Speaking at Kirk Cameron's "Revive Us 2," filmmaker Alex Kendrick reminded audiences that when we focus on the priorities that God has given us, we are able to truly love others - no matter how strongly we may disagree with them.
"Keep the priorities in place, so I honor God and I love people," Kendrick said. "That's the great commandment; Jesus said, 'Love God with all your heart, soul and mind, and love your neighbor as yourself.' So, if I disagree with someone, say over kneeling in the NFL games at the national anthem, if we disagree, if I make that too high a priority and it causes division, what I have I done? I've misplaced the priorities God assigns to us."
Kendrick, who, along with his brother is behind a slew of hit films including "War Room" and "Courageous," said he's seeing these kinds of "misplaced priorities" across the country today.
"We're divided in so many areas and we're misplacing the commands and the priorities the Lord has already given to us," he said. "So I have to remind - I love other people as I love myself and I'm salt and light in that regard, so I never allow something that's a lower priority to become the top priority. If we need to disagree, I do it in love, and I tell them where I stand, but I don't stop showing love to them."
Far too often, when we disagree with someone, we dismiss them and say, "Fine, I hate you," Kendrick said.
"We can't do that, especially the church can't do that," he said. "Keep the priorities in place and fight for them. Honor God, and love Him and love other people. That's a higher priority than any of the disagreements we're facing."
Earlier, Alex's brother, Stephen Kendrick, told The Gospel Herald he hopes their films foster unity in a culture that is increasingly divided.
"We're seeing a nation becoming increasingly racially divided. But we're seeing the Church rally around prayer and becoming more and more united," he explained. "We pray God will use this film as a means to rally the church back to prayer, because we know that when prayer happens, He will be true to His word and His character, and every ministry of every Church will be blessed, and we will become salt and light to the world."
"Revive Us 2," which aired live from the Museum of the Bible in Washington, D.C., also featured Dr. Ben Carson, Ravi Zacharias, Joni Eareckson Tada, Trillia Newbell, and musical guests Zach Williams and Christian Cuevas.
In a September interview with GH, host Kirk Cameron explained that the goal of the event was to bring hope, courage and unity to a nation that desperately needs revival.
"Today, we're divided over race, politics, religion, over gender, over choice -- it seems worse than before the election. How in the world are we going to move forward in a healthy way? It's time for another meeting," he said.
"There has been a shift that I see in culture," Cameron continued. "I sense an awakening among the family of faith, and I see a fresh momentum building of people who are really wanting to have their lives match what they say that they believe. I'm seeing people of integrity, people of faith, people who want to change the world and make a positive difference and bridge all of these divides and really let their light shine in practical ways."
A re-broadcast of the live event will play on Wednesday, November 1 at 7 p.m. local time. For more about "Revive Us 2," visit reviveus.com.
