Zero Shades of Grey

The long anticipated film, 50 Shades of Grey, based on the mega-best seller of the same name, will be hitting US cinemas on February 14th, Valentine‘s Day.  Have you ever seen such hype surrounding a “Love“, (Lust) story before?  Social media is all a twitter, (pardon the pun), television has been tempting us with sultry clips, and just today a new one showed up.  If you haven’t seen it, here’s the gist of it.  Christian (LOL, ironic name choice) Grey shows his “girlfriend” his “Play Room”.  She naively thinks it’s where he keeps his X-Box.  Oh how wrong she is, as we see her face freeze in, disbelief, shock, you fill in the blank, when she realizes the kind of games he plays.  Hint, they are not of the video ilk, although video taping the games may be part of it. Her only words are, “Oh my God!” The sight of this room should make her run for the nearest exit, but that would make for a rather thin plot.

 If you haven’t heard about this movie, I have to ask, have you been living under a rock? Seriously, Praise God and good for you!!  I’ll admit up front, I haven’t read it, nor do I intend to, and here‘s why.  Unbiased, Wikipedia describes it like this: “Fifty Shades of Grey is a 2011 erotic romance novel by British author E. L. James. It is the first installment in the Fifty Shades trilogy that traces the deepening relationship between a college graduate, Anastasia Steele, and a young business magnate, Christian Grey. It is notable for its explicitly erotic scenes featuring elements of sexual practices involving bondage/discipline, dominance/submission, and sadism/masochism.” Let’s face it, our flesh/sin nature is curious about such things, but knowing that the Holy Spirit is being subjected to whatever we watch, read, ingest etc., should make us want to pass.

Why is it then, that many Christian people, especially women, are justifying the reading of this trash?  It’s easy to defend it to other readers, but what about to God?  Paul tells the Ephesians this, “And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.” Ephesians 4:30.  This book is grievous not only to God’s Holy Indwelling Spirit, but to all of us who believe.  God implores us through his word to avoid this kind of material.  “Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, (or go into your brains) but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.” Ephesians 4:29.  “Let there be no sexual immorality, impurity, or greed among you. Such sins have no place among God's people.” Ephesians 5:3.

Am I saying that you’re not a Christian, or that your salvation is in jeopardy if you read it?  That’s not my call, but I have to wonder, and so should you, how the powerful lure of this novel can make people turn their backs on the word of God, and enter a very “grey“ area. The fact is, there are ZERO gray or “Grey” areas in God.  “This is the message we have heard from Him and announce to you, that God is Light, and in Him there is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth;…” 1 John 1:5-6.  It’s oh so easy to be sucked into darkness, by the siren call of the world…Don’t go there!!  Always allow Christ to be your light when you feel tempted to enter any of life’s Grey areas.