Fifty Shades of Grey?

"Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth." John 17:17

Okay, so I usually try not to stir things up too much, and some of you out there are gonna be really irritated in a few moments, if you keep reading. But there is a Force driving me to write this, so finally, here I sit.


My hubby and I are very different. He sees things as very black and white. I see things in fifty shades of grey. 


He sees someone scamming social assistance, I see the crap that someone has endured that messed them up and left them unable to cope. 


He sees an idiot driver, I see someone who probably turned around to pick up a sippy cup. 


He sees someone who takes on too much and should say 'no' more often, and I see... well, me. :)


You get it. We see things differently. 


Usually his generalizations make me really mad. I know that there are things in the world that aren't okay, but most of the time, there are circumstances that can cause those things. 


This time, though. I can't see any grey at all. It's very black and white for me. I can't reason myself out of this feeling. I can finally relate to my husband. :)


There's this book, 'Fifty Shades of Grey'. You've probably heard of it. 


I haven't read it.


I was WAY behind on even hearing about the phenomenon. When I did hear about it, it was from a non-Christian lady who told me that she had just read three pages describing a bl- w j-b, and felt like she was a peeping tom. 


I thought, oh my, who would read that?


 She said it was all the rage, and she couldn't believe I didn't know of it. 


Imagine my surprise when, suddenly enlightened, I began to see status after status of people telling the world that they were reading these books. 


I wondered about the sudden lack of filters. Last year if I had told you that you'd be reading porn and telling everyone about it, would you have believed me? 


Somehow our world has made this not just okay, but even brag-able. 


So, I was discussing my confusion with an amazing lady who just started reading the book. I think she was immediately defensive, (She's a Christian) as she jumped at me with the following...


"Well. You don't really know, do you? Because you haven't read them."


Now, that sentence doesn't seem so bad, but holy, did it hurt. I had fully admitted that I hadn't read them, and won't. Gotta follow my gut on that.


 I had been asking where the lines were, in a Godly lifestyle, when reading that kind of material. Is it okay to read, if you put down the book and have sex with your husband? He probably likes it. But are you thinking of him? Does it even matter? What about the twisted nature of the relationship in the book? Does that matter? 


The more I stewed on her comment, the more I got angry. 


Did I have to read this book in order to back myself up? There are a lot of wrong things that I haven't ever experienced. It certainly doesn't make them right. The logic is ridiculous. 


I don't have to read this book in order to say that I don't think it's very Godly. 


So, for those of you who are now mad, (I know the feeling), and feel that I'm judging you, I'm truly not. I'm afraid of what is going on in our Christian circles, and I want to challenge you to read on, and then comment your thoughts. 


Phil 4:8 : 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.:

Do these things describe the book series, Fifty Shades of Grey? Because I have now heard a lot of things about it, from a lot of people. And not ONE has mentioned any of those words. Not ONE. In fact, a lot of you 'aren't sure' about them, but since everyone is reading it, you figured you should too. Ahem. Remember the old adage "If everyone was jumping off of a bridge...."


Romans 12:2 "Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect."

You may notice that these verses kind of leave it up to you. You have to think about it and (hopefully) pray about it, until you reach a conclusion for yourself.


As a post script, I would say that to any of you who are non-believers, this post is not for you. This is strictly for those who would say that they are in relationship with Jesus Christ.


So. Ladies. I also want to remind you that we can filter our movies, our T.V. programs,  our speech, and our computer use all this way. I suck at that sometimes. I fill my head with garbage. I'm a horrible example. But I am going to keep trying. I want to be Christ-like. I want to walk with Him, talk with Him, be like Him, and stand up for Him. I have to keep asking Him to keep my conscience sensitive to His leading, and to help me to follow through when I need to turn it off, put it down, or shut up. 


I hope our God will speak to you today, that you hear His voice.  His love for you is abundantly more than you can imagine. 


Blessings, and love, 


Char