The movie Blue Like Jazz is set to hit movie screens April 13th. I’ve been waiting for this movie to come since I heard Don Miller discuss the possibility quite a few years ago. The project was on, then off, then saved by an amazing KickStart campaign and now, in less than a month, the movie will be here.

However, this is not your normal Christian movie and that is exactly why I want to go see it. This is also why many, especially Christians, will say Christians should not go to see it. You will have to use your own judgment because, again, this will probably not be like other Christian movies you have been to.

Steve Taylor addresses the movies Christian shunning on his Blue Like Jazz blog. He discusses how the Christian movie industry defines their genre and how Blue Like Jazz fails to fit the genre. What amazes me is how much fear there is from some segments of Christians regarding both the book and the movie. It is almost like as Christians we are not allowed to have ‘normal’ lives or stories. We are to sanitize our lives, unless of course we are giving our testimony.

There are topics and situations that many Christian films pretend don’t exist. If sensitive topics are addressed, there must be some nice, sanitized packaged with clear answers and directions. Sometimes life isn’t like that. Sometimes life is ambiguous and messy. Sometimes there aren’t clear cut directions or answers. That’s why Jesus calls us to follow in faith.

I, for one, am excited for the movie because it tells an authentic struggle and journey toward faith. Such journeys are sometimes messy. Such journeys don’t always fit into sanitized packages. Such journeys remind us that God can work in all of the messiness of life. These journeys can also remind us God’s arm of love is long enough to reach the most messy of lives; like your’s and mine.

Perhaps that is one reason why Taylor writes,

So maybe I should be flattered that, based on recent evidence, the Christian Movie Establishment they represent is out to get us.

via Blue Like Jazz: Blog : The Christian Movie Establishment vs. Blue Like Jazz.