neurological dryer lint

this started as a comment on the post below, but grew too large.

yeah.. here's the thing. i think it's important for people who are critical about Saved to see the movie. most won't because some guy on a Christian radio show says it's bad, and he knows everything. one of the beautiful things about the movie is that it also shows what we SHOULD be doing - that is, caring about people, meeting their needs, being non-judgemental, treating everyone with respect. being honest and authentic. the Christians in the movie that are doing that are the ones, in the end, that seem to be the most authentic. the ones who aren't being fake.

it mocks Christians and Christianity equally... and the Christians and Christianity it mocks DESERVE it. the makers of the movie are right (IMHO) in mocking it. it should be torn down. why? because the entire system does more to turn people away from God than it does to help bring them closer. the fact is, the circus that is the Christian subculture nowadays is foolish and irrelevant to a dying world. heck, even the word Christian makes people cringe anymore. they run from the word because it's the last thing anyone wants to be associated with.

to clarify: when i refer to the 'Christian subculture' i'm talking about the group of people who feel that by listening to Christian-themed music, wearing Christian-themed clothes, spending lots of time at church, using lots of Christian language, talking very loudly about how much they love Jesus, they'll be good Christians... and yet know nothing about Jesus, spend no time with him, have no experience with him... people who acknowledge Jesus with their mouth and yet their hearts are far from him. people who aren't even pursuing the relationship they trumpet because they're still just trying to follow rules.

i'm not lumping all Christians, or all church people, or all anyone into this group, because of course there are people who are genuinely trying to get to know Jesus, trying to follow him. i'm sure there are plenty of people wearing clever shirts that have Jesus' name in place of a candy bar's logo that have a thriving relationship with God. but there are also those who aren't. God loves and pursues all of these people regardless of what they do or the condition of their hearts (another point the movie makes in the end).

people in the subculture fit into one of two groups - they're either blind to their situation, i.e. they think that they are just doing what God wants them to do by buying Testamints, and aren't even aware they can be intimately connected with the God they're trying to serve... people who were raised to think that religion and rules would connect you with God, and who have been misled, and who eventually find the truth (in the movie, the "Tia" and "Mary" characters); and then there's the Pharisees, the ones who drown in their self-righteousness, who use Christianity as a weapon to make people feel guilty and inferior and separate (in the movie, "Hilary Faye" and "Pastor Skip").

i think i'm trying to put into words one of the things that kept me from God for so long. the self-righteous jerks who think they're right and everyone else is wrong. who think that no one else knows any truth because they hold the patents on it. the ones who make other people feel worthless and dumb and like pity cases. the ones that shove the Bible and a command to repent into the face of people they consider 'sinners' and yet won't take the time to simply LISTEN to them, to meet their needs. the rich people who proclaim loudly the amount they give to the church, yet won't buy a homeless guy a sandwich. these people are really the second group of the subculture, the ones that the movie is calling out. i think if someone feels outrage at this flick it's because, honestly, they see themselves in those characters, and it hurts.

watch the movie. it doesn't tear down all Christians. it illustrates how non-judgemental people, good-hearted people that actually care and listen, people less concerned about their image and more about love, people who can safely question things occasionally and realize that God still adores them... those are the people who are really connecting with God, who are really pursuing him.

dave said "the people who made this movie could care less if people who call themselves christians actually have a personal relationship with jesus. in fact the very idea of a "personal relationship with jesus" is just another thing they'd find ridiculous and laughable... others will be offended by it because it also mocks those who truly follow christ. it doesn't understand the distinction."

and you gotta see the movie to see that that statement is not entirely true. there is a clear distinction between authentic people who are REALLY trying to follow Jesus, and people who are fake and who don't. and it's not always that black and white, and it illustrates a lot of grey areas in a lot of characters because of that. and if it makes non-Christians laugh at how foolish the subculture is... good. i'm glad. because they're laughing anyway. the people who made the movie want to make Christians look dumb... well, we don't need the movie's help. we're pulling it off well ourselves. if this movie was never made, people would still mock Bibleman and get angry at Jack Chick tracts telling people that everything they know is wrong, and that they're stupid, ignorant savages.

all we can do is try to show the people around us who Jesus is, and our actions and life will be UNDENIABLE, even in the face of the stupidity of the subculture. i've seen it firsthand, very recently. people run screaming from the idea of Christianity as a religion. but Jesus is different, attractive, eager to change lives. if anything, people need to get the distinction that CHRISTIANITY is NOT JESUS. JESUS IS JESUS.

justin, why are you acting like you're better than these people? aren't you the one acting holier than thou?

i'm sorry, i'm not trying to. i'm a failure at representing Jesus. i have sold people a system of beliefs and a 12-step program for improving their life, not the Son of God.

but my friends will testify that i am usually far more diplomatic than this. i'm just tired of seeing the subculture hinder Jesus' efforts in the lives of people i care about. it's done lots of damage and that leaves the rest of us that are really following him to do a lot of damage control. we have a lot of fires to put out. but i won't defend the Christian circus anymore. i waded for years in guilt and anger because i thought God was just a bunch of rules that i couldn't follow. people need to escape that and see Jesus for who he is. the sooner there are less obstacles in Jesus' path, the better.

and i'm foolish myself, just trying to squeeze out words to describe something i've felt deeply for years, something that really, really bothers me, something that needs to die so that people can understand the truth about how things really are. i don't mean to hurt anyone's feelings, honestly. it probably doesn't seem like it, but.. i don't know.. i just keep seeing Jesus in the gospels get really angry when certain groups of people kept others from God because of tradition and man-made things that didn't really matter. that's starting to make some sense to me.