Lately a lot of articles and reviews from Christian sources (and elsewhere) have been popping up on my newsfeed about the recently released movie, 50 Shades of Grey.
In no way do I agree with or condone the behaviours and attitudes promoted by this film and the books from which it was inspired, but I do want to look at this a little bit deeper.
It would seem that a lot of the reviews, articles and "open letters" floating around in internet land are quite critical of what the writers have labelled as sexual, physical and emotional abuse, domestic violence and blatant pornography.
There is a pervading sense of black and white faith that this seems to fit into nicely, namely the "That behaviour is wrong, and I am right to judge it accordingly". Indeed there are quite a number of scriptures in the Bible that can be used to justify this kind of position on any number of issues.
But is faith really so black and white?
Do we have the authority to really determine what is right and what is not and judge accordingly? Where does the line get drawn? It's not ok to lure someone into a sexually dominant relationship? Maybe, according to my standards. Is it ok to enjoy your partner taking charge during sexual encounters? Now the questions start to get a little murkier.
Is it ok to be verbally dominating over your partner in public? To yell at them, shame them, humiliate them? What about in private? Is it ok to have disagreements that escalate into shouting matches with verbal arrows that cut right to the heart?
Just where do we draw the line? Jesus drew the line at getting angry at all (Matthew 5:22). Are we even meant to judge ourselves and others by Jesus' standards? Did Jesus?
Wait, wait, wait
Back up there a second. Did I just say what you thought I said? Maybe, maybe not. How did Jesus' words and actions line up? Jesus loved to take the black and white stances of the religious and political elite of his day and supercharge them.
He often said things like, "You have heard it said", and, "but I say to you" He then proceeded to make the law absolutely impossible for even the elite to follow, as if it wasn't hard enough already.
But do Jesus' actions follow his statements? Does he then proceed to judge everyone by his new standards of righteousness? Where is he found? In the company of "sinners" - prostitutes, the disabled, drunkards, and I dare say, wife beaters.
Jesus was more interested in building relationships than in judging anyone. In fact John chapter 3, verse 17 makes a point of saying Jesus had not come to judge the world, but to save it. And so there he was, building relationships with people despite their sin, not ever holding it against them, and pointing out that the rules that we make to separate ourselves from the world are useless in our Father's eyes.
He constantly takes our black and white view of the world and invites us to move into the murkier, messier waters of relationship.
Jesus called out to Zacchaeus, one of the most reviled "sinners" in his community and announced that He wished to be a guest in his house (Luke chapter 19, verses 1-10). This was enough to transform Zacchaeus' heart and bring him not only into repentance, but into relationship with Jesus and restoration with his community. In Jesus own words, "salvation has come to this house". Not through judgment of Zacchaeus' sin, but through the revelation that God was pleased to be with him.
Maybe it is all well and good to make judgement calls on the things around us, and the actions we see in others. But does it stop us from building relationships with those same people?
If Christian Grey were to pop up in my world, and made me privy to his actions, would I still be able to love him, to continue to affirm my relationship with him despite any revulsion I might have in his lifestyle?
Would you?
Would Jesus?
Russell Croft has a heart for community and reaching out to the marginalised and forgotten. He is currently studying a Diploma of Youth Work with Praxis Victoria and living the journey of faith with his wife Belinda and three children in the eastern suburbs of Melbourne, Australia.
Russell Croft's previous articles may be viewed at http://www.pressserviceinternational.org/russell-croft.html