Many Sides To The 50 Shades Debate

It seems that now that the actors have been announced for the upcoming movie, 50 Shades of Grey has once again made it's way into the social media and blogging world. I assume this is only a preview of how much we'll hear about it next year once the movie is actually released. Up until now I have largely remained out of the conversation. Aside from letting my opinion be known to a few friends and family when the subject comes up (aka commenting on their Facebook statuses about it) I haven't written about it or made my opinion more public. I have read many blogs and articles, most of which are criticisms and outright slander of the books. While I haven't read the books myself, I tend to agree with a lot of the criticisms. There are a lot of Christian women bloggers who have been contributing to this conversation who have opinions similar to mine, and I am thankful for their opinions and for how they have caused people to look at the subject from a different perspective.

However.


I have a lot of friends and even family who have read and enjoyed these books, and quite frankly, each time I sat down to type out my opinion, it just came out sounding like "You're wrong" or "Ew, you're gross"

And friends? I just don't want to say those things to people I care about.

I'll be honest- it breaks my heart that anyone could see an abusive relationship as appealing, no matter how exciting their sex life seems. But what breaks my heart is that our world - through media and societal norms, has taught us some of the things that contribute to women enjoying these books.

Sometimes I become upset with the way our world has twisted things. If I let myself, I get upset about an awful lot actually. I hate that pride causes so much strife in our world. If only we could be more humble and caring towards others, I think we would feel a lot less entitled to things. The fact that people get so upset in a slow line up at Wal-Mart that they end up throwing a fit? That kind of pisses me off. I'm not mad at the person throwing the fit, I'm mad at the evilness of pride and entitlement.

I have very little to say to the readers of 50 Shades of Grey. Really, this isn't between me and them, it's just a reason for me to want to pray more for where our world is headed, and ask that the Kingdom of God would be seen here on earth a lot sooner.

As a Christian it's a constant tension between needing to stand up for when you see something wrong- something that goes against the Kingdom, and also needing to remember that this is a war we've already won. There is so much hope found in the Gospel, and the truth is that Jesus has already got this.

We needn't worry unnecessarily- the trick is knowing when it's necessary or not. It's not easy to decide when to fight for injustice and when to be thankful that Jesus is Lord over all. Thankfully that's what the Holy Spirit is for, and it's my prayer that as I grow more in my walk with Jesus, I get to know His voice just a little bit better.

So much hope is found in this verse:

"I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me- just as the Father knows me and I know the Father- and I lay down my life for my sheep. I have other sheep that are not of this sheep pen. I must bring them also. They too will listen to my voice, and there shall be one flock and one shepherd."
John 10:14-17 NIV

Friends, He's speaking to all of us- Christians and Non-Christians alike. Let's just pray that His voice gets louder and people start listening. Maybe eventually there won't even be books like this for people to read.



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Thanks for stopping by :)

~M