Thursday, February 12, 2015

"50 Shades" The Lie of Satisfaction's Source

Herehere, and here are three well written articles taking differing perspectives on the approach of the movie "50 Shades of Grey" based on the book by E. L. James.  None of them are approving of or promoting the watching of the movie or the reading of the book.  In fact two of them stand very strongly against the need to watch or read the material in order to be justified in speaking against it.   In fact as Christians we should be highly discouraging this movie or book to everyone we speak. This is the right thing to do.

Or Is It?

Psalm 101:3 states that "I will set no wicked/worthless thing before my eyes"

In the Sermon on the Mount Jesus states in Matthew 6:22-23 that, "The eye is the lamp of the body, so then if your eye is clear, your whole body will be full of light.  But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness.  If then the light that is in you is darkness, how great is that darkness! 

Finally brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think on these things. (Philippians 4:8)

Here we have the Psalmist, the Lord Jesus, and the Apostle Paul all affirming that it is unwise and dangerous to take anything into our minds and thus our souls that is evil and ungodly.  Instead we should be meditating on the glorious truths of scripture, for in God's word is life everlasting.

What Makes It So Different? 

The writers mentioned above have all spoken to some degree to the horrific way in which this story tames down the abusive nature of Christian Grey in his sexual exploits and glorifies the patient, loving behavior of Anastasia Steele, his love interest.  They are correct.  Those whose take away from this story is that, abusive sexual behavior is not only sexy, but acceptable, are being grossly deceived. Those woman who would be inclined to think that they need to "stand by their man" in this behavior and take that abuse are also horribly misled.

But there is an even larger scale takeaway that we need to consider here.  How is "50 Shades of Grey" so very different from say "Deuce Bigolo Male Gigolo"?   I mean if Christian Grey is the abusive sadist of our little diatribe, then Deuce Bigolo must be our little angel right?  He was after all kind of forced into a position of selling himself and all of his efforts were selfless and ended up being oh so considerate of the ladies he was involved with.

The truth is that neither of these are so very different.  While Deuce Bigolo doesn't actually have sex with any of those ladies, the movie is still laden with jokes and suggestive dialogue all of which makes light of what is actually an immoral, God dishonoring profession.  Meanwhile Christian Grey's adventures with Anastasia Steele are, as I understand it, not his first and they are far from selfless.

What Is The Real Issue?

The real issue with this "50 Shades" or any other movie or TV show that makes sexual gratuity seem glorious and common place is that it is actually a spiritual attack.  It is an attack of the enemy of every Christian, Satan himself.  He is using media of many kinds to numb us to every possible sin, making it so normal that we watch it and don't even question whether we should be or not.  Over time this renders us more and more ineffective at being salt and light.

This is evident in it's affect on whether we are comfortable challenging the status quo and daring to insist that sex is a sacred physical, emotional, and spiritual union that was ordained by God to be between a married man and woman.  Christians abound that can barely speak to what the bible actually teaches about a healthy sex life between a married couple, and yes the bible does speak to it.

There are far to many Christian women and probably quite a few men who think that their is something redeemable about "50 Shades of Grey."  Let's be clear, THAT IS A LIE!  Not only is there nothing redeemable about it, but it is is altogether spiritually shameful, dangerous, and offensive to God.  This has been referred to as low grade porn because it contains some of the same ideas of violent sexual activity that are known to be found in porn.  So if you would not watch porn, you certainly don't need to watch this.  If you have ever had a problem with porn, you absolutely should avoid this story.

Find Real Pleasure!

I plead with you.  We need to seriously consider all of the content that we allow in through the lamp of the eye which is the window to our soul.  Once it is in, it never comes out.  Even if you are not trying to think about it, those things often rise up in our thoughts at the most annoying of times.  They love to pop up say when we are tying to have our quiet time or maybe trying to have a Godly conversation with someone.  Sometimes there is an obvious trigger, sometimes not.  It's all good, then out of the blue, from the depths of our memory, come these unsavory images and thoughts.  Then we have to take them captive all over again.

Please, do not read this book if you have not already.  If you have, your imagination has likely already done more with it than is holy or righteous.  Please do not go see the movie and add more images to reinforce the God-dishonoring filth that is already there.

Real pleasure, identity, and satisfaction can never ultimately be found in any relationship with another human being, sexual or otherwise.  The healthiest relationships are between those people who already know that their greatest satisfaction and their truest identities are found in Christ. Those that come into relationships with these truths already embedded are ready to pour out in Christlike love rather than needing to receive so much affirmation and approval.

 I pray that if you have known that before and forgotten it, that you will dive into the word and rediscover who Christ is to you and who you are in Christ.  If you have never known that relationship, then I urge you to read the bible, plug into a church, and get to know other God-pursuing Christians that are doing the same.

There is joy unspeakable and full of glory to be found in Christ Jesus.  He is the way to eternal satisfaction that can never be lost.  He delivers us out of the defiling, destruction of sin and into the fullness of everlasting life.

Always remember:
"God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in Him"-John Piper

As you go forward, I encourage you to make the glory of God your goal in all things.  If you do, I promise, you will be satisfied.

May it be so in Jesus name,

Josh