … what are you going to do about it, son?”

Struck by this conversation, Matthew immediately turns back to help the pregnant, garbage-rummaging teenager he’d passed by moments ago. The next evening, he distributes mini wooden crosses to his congregation and preaches about the redemptive, life-transforming power of the cross. Soon, these little wooden crosses travel hand-to-hand around the city, their meaning whispered, proclaimed, and demonstrated to other seeking, broken souls.

Charged with an Acts 1:8 mission, Do You Believe? leaves no room for subtlety, though certain storylines could have been stronger with a softer touch. Still, it does two things well: It clarifies what truth to believe, and then challenges us to share it boldly with others.