Christian Filmmaker Shares the Legacy His Movies Inspire
By Movieguide® Contributor
Stephen Kendrick is sharing his hopes for what audiences take away from his latest movie, THE FORGE.
“We have been passionate about discipleship for years,” he said in an interview with Movieguide®, sharing that he and his brother Alex have been working with kids since the ’90s.
“It’s amazing to see the fruitfulness of the investment that happened decades ago in their lives,” Stephen said of the young people they’ve worked with over the years.
Speaking about what he hopes viewers take away from THE FORGE, he said, “We want people to have an encounter with the Lord when they’re holding popcorn in their lap and sitting in the theater…but then, they’re hearing the word of God. They’re watching something that has been dedicated to the Lord from the beginning and hopefully will be a tool of God’s spirit in their hearts.”
Stephen also spoke about specific groups, from non-believers — “We’ve had many people from around the world come to Christ from the films” — to their “core audience” of believers.
“We want to help the church get off the fence,” he said. “Quit being lukewarm. Be on fire for Jesus. Realize that He is the pearl of great price. He’s worth living for and dying for, worth any sacrifice.”
In an interview with Faithwire, the Kendrick brothers delved further into the topic of discipleship.
“THE FORGE is about the process of someone becoming a disciple,” Alex 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. 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.”
In an interview with Crosswalk, Alex echoed his brother’s statements about encouraging Christians to actively participate in discipleship.
“We hope the church wants to grow in their discipleship,” he explained. “We don’t need more lukewarm Christians in churches. We need to see people that are devoted to Jesus, that truly want to glorify and honor the Lord and walk more intimately with Him. This movie focuses on what that could look like.”
Movieguide® previously reported on THE FORGE’s message:
THE FORGE explores how having strong leaders can make an incredible impact. While this is true for all areas of life, it is especially true for faith, where having somebody to shepherd you through can be the difference between whether or not you form a relationship with Christ.
“[THE FORGE] is family-friendly, but it is intense and exciting. In some different places, it is an emotional roller coaster. There’s some funny humor that’s in the movie, but most importantly, it’s this call to discipleship—that we need to get busy about leading people into an abiding surrendered walk with Jesus because that’s the greatest thing in the world,” said Stephen Kendrick.
“We believe the Lord is going to stir up this focus in the body of Christ, and so we’re very grateful to have worked on a movie like this,” Alex Kendrick added. “It was challenging for us but edifying for the body of Christ because we need to be salt and light like never before.”
