Adria and I watched the movie "Saved!" tonight. Wow. And whoa. I think I need to watch it again….

I highly recommend this movie. It was hysterical! And, unfortunately, so very true. There were many times I didn’t know whether to laugh, because honestly it was truly very funny… or whether to give into my embarrassment and hide my face in shame, because I’ve been that person, done that stuff, said those things, acted that way….

What a reality-check this movie was for me. The scenes where they are worshipping, I felt so uncomfortable… like I was either watching something I shouldn’t be a witness to (like two people making out), or like I was witnessing something that everyone knew was fake, but no one wanted to admit. I wonder if that’s how people who aren’t followers of Christ feel when they walk in on worship at churches?

It’s embarrassing to look back over my life and realize how many times I’ve acted like pretty much every character in the movie. I’ve been preachy, holier-than-thou-but-sincerely-intentioned Hilary Faye, and I’ve been rebellious Cassandra. I’ve been confused and earnest Mary, and misguided, troubled — dang, what was Mary’s boyfriend’s name?? — and push-around, passive aggressive Roland.

Amazingly enough, the most Christ-like character that I saw in the movie was the pastor/principal’s son — wish I could remember his character’s name as well… What he says to Mary, when her secret "sin" is finally, publicly, revealed is soooo Jesus: "Mary, I don’t care." How many times has Jesus said that to you when you’ve come to Him broken, ashamed and exposed? "I don’t care about that. It makes no difference to me. I love you. Period. Nothing can change that."

And Mary’s line at the end: "Why would God make us all so different, if He meant for us to all look the same?" Amen.

As usual, and as should be expected, they got some theology mixed up and backwards. But what I’m learning is that a little heresy is always to be expected. No one’s perfect, so no one’s gonna get all of God perfectly down. I think He knows that and is willing to work within the "margin of error". In my own life I’ve seen Him do WONDERS in that margin of error — which has often been a wide one.

Some of the classic lines I picked up from my first viewing:

"I hit Jesus with my van, EVERYTHING IS NOT OKAY."

"This is NOT a weapon, you idiot!" Mary, indicating the Bible Hilary Fay just threw at her, hitting her square in the back

"This is the most Jesus-centric band…!!" Hilary Faye, referring to her favorite Christian band….
Side Note: I think I’m gonna start referring to things as "Christ-centric"… sarcastically of course, especially those "family friendly" Christian radio stations… but don’t get me started on THAT topic… (YIKES!)

"I just thought she was doing a lot of stress eating… I didn’t want her to get a complex." Mary’s mom

And I really liked the raw honesty of Mary, standing in front of the church steeple, swearing in frustration, fear, confusion and anger. Been there. Done that. Maybe that sounds and looks like heresy, but I’ve learned God appreciates it and honors it far more than when I try to be all holy and pious when all that’s in me is screaming to high heaven because my world is falling apart at the seams. I think this is a true example of God’s command to us to let our "yes" be "yes" and "no" be "no". Honesty. Integrity — who we are outside is who we are inside.

I really do want to watch it again. There’s so much in this movie… it’s subtle, but potent.

Again, I highly recommend it, especially for Christians. It’s good every once in a while to get a reality check on how the rest of the world sees us. I do have one warning: if you don’t want the truth, if you don’t want to feel uncomfortable or have your paradigms shaken, don’t watch. This is not the movie for you. This will not make Christians feel good about how we’ve communicated Jesus to the rest of our culture. Nor should it. We haven’t done a very good job.

Okay… end of sermon for the day… Time to listen to a little Mindy Smith, read a little Orson Scott Card and head off to bed.