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I haven’t followed Christian youth culture over the last five years (living abroad,) so my observations may seem a little dated… or they may be totally relevant. My point of reference is that when I was a college student, Joshua Harris’ book “I Kissed Dating Goodbye” was new and served as a constant source of controversy and contrarian thought on the topic of Christian romance among my friends and Christian college students across America. After graduating college I worked in campus ministry with Campus Crusade for a few years and at that time Harris’ treatise on courtship, Boy Meets Girl, surfaced and added even more to the conversation. I’m sure that many other authors are in the mix at this time who I don’t know about.

As for me, I didn’t totally kiss dating goodbye, but I gleaned a ton of wisdom from Joshua Harris’ books and took it to heart. I brought much of that wisdom into first serious romantic relationship that led to my wonderful marriage to Rana and the family of three (soon to be four) that I have now. Harris’ counter cultural perspective on relationships and romance was, and continues to be a priceless alternative to the broken model of romance sold to us by Hollywood. That’s why it was so refreshing to see the Joshua Harris model demonstrated so beautifully in a film with such wide distribution as Come What May.

You can read my entire review of Come What May here , but in today’s post, I want to focus on the way this film deals with the sticky issue of Christian romance. In Come What May, a college student, Caleb, who is a dater falls for his debate partner Rachel. Rachel fits any stereotype one might have of a home-schooled young woman with no intention of recreational dating. Surprisingly, the film shows all that would be attractive in a girl like that. Rachel loves the Lord with a deep passion, she is intellectually sharp, she is respectful of her elders, she has a loving and supportive father who she submits to, and she is deeply committed to a vision of romance that will preserve her heart for the man she will marry. At the same time, she is not a prude, she is not passive, she is not a doormat to the men around her. She is a bold, confident and assertive young woman who impresses everyone around her, even Caleb.

As Caleb sets his sights on Rachel, he learns quickly that she’s not gonna go on a date with him. Although she seems to have masked feelings for Caleb, she actively guards her heart. He continues to pursue, and she seems to be in thoughtful prayer about the whole thing, but she takes her questions to her father and is clear with Caleb about her intentions. Does this sound boring? Well it’s not. In fact, it’s really romantic! I found myself rooting for both of them to get together and seeing the beauty of this outlook on romance. You’ll have to watch to see how it all works out, my point though is that it was much more romantic than one would ever expect. Come What May is a great contribution to the cannon of perspectives on Christian romance.

In light of all this, I want to recommend Come What May to a few groups of people. If you’ve recently read I Kissed Dating Goodbye or Boy Meets Girl, and want to see how this might work out, you’ll be inspired by Caleb and Rachel’s story, it’s really a beautiful romance, but it’s textbook courtship. If you’re trying to decide whether to “date” or to “court,” Come What May will give you a close look at what “courting” might look like for you. If you’ve asked someone out, but he or she has told you that they’re “not in to dating,” Come What May will give you a picture of what that means for them. Finally if you’re a parent, and your Christian teen or college student has told you that they’ve “kissed dating goodbye,” watching Come What May might set your mind at ease, or at least help you understand what they’re talking about.

This is a serious film, but the romantic aspect is truly fun to watch. I think you’ll like it too. You can buy Come What May at FamilyChristianMovies.com.

Have you seen Come What May ? If you’re a fan of Christian film and haven’t seen it yet, let me ask; “why not”?

For me, my excuse has been time and expectations. I’ve been busy and frankly haven’t watched many films at all this summer, honestly though, I’ve read some reviews and I expected it to be ok at best. I wasn’t expecting to be drawn into the story, and I certainly wasn’t expecting to love it. Come What May is pitched as a “pro-life film”, and it definitely is. Naturally, I expected a lot of preaching and pontificating disguised as dialogue. Come What May is a lot more than that, it’s a very good college-themed movie.

Here’s the story line. The main character, Caleb, is a college sophomore who dreams of success as a lawyer. He discovers a small Christian college in Virginia that has built a world-class debating team in its first 7 years as an institution, namely Patrick Henry College. He decides to transfer there to be part of their debate program as a stepping stone to his career in law.

Although his decision pits his conservative Christian father against his progressive, driven mother who is a successful lawyer, Caleb ends up attending Patrick Henry and joins the debate team where he finds himself arguing a case (in the nat’l debate contest) with the potential to overthrow Row v. Wade. As the debate season approaches, he finds himself engrossed in the abortion issue. He believes that abortion at any time is murder, but he doesn’t believe he can win the debate championship if he argues that side. He spends most of the film wrestling over whether it’s best to proclaim the full truth or to compromise on issues in the name of winning. As the story rolls along, we find that his mother and father are much more tangled up in Caleb’s moral struggles than it first seems. Throw in a little romance Joshua-Harris-style (see Monday’s post) and the film finishes with a climax that really ties everything together.

Things I really liked: Although the story focuses on the abortion issue, it didn’t feel like an apologetic for the pro-life stance. The main message of the movie is having the courage to do what’s right, no matter what happens. It is also a great picture of the best things about life at a Christian college. The relationships between Caleb and his parents, his debate partner, and his professor were all believable as was the conflict in Caleb’s parents’ marriage throughout the film.

I should mention that this is clearly a cast of inexperienced/amateur actors, and that shows at times. That said, the story is compelling enough that I easily overlooked that. The film is of incredible quality for a first film (Advent Film Group.) Keep up the good work! I can’t wait to see #2.

Come What May is a solid movie that I would recommend generally to fans of Christian film. If you liked Fireproof, The Widow’s Might, Pendragon, Love Comes Softly or the Fox Faith dramas, you’ll like this film. Specifically, I’d recommend this film to Christian high schoolers or college students. Come What May puts forward two good role models as we watch them process difficult issues. The students also display the virtue of hard work, both professionally and in the classroom. The romance in the film is also commendable and will be covered in a future article.

Let me ask again, if you haven’t seen Come What May yet, what are you waiting for? You can rent it at your local DVD rental shop or buy it here at FamilyChristianMovies.com.