"Miracles From Heaven" is a heart-warming film about a young girl who is diagnosed with Pseudo-obstruction motility disorder, a life-threatening illness, and the struggles she and her family go through. The film is based on the true story of 10-year-old Anna Beam, the girl who was later miraculously healed of her sickness after falling out of a 30-foot tree. While the main theme dealt with keeping up your faith in hard times, one of the lesser themes grabbed my attention: fighting in the Church.
When Anna is not getting better, even though prayers are being lifted up, some of the members of the Beam's Church suggest that there must be some sort of sin that is blocking God's healing. They point fingers at both the parents, and even Anna. Christy, Anna's mother, furiously declares she is not going back to that church.
So what can we as the Church learn from this? How often do we jump to conclusions or misinterpret the Word of God and end up scaring people off? We probably know of some individuals in our churches who do this or people who have left because of others voicing their opinion. Isn't it sad how someone could be led to Christ, but yet the Church itself is keeping them from building their faith?
Christy's pastor jokingly confronts her about the women who accused her family of sin, and says "I wish I could give everyone that walks through those doors a spiritual IQ test." While we can laugh at this, we might benefit from examining our own "spiritual IQ." If we are to lead each other closer to Christ, we need to make sure that we have our facts straight.
Another thing the Pastor mentions is that if we have members of the congregation tearing us down, we have to respond to love. Sometimes we respond as Christy did: with hate and resentment. However, we must learn how to forgive and deal with people that we are having strife with.
Christy returns to her church once Anna has been healed and she tells Anna's story. One of the women who accused her family of sinning is visibly moved by her words, and it can be inferred that she has seen the truth in Christy's words and actions. Let this be true for us in the church, that others may see God's truth not only in our deeds but also in the words we say.
Yet again, there are some in the church that meets the miracle with disbelief and question the sickness of poor little Anna. Christy appears shocked at their bold rudeness, and cannot even get a word in before a person in the crowd steps up for her. This act of courage is enough to silence the questioners and give encouragement to Christy. As the church, we should do a better job of defending truth especially when it is questioned.
The best way we can avoid conflict in the Church is if we dig deeper into our Bibles, seeking out wise council, have a heart of forgiveness, spread truth in our words and actions, and stand up for truth wherever it may be. Let us work at being better at resolving conflict so that we are not at war with one another, but instead building each other up in Jesus Christ.
