Yes, you read that correctly.
I have tossed around the idea of blogging about this
topic several times, but something kept holding me back; I did not want to associate
my name with the title of this book/movie. I did not want anyone to even search for the
title and read ABOUT the book or movie, much less read the actual book or watch
the actual movie. But someone had to say
this and I guess it will be me.
The fact that our society has embraced something like
this does not surprise me, but the fact that Christians have embraced it shocks
me to my core. And even more heartbreaking…
the fact that parents are letting their teenagers read/watch this. Just
thinking about what it could do to their still developing minds is very
frightening to me. I have read in several
reviews where this series of books (and now the movie) is being called, “Mommy
Porn.” (Those are two words that do not
go together.)
“This is not pornography, this is art,” you say?
noun: pornography
: printed or visual material containing the explicit description or display
of sexual organs or activity, intended to stimulate erotic rather than
aesthetic or emotional feelings.
50 Shades is most definitely pornography. Pornography in the form of a novel is still pornography…and this
pornographic novel has sexual violence and emotional abuse as its theme. We need to beware of what we approve of and
make available to our children.
“Pornography can
reach out and snatch a kid out of any house today. It snatched me out of my
house 30 years ago.…The most damaging kinds of pornography are those that
involve violence and sexual violence. The wedding of those two forces brings
about behavior too terrible to describe.” Ted Bundy on Dr. James Dobson,
“Fatal Addiction: Ted Bundy’s Final Interview,” Video, Focus on the Family
Films, 1989.
The acceptance of this novel and the
movie are just the end result of how satan has used the entertainment industry
to slowly entice us into thinking that this is all good. (Woe to
those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light
for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter. Isaiah 5:20 NIV) He has masterfully bombarded our minds with sexual impurity through media for
so long that when something as damaging as 50
Shades of Grey came out…our society embraced it as healthy and fun. In 2012, author E.L. James was even listed as one of Time magazines’s “100 Most Influential People in the World.” As
Christians, that fact should disturb us immensely.
With God, there is no “grey” area. There is good and evil. There is darkness and light. If we are a true child
of God and His Spirit lives in us, we know right from wrong. We KNOW that we should not fill our minds
with the immoral junk that the entertainment industry calls “art”. We have to guard our hearts and minds and the
hearts and minds of our children.
“So put to
death the sinful, earthly things lurking within you. Have nothing to do with
sexual immorality, impurity, lust, and evil desires.” Colossians 3:5
If we as a society say this type of sexual behavior is
not only acceptable but encouraged, we are creating our own Sodom and
Gomorrah.
“And don’t forget Sodom and Gomorrah and their neighboring towns, which
were filled with immorality and every kind of sexual perversion. Those cities
were destroyed by fire and serve as a warning of the eternal fire of God’s
judgment.” Jude 1:7
I am not writing this because I am claiming that I am so holy and have
never watched, read or participated in anything that was not pleasing to
God. I am writing this because I have
done all of those things, and I know the effects that they can have on the mind
and on our witness and on our relationship with Jesus. We have
all fallen into the traps that the enemy has laid and have gotten entangled in
various forms of sin, so we must
remember these words from 1 John 5-10…
“This is the message we have heard
from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. If
we claim to have fellowship with him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and
do not live out the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he
is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus,
his Son, purifies us from all sin. If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the
truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and
just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. If
we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word is not
in us.”
...and we must fix our eyes on things above...
“Finally, brothers and
sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is
admirable—if anything is
excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.” Phillipians 4:8 NIV
