But I think you’re right, if we truly understand the story God’s been writing from the very beginning, as my friend Joni Eareckson Tada has often said: “Sometimes God chooses to use the things that he hates in order to accomplish the things that he loves.”
He is not endorsing the thing that he hates, but when he gives people the ability to choose evil things, hurtful things, harmful things, God doesn’t stop us from making those choices. He gives us the freedom to act out the desires of our heart, and then chooses to steer those things, and their consequences, for the ultimate good of those who love him.
And that’s one of the amazing, brilliant mysteries about God. And if we get that perspective, then we can understand that God’s not the author of evil, but he is the one who can redeem and restore in the midst of evil.
Was there a specific life event which spurred you to make this movie, or was it a general question you’ve wondered about for a while?
KC: This film Unstoppable is definitely the most personal project I’ve ever made, and the most transparent regarding my faith.
My wife and I have been volunteering at a camp we started about 23 years ago called Camp Firefly. This is a camp for terminally and seriously ill children and their families. And we’ve met hundreds of families and brought them to camp and gotten to know them, and many of them have passed away.
Though we praise God in the midst of this, it really kicked off my desire to find a better answer to this age old question. Why does God let bad things happen to good people? Because it’s something that I’ve wrestled with, and I’ve exposed some of my doubts, and fears, and questions about my own faith. Because I think a lot of people can resonate with those things.
I came out the other end with something that should have destroyed my faith making my faith stronger.
And I’m hoping that Christians and people of faith all over the world, including atheists and agnostics, who deny the existence of God or pretend that there is no God, will see the light maybe differently through this film, Unstoppable.
What kind of people did you talk to and meet with when you were filming this journey? Did you have any specific theologians that you spoke to or read?
KC: Well, there’s no end to ancients and sages and people who can wax eloquent on these kinds of subjects. But I figured that, while there are so many different opinions in the world about an enormous question like the problem of evil, I figured that the one I really wanted to hear from was—I wanted to hear the voice of God.
God himself. And God wrote a book called the Bible.
