How to Fireproof Your Relationships ' Christ is the key,' says film producer Stephen Kendric

During a recent phone interview, Kendrick explained how lessons from Fireproof can be applied to anyone's life and marriage.

Q: Why is Jesus so important to marriage? How do you show that in the movie?

Kendrick: In Fireproof, we take the audience on an emotional journey through the struggles this couple is experiencing. Caleb Holt, (played by Kirk Cameron) as he is studying the book, The Love Dare, begins to learn about unconditional love and realizes half way through the movie that he cannot give his wife what he doesn't have.

Ultimately, God is the source of unconditional love. And the greatest expression of that love is what Christ did on the cross.

Romans 5:8 says that while we were still sinful, He demonstrated love in dying for us. We communicate that in our marriage counseling; we communicate that in the follow-up Bible studies associated with the movie.

We have been very upfront that God is the source of unconditional love and that a relationship with Christ is the key.

Romans 5 also says that the Holy Spirit is the one who actually pours agape love into our hearts; that only happens when we have come to know Christ as Lord and Savior.

The first fruit of His spirit is love. So, not only does a person need to know Christ as Savior, but they need to be walking in an abiding relationship, an obedient relationship with Him. If they grieve and quench the Holy Spirit because of their sin, then the fruit of the spirit will not be seen in their lives.

A husband, especially, as the leader of the home, needs to be modeling a picture of that Christ-like love and be willing to lay down his life for his wife daily in how he dies to himself and serves her. Ultimately, if he is not tapped in daily to the Lord in an intimate, obedient fellowship, he is not going to be able to fulfill the God-given responsibilities in his marriage.

How well do you know Jesus? Would you like to learn more? Check out our new "Who is Jesus?" page.

Q: Although the movie is about marriage, single people can learn from the themes of friendship, family and forgiveness. There seems to be something for everyone. Would you say your central theme is that Jesus is the foundation of any loving relationship?

Kendrick: Yes. Not only do we need to be training up the next generation of teenagers and young adults with a Biblical picture of marriage, but we also need to offer hope and healing to people who have been through divorce and are single again. They need to realize there is hope for the future and that loving relationships can exist if Christ is in the center of those relationships.

The singles who have been going to see the movie can relate to the friendship issues, the father/son issues, the mother/daughter issues. The movie ultimately is about relationships and forgiveness is a universal theme.

Q: How did you decide on this particular topic for the film?

Kendrick: We had spent months in prayer asking God for a storyline that would impact the culture specifically. We wanted to go after the fiber, the DNA, of our culture. That takes us back to the root issue of family and then the core issue within family of a godly marriage.

Alex and I both are happily married. We have parents and in-laws who have demonstrated such faithfulness in their marriages. We've also done marriage counseling and weddings for people at our churches, so we've learned a lot. We are very passionate about the topic, so when the Lord led us to it, there was a sense of rightness.

It was like a light bulb went on over our heads - we realize now that God has been preparing us for years to do this movie. We are truly His workmanship created in Christ Jesus to do good works He has prepared beforehand.

Q: Between the website and The Love Dare book, this has mushroomed into a full-fledged ministry. Is that something your team is handling or are you relying on local churches?

Kendrick: We have more than 50 marriage ministries across the United States that are now leveraging Fireproof to connect people, to restore marriages, and lead people to Christ. Ultimately the local church is the best ministry vehicle. We have tried to set up churches to be ready - with Bible study resources, tracts, marriage books, and sermon series.

We don't want people to just be moved emotionally, we want them to walk out of the theater and to connect with Christ and the local church. We wrote the book The Love Dare because Alex and I believed we needed to build a bridge to connect people. The book not only pours into marriages, it challenges couples to connect with Christ, connect with the Word of God, and connect with their local church. We are trying to cast out as many seeds as we can and provide as many opportunities for harvesting ministry as we can.

Do you want to impact marriages? It all starts with knowing Christ. By volunteering at one of the BGEA phone centers, you can lead people who are struggling to a relationship with Jesus. Learn more.

Q: What would you say to our readers to encourage them to put Christ at the center of their marriages?

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