What if Fifty Shades is a Metaphorical Lesson for the Christian Church?

I have read a lot about this film and the book lately. The book was originally styled after, or a tie in with The Twilight fan fiction series. It morphed into its own unique book. However, the genre and story aren't all that special or unique. It is intriguing though, that the story of a rich, controlling and powerful man who manipulates a woman into essentially being his S&M [BDSM] sex toy is such a money-making machine. Why would this story of control, abuse and near sex slavery sell so many books? This is not a healthy love story, but it is a toxic unhealthy relationship. From the male perspective, he is not interested in love or a human relationship at all. For females there are many red flags to help women avoid such toxic relationships. Don’t give into a guy’s weird whims, for one. As an experienced church leader I have never seen a woman turn a bad-boy into a good man by giving into his control and manipulation. Yet, I have seen many women attempt to do just that. I have seen it a lot! Why do women put themselves into this abusive situation? It’s futile and foolish. Why are the primary purchasers of these books married women over 30? Something must be off in their marriages.

There are distinct similarities between Dorian Gray, Faust and Christian Grey. They throw off any chance of moral integrity in order to pursue power. The Gray/Grey men are creeps who abuse women and merely use them for pleasure. They also struggle with Dr. Jekyll/Mr. Hyde moral duplicity. Oscar Wilde enjoyed “The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde” which was only about 5 years prior to his Gray novel. The Fifty Shades trilogy even has an antagonist named Jack Hyde. Is this plagiarism?

The modern day version of the above stories has lost the fact that the hero/anti-hero often struggles with their moral duplicity. Does Christian Grey have an internal struggle with his control and BDSM desires or does he just roll with it because of how he was mentored by an older lady? Are these all stories wrestling with good versus evil? They, like the Bible, lean toward showing that mankind is inclined more easily toward evil. Selfishness never satisfies. Forgoing hindering, avoiding or repressing evil and giving in to all kinds or immoral and amoral life-styles does not reduce the need to behave licentiously. Instead they exacerbate the need for more of the socially disapproved behaviors. It’s like attempting to stop fits of anger and rage by beating a punching bag. Studies show that this actually encourages the drive to be more enraged.

Now for the strange twist. I woke up just before 1am Sunday morning thinking this:

• What if “Fifty Shades of Grey” can be used by God to explain a metaphor within the Christian Church between leaders and attenders? Why did the author name this lead male character “Christian?” He is obviously not a follower of Jesus. He shows no understanding or real love or forgiveness. He lets his wounds control his thinking and behavior.

• This next idea may tie more closely analytically with the negative history of Roman Catholicism but it also ties with modern day Protestant churches with powerful leaders: What if the comparison is made between Christian Grey and some bishops, popes or pastors who have similar character issues as controlling, powerful, successful leaders wanting a contract regarding behavior. “Do what we tell you to because we are the leaders and sign this contract/covenant of submission to our leadership.” This negative leadership in Christian churches can be seen from the early popes, Constantine, Roman Catholic armies killing unbelievers and protestants, European political leaders making themselves church leaders also, the founding of the USA based on fleeing such tyranny, Salem witch trials, USA slavery, KKK, independent churches sprouting on every corner rather than being part of domineering denominations, then the independent churches that grow large due to a strong leader become like what they fled: sign the membership covenant, do what your told, submit to the spiritual overseers in authority over you, give a decent chunk of your income, follow the leaders vision/mission because God speaks to them and not necessarily you, etc.

What if?

What lessons can you learn from this twist? Does any of this apply to you or your church or church friends? Are you seeing any power/control problems in relationships or institutions?

God designed His church to be in a relationship with the Savior of all lost souls who become redeemed: between Jesus and all the people Jesus died for to pay the price for their sin and rose from the dead to free them from sin. Church leaders on earth are supposed to love, lead, heal and forgive like Jesus did. All Christians are part of the church and all are submit to Jesus as Savior and Lord. We are all supposed to grow and learn to be more like Jesus and serve the world in the way God designed us. None of this allows for any type of relationship like that between Christian Grey and Ana. There is supposed to be love, grace, peace, joy, kindness, gentleness, patience, self-control, faithfulness, goodness exuding from Jesus’ followers toward all people whether in the world or church leaders or church non-leaders. There is no room for abuse given or received.

One more metaphor twist: The name Anastasia originates with Greek etymology and carries the meaning "resurrection". For followers of Jesus that points to the amazingly powerful reality that our hope and faith will be fulfilled in Jesus.

Wake up Christians. The world is dark. It thinks in gray/grey terms that everyone can determine their own morality. This is not true. Jesus is the Light of the world. Jesus is The Truth. Jesus is hated by the world that He loved so much that He died to save. Followers of Him are also hated by the world which loves its sin and abuse of self and others.

The words of Jesus: Matthew 6: 22 “The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are healthy, your whole body will be full of light. 23 But if your eyes are unhealthy, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness!” What the world calls light Jesus calls darkness: lost in sin and a wrong view of good and evil.

There is no room in the world or church for grey Christians and no Anastasias should ever be abused. Join The Light. Follow, serve, love and worship Him: King Jesus.

We are All Judgers; and Suck at it!

As a recovering USA evangelical Christian who suffered from a broken heart from life and church wounds I have recently realized: I had a severe focus on theology that was correct while my heart was a wreck.

It is easy to point out the flaws in others while denying we do the same.

