Redeeming Love

Did you hear? Redeeming Love came out in theater last week! I was so excited that I gathered my girlfriends and we went to the showing on opening night. Trader Joe’s snacks and a leather recliner and I was ready. After the credits rolled, I took a picture and shared it on Instagram. I needed to document the moment.

A few days later I got a text from a friend. She was curious about my thoughts on the movie and a different Instagram post. The post was warning viewers about the explicit sexual content of the movie that may cause some Christians to stumble in sexual sin.

Here’s what I think.

I read the book that the movie is based on when I was in college and it played a significant role in how I came to Christ. In reading that book I recognized the weight of my sin and how much it hurts God. I also saw the unconditional love of God as the good husband who continues to pursue me, even when I push Him away. After reading this book and the gospel of John, I recognized my need for a Savior and accepted Christ that year.

I’ve read the book multiple times since then, and every time I walk away more overwhelmed by God’s love for me. However I know that is not the case for everyone. I have talked with other friends who are cautious about when they will read the book. “It’s like reading a Nicholas Sparks book for me. And it begins stirring up feelings. I have to be careful about when and why I am reading it,” said one very Godly friend of mine. And this was a new perspective for me, I’ve never seen the book in this light, but it was helpful to understand how it could affect other people.

I remembered thinking after the film that I was surprised by the sexual content they included. And after reading this Instagram post, I agreed that I wasn’t fully prepared for that. I do believe it would have been helpful for the movie to have a stronger rating or a better description of what to expect. Outside of the sensuality there was intense violence and mature topics that I don’t believe were given advance warning if you had not read the book. So overall I wish they had rated it R, instead of PG-13. I’m glad I went to see it with my friends and not my 13 year old girls from youth group.

Yet even with that, I do understand why the content was included. I listened to a few podcasts the following week that were interviewing the author Francine Rivers. She also wrote the screenplay for the movie. She explained that they intentionally included the two scenes to show the beauty of sex in the context of marriage. God has said that sex is good between a man and wife and the movie displayed that. There was no nudity in the scenes and I believe the way it was depicted was more artistic rather than to arouse. It made me think of Song of Solomon. That even in the Bible God doesn’t gloss over sex. There’s an entire book in the Old Testament that describes a man and wife and their desire for each other. It gets pretty steamy, and most 13 years old kids were warned not to read it back then.

I asked another friend who saw the movie what she thought about the scenes. She said, “I actually appreciated how ‘real’ they were. I thought making it so explicit instead of just ‘suggestive’ really highlighted how damaging it was out of marriage and how beautiful and healing it was in marriage.”

I loved the book and the movie and I fully respect and appreciate women in my life who have decided not to read or watch it. And for anyone who does watch it, my hope and prayer is that it shows you a picture of God’s unconditional, redeeming love for you and you’re identity as the beloved.