First, a small confession. Hi, my name is A and I love reading trashy romance novels. Smut. Paranormal, BDSM, Historical, it doesn’t really matter the type.
In my many years of extensive romance reading I’ve learned some things, but the one thing I learned most is….
IT’S NOT REAL!!
Even if the by-line says based off a true story, it almost never is what really happened.
Which brings us to today’s question:
Can you love God and Christian Grey? MAJOR SPOILERS THROUGHOUT
The easy answer is yes but as anyone who loves God knows, easy is not the road we get in life.(Matthew 7:14) Loving God is hard, especially for a woman like myself, who relies so heavily on things she can see and touch and hear.
So Christian Grey. What is there to love about a fictional man who refers to himself as a sadist? PS, if you haven’t read the books, he’s not a sadist.
- Ambition. CG is a young millionaire. Stripped down to the core, it is a character who does his work, so he never has to know the feeling of being hungry or poor again. He invests in companies that feed the poor and gives to charities that help children. There are a lot of verses that mention self-ambition as a sin, but I think Philippians 2:4 best describes his motives. He works to help others and the money only serves to protect him from the feeling of despair he once felt.
- Passion. Anyone who says that CG is not a passionate man has never read/seen the books/movies. Anyone who says that JC was not a passionate man has never read the bible. Even in the stuffiest KJV, the Bible is full of passion. Jesus destroyed a temple market for heaven’s sake. There’s a whole book dedicated to sexually passion.(Song of Solomon) Mr. Grey is so passionate about Anastasia Steele, he changes his whole life for her. He changes his beliefs and actions all to prove his love to her. Isn’t that the the same thing Christ is asking of us? Passion and proof that we love Him?
- Self-Control. Alright, I can hear you thinking. A, that is not the control God had in mind when he lists the fruit of the spirit. True, but we are stripping this down to its most basic meaning. Being in control, thinking before you act or speak, the ability to stop when you feel yourself going too far in any activity. This is self-control at its core and CG is self-control in writing. We won’t dive into his need for sexual control, but the man is a self-made millionaire. You don’t get to be that way with having no self-control.
So now that I’ve pointed out a few reasons to love Christian Grey I would like to reiterate…
HE IS NOT REAL!!!
Even in the world of trashy romance novels, Mr. Grey and Ms. Steele are a horrible representation of a BDSM relationship.
So the real question of the day is can you love God and read romantic fiction?
Can you love God and read? Yes.
Can you love God and read fiction? Yes.
Can you love God and read romance fiction?…Yes. the key is to remember the fiction and less of the romance.
With every book there is something to learn. It is that way with the Bible, it is that way with the autobiography of Justin Bieber, and it is that way in 50 Shades. Also, what I learn from a book will most likely not be the same thing you learn from a book. Sure, there’s books like Everyone Poops that have the universal lesson that poop happens, but once you getting past 3rd grade reading level, the lessons start to differ.
The key to anything pleasing in life is moderation and reflection.
Why are you doing what you think is a bad thing? What are your motives behind it and does it interfere with your relationship with God?
When I read romances because I miss and crave that feeling of love and adoration then yes it effects my relationship with Christ. It’s at those times I have to walk away from romances and read my Bible and pray more.
But when I read for reading’s sake, or to relax. I see it no differently than someone who plays video games, watches tv, or does karaoke. It is fun and enjoyable and a great way to de-stress.
My last advise would be to those who dare to read in public with the covers showing. Bravo, but remember that sometimes your neighbor can’t see the difference from reading for fun and reading for needs. It may send them into a spiral of sin so tread carefully. Kind of like how you are curb you drug use around addicts so as not to tempt them or when you don’t get the bacon cheeseburger when you got out to dinner with your vegetarian friend. It’s not required, it’s just polite.
So to sum it up; Christian Grey is not a bad man(he is a badly designed character though). You are not a bad Christian if reading smut makes you happy. You are a bad Christian only if reading smut makes you happier than Jesus. Remember that Fiction is the key word in romantic fiction and sometimes it’s just polite to put the cover away.
Modern Miss Bennet 