saved!

last night i rented the movie saved!. i've been hearing things about it since it hit theaters. i'd read some reviews before the summer about how it was blasph and irreverant and a mockery of christianity. then i'd heard critics rave over it. so i decided to find out for myself...which is what i usually tend to do. there were parts that probably could have offended me (good thing i'm not easily offended) but overall, this movie really made me think about a lot of important issues such as sin, living the "christian life" while also having a Christ-like attitude, conviction, and tolerance just to name a few.

by no means would i call this movie a realistic portrayal of my own faith. it doesn't represent the life i live...although i know for a fact there are people just like the characters in this movie who live in a black and white world where there are no gray areas. the movie comes with a lot of stereotypes and within these characters, the writers of this screenplay have probably created characters based on what they see when they look at christian pop culture. it makes me sad to see that these are the "christians" that have come to represent every christian. this is what people who mock christianity see. christianity has been branded by modern culture in recent years with the taglines "what would Jesus do" and "Jesus freaks." neither of these truly represent who Jesus is or what christianity is.

in this movie there is a lot of looking down on others because of the way they are living their lives. mandy moore's character, hillary faye was the most obvious. she is the perfect example of a person who claims christianity, but does not really live up to the same things she is "preaching" at everyone else. just because we are "suppose" to live our lives with a Christ-like attitude doesn't necessarily mean that we constantly do. yes...it should definitely affect the way that we live our lives. it should be constantly in our actions, in the way we treat others, in the things we say, in every breath we take. however, many times we let other things distract us. we let the world come in between what we know is right and what we know is wrong. we all live in sin. and many times we makes sinful decisions and then we try to justify them to meet the worlds standards. we try to get as close to the line we've created...we try to step one foot over and if it works, we then try to sneak over the other foot without disrupting the balance. we try to take ourselves out of the mindset that it is in fact a sin. we think "how can it be a sin if other people think it's right." we're all screwed up, we all make mistakes, and we all need God's grace. loving everyone doesn't mean agreeing with what they do. jesus showed love and compassion to those who needed it, but he didn't sacrifice his righteousness in order to do this.

this movie seems to take the stance of "be who you are, it's okay with Jesus" stance. it seems like saved! condones every type of lifestyle as okay. what can we expect in this postmodern world in which we live. we're taught to accept everyone and play pretty. we're told that lifestyle choices, drug use, sexual preferences, premarital sex don't really matter. because we're all the same. we're taught that it doesn't matter...but there's definitely a difference between tolerating a lifestyle and saying it's okay. there are a lot of really nice people who have great morals, but that doesn't make them a christian. being a christian has to do with a life change because of belief that Jesus Christ died on the cross and acceptance of him into your heart. it's a personal decision, and a lifestyle. you can't truly have one without the other.

overall, the movie is just that...a movie. but it does make me question my own lifestyle...there were parts that were rather convicting. it made me think...and that's exactly what i like in a movie, something that questions my thoughts and gets my brain going.