Ahhhhh…it’s so nice!
Today is Veteran’s Day and our office is closed. It’s nice to be able to just sit around and watch some tv, veg out on the couch and do nothing! There are so many things to do and get done before Sunday, but I don’t really care right now. I’m treating myself to a day of “not much”. I won’t say nothing because I’m sure I’ll do something throughout the course of the day–Tracy keeps mentioning “shopping” so that will probably happen at some point.
Last Sunday night went really well…in fact, it was pretty awesome. We started this series called “Student Community @ The Movies” and took a look at our first movie ‘Saved!’. It’s such a good movie, one which I enjoy a great deal!
Going through this movie and really picking it apart was a trip. I got to looking at some quotes from some people from the Religious Right and what a hoot they were! Here are a couple I thought I’d share with you…
Dr. Ted Baehr founder of the Christian Film and Television Commission said, “Saved is a hateful, politically correct movie. It’s being heavily marketed to the community it moks, to lead Christian youth astray and make them resent their own faith.†He also calls it, “A sad, bigoted, anti-Christian movie that mocks the Christian faith… The one character who tries to preach the gospel in the movie is actually the villain.â€
Jerry Falwell said this about the movie before even seeing it…in fact, I don’t think he’s seen it yet! “Christian, you are going to hate this movie…this is the most hateful movie to come out of Hollywood in years.”
Wow, those are some pretty strong statements towards this movie! But as I watched this movie and skimmed through my Bible with a couple of thoughts, I stumbled across the fact that this movie walks you entirely through the Sermon on the Mount. This movie is a parable, albeit a crude version of it, but one nonetheless. I believe that the movie Saved! is a crude, modern day parable of Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount. Now why on earth are a lot of Christians up in arms over this movie? Why is it so demonized, so hated by Christians all across this country when it teaches the same things that Jesus taught so long ago? I wonder if that’s how many of the people responded to Jesus’ sermon when he finished.
Could it be that Jesus’ teachings in the Sermon on the Mount are so radical even today that people are turned off by them, they are offended by them and want to stop listening to them?
I think that a lot of people are so concerned with spirituality as a formula to acheiving a ‘better life’. And Jesus offers something far different. I don’t think Jesus offers a formula, but rather a way of living. A way that is far different from the ordinary, routine ways of the world…and that’s the problem that people are having with this movie.
Dr. Ted Baehr said that the one character who tries to preach the gospel in the movie is actually the villain. I know he’s speaking of Hillary-Faye…if you haven’t seen the move GO SEE IT RIGHT NOW! If you have, then you know who I’m talking about. Hillary-Faye is supposedly the “best Christian” on campus, yet she treats everyone around her like dirt. She has no love for anyone in this movie…Paul says that if you don’t have love you’re like a clanging cymbal or a resounding gong. Hillary-Faye is not a villain, but rather the most annoying character in the movie. I think the reason is that she has no love for anyone, even her friends.
I could go on and on and on about this movie and it’s spiritual implications and teachings. But let me just say that the people who have condemned this movie are condemning a great deal of the teachings of the Bible. I don’t think they’re meaning to, they’re just unwilling to believe that they can be taught by our culture even when it spews Biblical truth in a different way.
I think that’s part of the beauty of this movie. God is teaching our culture the Sermon on the Mount through a movie and not through the church. A society that wants nothing to do with church is still hearing the truths that Jesus teachings. A society that bashes the church left and right has embraced those teachings in the form of a movie. God definitely works in mysterious ways, and we as the church need to keep our eyes open to those teachable moments!
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