Editing Tender Mercies (section)

===Religion===
Mac's redemption and self-improvement run parallel with his conversion to Christianity.<ref name="Briley109">{{Harvnb|Briley|1993|p=109}}.</ref><ref name="Jewett59-63">{{Harvnb|Jewett|1993|pp=59–63}}.</ref> Briley argues that "the emphasis on the Christian family is stronger in this script than in any other Foote piece to this point."<ref name="Jewett59-63" /> At the urging of Rosa Lee, Mac begins to attend church regularly and is eventually [[baptism|baptized]] for the first time, along with Sonny. During a church scene, he also sings the hymn "Jesus, Savior, Pilot Me", which serves as a symbol for his new direction in life.<ref>{{Harvnb|Jewett|1993|p=59}}.</ref> After they are baptized, Sonny asks Mac whether he feels any different, to which Mac responds, "Not yet." According to scholars, this response indicates Mac's belief that his reunion with God will lead to meaningful changes in his life.<ref name="Briley110"/><ref name="Anker135">{{Harvnb|Anker|2004|pp=135–136}}.</ref> It is after this moment, Briley points out, that Mac is able to forge other relationships, such as those with his young bandmates, and "develop his own potential for success as a man."<ref name="Briley110">{{Harvnb|Briley|1993|p=110}}.</ref> Briley also proposes that Mac's response — "Yes, ma'am, I guess I was" — to a fan who asks if he was really Mac Sledge suggests that he has washed away his old self through baptism.<ref name="Briley111" />

During one scene, Rosa Lee tells Mac, "I say my prayers for you and when I thank the Lord for his tender mercies, you're at the head of the list." Scholar Robert Jewett compares this line to the first verse of [[Epistle to the Romans|Romans]] 12, in which [[Paul the Apostle]] appeals to Christians to live out their lives in service to others "through the mercies of God".<ref name="Jewett55">{{Harvnb|Jewett|1993|p=55}}.</ref> Many of the elements of Mac's redemption, conversion to Christianity and budding relationship with Rosa Lee occur off-camera, including their wedding. Jewett writes, "This is perfectly congruent with the theme of faith in the hidden mercies of God, the secret plot of the life of faith in Romans.&nbsp;... It is a matter of faith, elusive and intangible."<ref name="Jewett59-63" /> Jewett compares Mac's story to that of [[Abraham]], because "just like Sledge's story, [it] centers on the provision of a future through the tender mercies of God".<ref name="Jewett55" /> As told in Romans 4, Abraham and his wife [[Sarah]] are too old to produce a son, but Abraham develops the faith that God will provide them an heir, which is exactly what occurs, though — as Paul describes — Abraham did nothing practical to guarantee or deserve such a miracle. Jewett describes Mac as similarly undeserving of redemption, based on his selfish and abusive past, typified by his condition in his first encounter with Rosa Lee: in a drunken stupor following a motel room fight. She takes him in and eventually falls in love with him, despite his having done nothing to deserve her care or his redemption: "It is an undeserved grace, a gift of providence from a simple woman who continues to pray for him and to be grateful for him."<ref>{{Harvnb|Jewett|1993|pp=56–58}}.</ref>

However, in the face of the loss of his daughter, Mac learns, in Briley's words, that "his life as a Christian is no more sheltered from this world's tragedies than it was before."<ref name="Briley112" /> Before finding redemption, Sledge questions why God has allowed his life to take the path it has and, in particular, why his daughter was killed instead of him. Commentators have described this as a prime example of [[theodicy]], the question of [[Problem of evil|why evil exists]] that is commonly faced by Christians.<ref name="Leonard142">{{Harvnb|Leonard|2006|p=142}}.</ref><ref name="Anker137">{{Harvnb|Anker|2004|p=137}}.</ref> Scholar Richard Leonard writes, "For all believers, the meaning of suffering is the universal question.&nbsp;... No answer is completely satisfying, least of all the idea that God sends bad events to teach us something."<ref name="Leonard142" /> Following the death of his daughter, Mac moves forward with uncertainty as the film ends. Jewett writes of this conclusion, "The message of this film is that we have no final assurances, any more than Abraham did. But we can respond in faith to the tender mercies we have received."<ref>{{Harvnb|Jewett|1993|p=60}}.</ref>