Here's to stirring up the pot...
I will start this post by stating that
this is not directed toward anyone in specific
{my thoughts have accumulated over time}
I simply want to ask this question to get thoughts moving and start some inward inspection... and perhaps change.
"What example are we setting?"
I'm really overwhelmed and discouraged at the number of women
I know that are absolutely wrapped up in the
"Fifty Shades"
drama.
Women who
{boldly proclaim their faith in Christ}
Women who
{are openly opposed to men viewing pornography}
Women who
{are saving their sexual purity for marriage}
Women who...
{Are Married}
And the open dialogue of how "amazing" the books are.
Or better yet,
the excitement surrounding that fact that it's going to be a movie!!
{seriously?! You're going to to go to the movies}
{IN PUBLIC}
{and watch this?!}
I just can't handle it...
As Christians,
we are called to live a life that is pleasing to God.
And to glorify Him in all we do.
I'm not here to say
"You Sinner's! Stop and Repent!!!"
My cry is that you consider the costs.
If you were to walk into a room and see your Husband, Fiancee, Boyfriend, Brother or {SON} even
flipping through a nudy magazine,
Lets be honest...
You'd be ticked!
{I know I sure as heck would be!}
And chances are you would feel like you aren't enough.
You would feel like your husband wasn't satisfied by you.
Or for those of you that aren't married yet
you would feel that you aren't worth waiting for.
Or that you aren't a good enough example of a woman for the younger men in your life to keep their eyes pure.
Having all of this in mind, consider this...
Sitting in your room,
enjoying the steamy, erotic, pages of a
Fifty Shades book
and in walks your Husband, Fiancee, Boyfriend, Brother...{SON}...
How is your husband going to feel?
Will he feel like you aren't satisfied by him?
Your Fiancee? Boyfriend?
Are they not enough for you to wait for to experience these
things that are intended to be shared in your marriage?
Your brother? Your Son?
What are they to think? Here you are reading
{in detail}
about other people having sex...
{Pornography}
What example are we setting for the men in our lives?
I think this is something that Christian and Non-Christian
alike should be considering.
{and side note ** it's a total slap in the face that the main character of this series is named "Christian"**}
We all want to set a solid example for our loved ones,
{right?}
"I think I want to encourage my children to sexual frivolity"
{said No Parent Ever!}
What is it going to take to wake us up to the junk
that is infiltrating our lives?
What image of sexual intimacy are we painting for our children?
I pray that this be a question that you ask yourself.
What example is set before your children, your siblings,
Your Husband/Fiancee?
Please hear me,
{Sin. Is. Sin}
We cannot judge and say that one sin is greater than another.
We all sin.
We all struggle with right and wrong.
But that doesn't mean we go on doing it because it's fun
or because
{it feels good.}
Sin comes in many shades
and apparently this
"Fifty Shades of Grey"
is a stumbling block for a lot of women.
I know that many of you who read this aren't necessarily
self proclaiming followers of the Christian Faith.
I appreciate your thoughts and input in my life,
so please understand that I find this crude and wrong even outside of my beliefs of Christianity.
For my fellow believers in Christ,
I'm going to leave you with this challenge...
Romans 6:
1 Well then, should we keep on sinning so that God can show us more and more kindness and forgiveness? 2 Of course not! Since we have died to sin, how can we continue to live in it? 3 Or have you forgotten that when we became Christians and were baptized to become one with Christ Jesus, we died with him? 4 For we died and were buried with Christ by baptism. And just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glorious power of the Father, now we also may live new lives. 5Since we have been united with him in his death, we will also be raised as he was. 6 Our old sinful selves were crucified with Christ so that sin might lose its power in our lives. We are no longer slaves to sin. 7 For when we died with Christ we were set free from the power of sin. 8 And since we died with Christ, we know we will also share his new life. 9 We are sure of this because Christ rose from the dead, and he will never die again. Death no longer has any power over him. 10 He died once to defeat sin, and now he lives for the glory of God. 11 So you should consider yourselves dead to sin and able to live for the glory of God through Christ Jesus. 12 Do not let sin control the way you live; do not give in to its lustful desires. 13 Do not let any part of your body become a tool of wickedness, to be used for sinning. Instead, give yourselves completely to God since you have been given new life. And use your whole body as a tool to do what is right for the glory of God.
Thank you for this Jess! I am so tired of the excuse, "I haven't been convicted of this (sin) yet." REALLY?! I am an avid reader myself and I am offended by this trash. There's always so much negativity towards men and pornography. How do women think this book is any different? Keep it up Jess! :-)
ReplyDeleteThanks for taking a BOLD right stand Jess! I have never heard of this series (doesn't run in my circles...and I'm glad, now that I've read here), but it's good to be aware of what's out there and influencing those we love. I appreciate you as a young mom, in love with your husband and children, being a Titus 2 woman already - teaching the younger (and not as spiritually mature) women about Godly women's behavior! THANK YOU!
ReplyDeleteOh boy.. I didn't even know that book existed.. I Wikipedia'd it and couldn't even read the synopsis.. sometimes its nice to just be in my own little world and not know what's happening around me.
ReplyDeleteI've never even heard of it! Thanks for speaking out, though. I feel exactly the same way about all of the vampire/witchcraft, etc., garbage folks are so into.
ReplyDeleteI agree with JoAnna. It's nice (and maybe better?)to be oblivious to it!
Although I am a non-Christian (more specifically, atheist), I respect your viewpoint. A couple comments: as someone who takes sexual/relationship consent very seriously, I think a lot of the problem for me with the book (series?! I hope not) is that the relationship in the book is based on a manipulative, unhealthy, borderline (or not so borderline!) abusive relationship. Christians aren't the only ones who have a serious issue with the book.
ReplyDeleteHowever, when it comes to smutty works in general, I wonder if part of the appeal is more of an idea-generating issue. Like, read smut to come up with spicy things to do? I consume my fair share of titillating works, and I think the appeal is to be able to think up new scenarios, things to do, fun sexy stuff. It's not always to "get off." This is coming from a person who doesn't have a monogamous sexual partner, so I don't have an expectation of monogamy.
Also, the writing is laughably bad. Like, really, really bad.
My (in this space, probably unpopular) two cents :)
I just finished a book my Shannon Ethridge called "Completely His" and went to her website to check out her other writings. I came across one of her new books "The Fantasy Fallacy" which is a christian response to the Grey Series. She provides a great, free document to summarize the series for those who want to be informed, but don't choose to read the book, and then gives great advice for topic/conversation starters that are based on being non judgmental (she poses several reasons why someone might read the series). I thought of your post and thought I would post a link here for you to peruse if you were interested, or anyone else.... http://www.shannonethridge.com/index.shtml
ReplyDeleteOh, and I thought I would say Shannon is a perfect person to write this kind of response as she is a huge advocate for women's sexuality and spirituality and has written many books on the topic before this series.
Carissa