Juno follow up

I wrote this recently for our youth newsletter and thought that since it pertained to another entry here, I would post it in this blog as well.

A couple of people have expressed some concern about what I wrote in my blog a little while back concerning the movie Juno. The concern came from the pretty positive review that I gave it without really discussing or commenting on the main area of the plot, namely teen pregnancy. And I think from that concern is an additional concern that I may perhaps be taking a lighter than necessary perspective on teen pregnancy, not taking it seriously enough. So first off, my apologies to anyone who took that from what I wrote. I mostly was commenting on what I believed to be an entertaining, funny, and touching story.

Now, that being said, I think most of you involved with the youth ministry here know that we believe sex is meant for marriage and should never be treated casually, not because God is some cosmic fun policeman, but because God created sex to be a wonderful, enjoyable, and fun thing and when we sell it short, when we abuse it, we wreck it. We create tragedy, heart brokenness, unwanted pregnancies, diseases, and hurt. But in marriage, sex finds its true place, its fullest expression, its greatest meaning. In marriage, sex becomes everything it was created to be and reveals that other expressions of it outside of marriage or in an abusive manner are shallow and even destructive.

That being said, all of us probably know or have known someone who has become pregnant and did not know what to do. You probably see some of these people at your schools. And the question then becomes, do I need to make sure that the person knows that I think she sinned or that I am willing to help them through this difficult time? And this is where I think a movie like Juno brings something good.

The main character, Juno, does several difficult and/or brave things:
1. She decides against abortion though she is told it will be easy and simple. She does this primarily because a somewhat bizarre Christian reminds her that the baby has fingernails and Juno realizes that she can’t kill her baby because the baby is human. A miracle I believe.
2. Juno faces many “friends” at school who call her slut, whore, and other names.
3. Juno faces her parents who, though disappointed greatly, support her and help her to make a good decision (even though they don’t always know what to do).
4. Juno chooses to give her baby up for adoption even though it will be difficult for her to do so. She chooses to bless someone else and realizes she cannot effectively raise her child.

I believe the movie presents some good perspectives (and some bad) namely how do we treat someone like this? How should we treat someone like this? Are we going to be like the religious zealots who want to stone the woman caught in adultery, or like Jesus who reminds her of her sin but loves her nonetheless, protecting her and loving her in spite of her wrongdoings?

I do not think that a ten year old should run out and see this movie. It’s mature, the language is a little rough, and the subject matter is not childish. But at the same time I do think it’s possible that the good writing of the story and the good direction of the movie can help us to have a good discussion on the nature of grace, sin, forgiveness, and mercy.