Most people live myopically focusing on their own situation and attack others while missing the big picture. How was that for a judgment? Watch and listen to media, entertainers, news and politicians; even, sports. Everybody is judging everybody about everything. Opinions fly rampantly. Ad hominem, red herrings, straw men and all sorts of logical fallacies are magically appearing as if they were valid arguments and flying violently but without wings. There is little love, tolerance or patience being displayed in the USA by anyone who disagrees with whomever they are disparaging.

Our tolerance and hatred of one another has done a great job of curing racism. If anyone has a differing opinion about anything, they are not allowed into the closed friendship ring. We are terrible at befriending those we disagree with. Instead those who differ are branded enemies and opponents of the masses while receiving the brunt of vehement ridicule. Our politicians have done a great job of role modeling getting along with those across the aisle. Mudslinging has accomplished so much to better our nation. We are all great at looking at both sides of all discussions. Obviously, there can only be two sides!

Here is a hugely popular recent ad hominem: anyone disagreeing with the gay movement is a homophobe. Attack the person disagreeing and don’t listen to their point of view. There is no room for discourse when name calling is acceptable by the vocal group with money behind their screaming. What an amazing culture shift this has been to watch over the last 40 years. Has anyone bothered to notice that no society in the history of earth has lasted very long after its main concern became its sexual permissiveness? Are we destined to repeat the history we ignore?

Here is a common Appeal to emotion mixed with an ad hominem:  Anyone denying the reproductive right and freedom to have an abortion must hate women and want our society to return them to the dark ages. That leaves little room for conversation of opposing views. Fighting for these rights has led to many ills being violently ignored: just search “How abortion hurts women.”

http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/resources/abortion/after-an-abortion/how-abortion-hurts-women/

http://www.mccl.org/abortion-hurts-women-too

Here is a popular False cause: Since we have so many temperature readings and scientific measurements of ice melting over the last 120 years; therefore, climate change must be caused by humans. Never mind the fact that we are on a ball hurtling through space at 70,000mph and spinning on its axis at 25,000mph which has experienced ice ages and multiple asteroid hits and mass extinctions in its long life well before the industrial age; so obviously, it’s all our fault and everything we are doing on the planet needs to be done differently. Of course, some will argue that last sentence was a straw man.

Another great modern argument is that no God exists; we are the masters of our own fate creating our own values and that given these two there is still a reason and purpose to exist. A true, honest and wonderfully sincere atheist will know the logical outcome of their belief system is that there is no reason or purpose for life, there is no good or evil, no right or wrong, no reason to be happy or sad, no meaning for anything because those all require the existence of a God with moral standards. Why should Dawkins or Hitchens care if people believe in a God if nothing matters? They are imposing their atheistic religious values and morals in a world they believe has no meaning.  That is illogical. If there is no meaning to life, then logic has no value or meaning either. Nothing matters. Nothing is important. Nothing is of value, purpose, good or evil. Everything is permissible like in the above logical fallacies since nothing can have a higher value because that would require a supreme being to assign values and morals. How can one’s view of good/evil, right/wrong matter more than another’s if there is no God? This leads to the one with the most power winning: survival of the fittest. Folks like Mr. Dawkins and Mr. Hitchens are trying to redefine reality when reality is irrelevant. Why should anyone care? Maybe because they are making a lot of money and having fame from arguing against the God they do not believe in? They should thank Him!

We are in the modern dark ages where no morality matters. All of atheistic propaganda is racing toward its only goal: self-pleasure. Has no one seen or noticed that we in the USA are the most depressed, highly medicated and addicted society in the history of earth? What good are we to earth? Why should we bother to exist?

And opposing this is: Why do all humans everywhere on earth have a strong internal sense of right/wrong, just/unjust, good/evil, true/false, logic/foolish?

There seems no reason for reason, no purpose to morals, no value in good behavior, no logic for having logic, no purpose for meaning and existence. We are all just a waste of existence. Then why should we despair, be depressed and hopeless unless there really was a reason for everything? Why should we care? Why should we be dignified or honorable if those things do not exist or have eternal meaning?

“There is a difference between playing god and serving God,” Ravi Zacharias.

Here are a few misapplied and misunderstood verses where people have regularly done some picking and choosing of which parts they apply to themselves and others:

Matthew 7: “Judge not, that you be not judged. ² For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you. ³ Why do you see the speck that is in your brother's eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? ⁴ Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when there is the log in your own eye? ⁵ You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother's eye.

Luke 6: ³⁷ “Judge not, and you will not be judged; condemn not, and you will not be condemned; forgive, and you will be forgiven; ³⁸ give, and it will be given to you. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap. For with the measure you use it will be measured back to you.”

John 7: ²⁴ Do not judge by appearances, but judge with right judgment.”

So, we are actually told by God Incarnate to judge; just do it rightly according to God’s ways and means. Christians have not been doing this well and certainly not with enough LOVE.

Let’s admit we all judge others and that we really do suck at it. There must be something more. There must be real meaning and purpose.

At the end of life or now in your dark, lonely places, your gut and soul are crying out: “Do I matter?”

I tell you, you do. There is a reason. There is a purpose. You matter more than you know. You won’t find the answers in exercising your rights, sexual freedom, fame, wealth, pleasure or power. Those are where these endless pursuits wind up going nowhere and leaving us empty, broken and wanting something that works to satisfy our souls.

You only find meaning when you come to the end of yourself and learn that you have a broken heart and soul in great need of the unseen God Who really is in control and is the Author of Love. In His great patience He allows us to make a mess of things so badly that we finally understand we are responsible for all the junk, wounded by all the world’s brokenness and need to search for Him like a person dying of thirst in the Sahara.