saved, v2

i watched saved tonight - the movie, not the tv show. josh mentioned it a few weeks ago, and it's stuck in my mind, so i decided to see what my reaction to it would be. i should clarify that josh mentioned it in relation to how loving God and loving the Body should look like contrasted against what it so often ends up looking like without our even realizing it.

honestly, parts of it were funny, parts of it turned my stomach, and parts of it were too irreverent for my taste. regardless of my opinion, the thought that has me up at 4 in the morning is not necessarily the whole bashing Christ's reputation, or even the blatant exposure of the hypocrisy that our lives can look like. what worries me is the cynicism that can be brought about by the shame of having been "that girl"... and i'm not talking about the pregnant one, or even the one who totally renounces God. i'm talking about the pharisee... i'm also concerned with the cynicism that can be brought about in our lives by the ones who were authentic - whose hearts and motives were pure in loving, worshiping and living for Jesus - and were still seen as fake and brainwashed.

i realize that to the world, hands up praising God worship can be an odd thing. believing prayer can seem like insanity to those with no faith. but here's the thing - we aren't supposed to look like the world, nor are we necessarily supposed to go out of our way to make someone comfortable when we are in the presence of God. i don't know about you, but there's not a whole lot of comfort being fully in His presence. peace, joy, conviction, love, confusion, fear... there's lots of things i feel in the presence of God, but comfort is rarely one of them. i daresay that if i am ever comfortable in His presence, then that's a pretty good indicator that i need to do a heart check, and quickly.

the Word says that we are to guard our hearts, our minds - even our eyes and ears - to be careful about what we allow in. i'm not saying that we should live in a bubble - what good does that do? - but we are not supposed to live in and of the world, either. we are set apart by God, a holy nation, co-heirs to the throne of Christ. when are we going to live like we truly believe that? is there ever going to be a point when there is not something inside of us that struggles to deny Christ at times?

i think the most disturbing thing about the movie, and the thing i am most grateful for in the Body of Christ that makes up the ring, is that through Christ, grace is the over-riding theme of our lives. there was a decided lack of grace displayed by most of the characters in the movie, and there is a decided abundance of grace at the ring. i've learned more about grace in action through the Body at work - in shelters after katrina, in community groups when tensions run high, in lack of communication and consistent forgiveness and understanding. there is no expectation of perfection, from the leadership down. yes, the bar is set high, but Christ sets that bar, not us. and it's Christ that enables and empowers us to display grace - to give it and receive it - when there is no logical explanation for it. isn't that what grace is all about? it's all about undeserved mercy, and makes no logical sense at all... and that's our clue that we may actually have it right...

Lord, please protect us from the cynicism that can sneak in and harden our hearts. continue to pour Your love and grace in and through our lives. continue to run rampant in our hearts, convince us to surrender to You once and for all. Jesus, we have so much to learn, so much to rectify with the world, so much of You that we want to accurately show the world around us. Father, help us to do that. help us to love, to be humble and patient, to overflow with love and honor and power and grace - all for You, to bring glory to Your name. help us, Lord, to do that consistently. in Jesus' name, AMEN.