Kirk Cameron compares marriage to car hitting a tree

Cameron to headline June marriage event

By Brett Luster

The Telegraph, Alton, Ill.

McClatchy-Tribune Information Services

May 26–O’FALLON — Former television star turned Christian film star and evangelist Kirk Cameron will speak at an O’Fallon church in June about strengthening Christian marriages using as a backdrop “Fireproof,” a movie in which he played the lead.

Fireproof tells the story of a firefighter’s commitment to his exciting work, his cooled affection for his spouse and the Christian faith that saved his marriage during a 40-day “love dare” proposed by his father.

The 2008 picture earned $33.5 million at the box office and was a financial success with production costs of only $500,000, according to boxofficemojo.com.

“One of the things people loved about that movie was it was so relatable,” Cameron said. “People could relate to the things going on in that marriage. Many people felt like they were watching themselves up on the screen.”

Though Cameron did not say he saw any aspects of himself in the prideful and insecure Caleb Holt he portrayed in the film, he said all of us have at one time or another wrestled with what Cameron called an “Achilles heel.”

“For some it’s pride, for some it’s greed, for some it’s addictions to substance abuse,” Cameron said. “For some people it’s sexual immorality. And really they’re all really very much the same in that they stem from a deep rooted-selfishness.”

He said Fireproof and the Christian values it promotes have helped to bring down divorce rates in America, which have decreased by about 5 percent across age groups from 1996 to 2009 according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

Cameron said marriage is a great idea, but too often it is the people who fail not the institution that links them.

“The guy that drives his car into a tree–you say that’s the moron that got drunk and drove it into the tree; there’s nothing wrong with the car,” he said. “You don’t blame the car and say, ‘Well, cars are just not all that great.’ You say ‘No, you gotta drive it right.'”

Cameron now co-hosts “The Way of The Master,” a television program in which he approaches people on the street, elucidating reasons for the Christian faith.

According to Cameron sharing your faith with strangers has its place.

“I don’t want to obnoxiously slam somebody over the head with something,” Cameron said. “But ‘The Way of The Master’ demonstrates how you can talk with people very respectfully and graciously and share the gospel with them very quickly. So I wouldn’t use the excuse that I don’t have a relationship with you therefore I cannot share the gospel with you; I would make the most out of every opportunity.”