R
ecently we had a chat with Dan
Merchant, a writer and producer
of the hit SyFy show, Z Nation.
Here’s what he had to say…
_____
CHRISTIAN REVIEW (CR): Take a moment
to reflect about your journey to faith, and
your faith journey so far.
DAN MERCHANT (DM): The short version: I
grew up in the church... or should I say a
variety of churches. My folks split when I
was young, so on my mother’s side I
attended more charismatic style Christian
churches (the occasionally speaking-intongues, hand waving during worship
type), while on my father’s side we moved
from Episcopalian services all the way to
eastern mysticism. Suffice to say I was
exposed to the vast marketplace of ideas as
it relates to faith and spirituality. And yet I
kept coming back to Jesus – more than a
specific denominational presentation of the
Christian faith. I was fascinated by the way
Jesus interacted with compassion, kindness
and openness with “the other,” and also
confused by his warmth and self-sacrifice. I
mean, in earthly terms, the story doesn’t
end well for Jesus or his disciples, right? But
it was clear the Gospel is about love and
how we treat one another, and not about
“getting ours.” When I would manage to
imitate Christ in some small way, or when
someone else showed me grace and
kindness, I would get a quick little glimpse
of what Jesus was probably on about - I’d
get a whiff of what Paul describes as “the
fragrance of Christ”. Those moments are so
unusual, so beautiful and remind me
instantly of Jesus, and in some way connect
me immediately to God. Well, there were
just enough clues for me to pursue the path
of Jesus and see what I could find.
CR: Some Christians will recognize you for
your pro-faith movie/book, Lord Save Us
From Your Followers. How did that
experience affect your thinking and life?
DM: I could write a whole book about the
things I learned making the documentary
film Lord, Save Us From Your Followers...
oh, wait, I DID. Ha. I think the big
takeaways for the audience, and these are
the very things I learned making the movie,
include: the Us Versus Them mentality is a
choice we make, not a fait accompli. We
can choose to separate ourselves from
others or choose to acknowledge that we
are all the same and God DID make us all
and loves us ALL. Another big lesson:
sometimes we don’t realize how we sound
to others. Me talking AT you is not the
same thing as conversing. And if what I’m
trying to communicate is so dang
important, I should accept the burden of
making sure I’m connecting with you. The
burden of understanding is on me, and if
that means I need to figure out another
way to share my point then I should be
willing to go that distance.
Short anecdote on this point: I had just
screened Lord, Save Us... at the Yale
University School of Divinity and had
retired to the hotel restaurant for a slice of
pie and struck up a conversation with a kind
if not worn out waitress about my age. Our
talk eventually turned to the film, what I
thought about religion, what she thought
about religion (not much), and finally the
topic of God’s grace. This word “grace”
confused her, “You mean like a blessing
over supper?” No matter how I tried to
explain it using examples from the Bible or
my best Christian-ese I couldn’t seem to
describe this notion of “it’s a gift from God
we don’t deserve, but He still is offering.”
She shrugged and sweetly smiled, and I
could feel the weight of her preconceptions
and life experience snuffing out my best
effort.
Then I asked, “Have you seen the movie
Forrest Gump?” Now really confused the
waitress stopped wiping down the counter,
“Everyone’s seen Forrest Gump.”
“Remember how Jenny kept coming back
to Forrest and he kept receiving her? Remember all the selfish, hurtful, poor
decisions she made, and yet every time she
came back to Forrest he was just glad to
see her?
Remember how, in the end, Jenny is spent,
dying of AIDS and Forrest marries her?”
“Yeah.” “THAT’s grace.” The waitress’s
eyes grew wide. She stared at me for a beat
then a huge smile emerged, “I have goose
bumps all over. Is that what you think God
is like? I’ve never heard it like that before in
CHRISTIAN REVIEW > 11