In the bookish community, E. L James’ Fifty Shades of Grey had women rushing to their local bookstores to
buy and devour the three books in this series.
In the Christian community, this erotic series also struck a nerve, only
this time women ran to the pulpit and warned fellow Christians that by
reading these books you were essentially committing adultery against your
husbands. Now, I would almost never read
romance novels, let alone those classified as erotica. But as a Christian
living in a secular world, I yearn to practice acceptance and unconditional
love, to show the love of Jesus to the world.
Unfortunately, outright condemnation of books does not accomplish this
goal. And so I, along with my husband
(he’s pretty amazing!), set out to discern the real meaning of Fifty Shades of Grey.
We were surprised.
Pleasantly surprised.
While the vivid intimate scenes were, um . . . .interesting and not for innocent virgin
eyes, the book encompasses so much more than sex. And so, to dwell on the sexual content of the
book would be doing EL James a disservice.
In my perspective, the BDSM aspect of the novel adds a layer of
complexity to an already intriguing story that ultimately captured me.
Fifty
Shades of Grey tells a love story.
And both participants are believable, unsuspecting and innocent in their
own way. On the one side we have the
incredibly gorgeous and wealthy Christian Grey.
On the outside he appears to be an arrogant and entitled man. Yet, on the inside, he is broken. This brokenness fosters his apparent need for
domineering relationships. But this
brokenness also draws in the young and innocent Ana. Ana’s innocence is tangible. Having never been involved in a serious relationship,
she has a lot to learn from Christian.
But, like most women, she is indecisive. Throughout the novel, she is confronted by
her two inner voices: her subconscious counterpoised against her inner
goddess. Her subconscious will not allow herself to
believe that plain, yet intelligent Ana, could be in love with the fifty shades
of messed up Grey. But her inner goddess
rejoices in the way he makes her feel.
This push and pull is familiar and relatable.
This first novel of the trilogy centers on the need for
“more”. Both characters long for
something: Christian for his contract relationship and Ana for a man to love her
and treat her with respect. Isn't life always about wanting more?
I’m a sucker for a good love story. E. L. James tells a moving, albeit
unrealistic, story of two people who cannot seem to imagine life without each
other. I might not recommend Fifty Shades of Grey to all my friends,
but we, in the Christian community, should not condemn a novel merely because
it involves sexual material. Instead,
let us practice love, not the romantic love we’re reading about, but the love
God shares for all of humanity, broken and all.
