A Review of 50 Shades of Grey: A Movie I've Never Seen (And Won't)

It goes without saying that attempting to write a review of a book without having actually read it is usually not a good idea. The same is certainly true for movies. It should seem obvious that I cannot speak to the qualities or issues of a movie if I haven't watched that movie. But sometimes I simply cannot in good conscience watch a movie, and yet that same conscience that prohibits me from viewing it also tells me that, as a minister of the gospel, I must speak up. So, I will not watch 50 Shades of Grey, nor will I read the book. And yet I will attempt to write a review. Such is the juxtaposition of my conscience's simultaneous prohibitions and compellings.


One way I could accomplish this would be to comb through other reviews of the book and movie and piece together a review based on what others have said. But as I will argue below, I am not convinced that doing so is appropriate. Instead, I am going to review a statement Paul makes in Ephesians 5:11-12 and apply that to 50 Shades of Grey, because I am persuaded that in these verses the Apostle not only makes it crystal clear that Christians ought not see this movie, but he also gives us an example for how to speak the truth on issues like this when we can not participate and so cannot address specific examples. He writes:

"Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them. For it is shameful even to speak of the things that they do in secret." (ESV)

We need to see that these verses occur in a context in which Paul has been drawing a stark dichotomy between light and darkness (beginning in verse 8). As believers, we are to walk as children of light and bear the fruit that is the hallmark of who we are: goodness, righteousness and truth (verse 9) and live in such a way that we try to discern what is pleasing to the Lord (verse 10). Unfruitful deeds of darkness are not pleasing to the Lord and so the Apostle commands Christians to have no part of them. "Do not share in the fruit of darkness," he says. In other words, do not participate in things which are contrary to who you are in Christ. You have been taken from the realm of darkness and "now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light" (verse 8).

This is important. Paul is building his prohibition in verse 11 on the fact that, as Christians, this is not who we are anymore. These works of darkness belong to a domain that is now foreign to who a Christian is. He does not speak of it directly here, but the image of the cross looms over these verses. As a Christian, I have been crucified with Christ. I have died to who I was and have been raised up to a new kind of life, a life whose fruit is goodness, righteousness and truth and pleases the Lord (see Romans 6:1-11). To participate now in these things that belong to the realm of darkness is to live as though that crucifixion never happened. Paul's prohibition doesn't come from thin air, not does it come from some useless, sex-fearing ethic of another age; it is tied to the eschatological reality of our deliverance from the old era of Adam and into the new era of Christ. Do not participate because that is not who you are anymore.

Instead of sharing in the works of darkness, Paul directs his readers to expose them. Christians have a responsibility not only to avoid participating in sinful activity but also to expose it for what it really is and where it comes from. How do we expose these secret things that hide in the darkness? By being who we are--children of light. The light of the life-changing, era-replacing gospel lived out in us illuminates every dark crevice in which these deeds are secretly done. The gospel dispels darkness. It reveals secrets. It uncovers every corner of the heart and exposes it to God's goodness, righteousness and truth. I am to walk as a child of light so that everywhere I go, this light will expose the unfruitful works of darkness which are vainly practiced in secret and set them in contrast to the darkness-piercing glory of God.

Isn't it interesting that Paul gives us no details about what exactly he is referring to as "unfruitful works of darkness"? He does not write a frame-by-frame review of these secret sins. He simply says that they are unfruitful works of darkness of such a wicked nature that he will not shame himself by speaking of them. As I would understand Paul, this probably means I should steer clear not only of the movie itself, but also of reviews, even those by well-meaning Christians, that include laundry lists of the film's depravity. It's just not necessary to read or speak of those things.

Instead, I am seeking to imitate Paul's example as I write this review. I do not need to see a movie like 50 Shades of Grey in order to expose its secrets, nor do I need to give example after example in order to demonstrate its depravity. I do not need to know the details in order to speak with the authority of the Word of God and say that, if you are a Christian, you do not belong in that theater. It is enough that, if you are a Christian, the things depicted in this movie do not belong to who you are in Christ. That is enough. Do not participate. Do not share in these secret works of darkness. I like the way Kevin DeYoung (@RevKevDeYoung) put it on February 10, 2015 in a Twitter post: "If some things should not be spoken, they should certainly not be viewed with popcorn (Eph.5:11-12)."

The Christian's Highest Affection

Last night my daughter screamed at her little brother. I mean, she let him have it at the top of her lungs! I had just returned from a conference and had brought her a little box of special soap and he broke the cardboard box that her soap had come in. And when my wife intervened, my daughter yelled at her as well. Over a soap box. At that point, I intervened. And after the intervention was over, I sat down with her to talk about what had happened.

"Why are you so upset?" I asked. "Because Haddon breaks my stuff and doesn't respect it," was her reply. Even though she wasn't yelling anymore (she never yells at me--one of the perks of being dad, nobody yells at me no matter how angry they might be), I could hear in her voice that the anger remained.

"It's just a box, honey. And your brother is only three years old. It isn't worth getting so upset that you yell at your brother, and it certainly isn't an excuse to raise your voice to your mom."

"But it's important to me," she said. "It is special because you gave it to me and he wrecked it even when I asked him not to."

And there it was. The little box was important to her. She valued it and she had turned on her little brother and her mother in unbridled fury because of the level of importance she had assigned to it. She had elevated her affection for that object over her affections for her family members and when something had happened to this little thing she so valued, she snapped. And she sinned.

We do the very same thing every time we sin, because sin, at it's root, is the preference of something over God. We were created to glorify God and enjoy Him forever. We were created with the purpose of desiring God over everything else. The psalmist wrote,

"Whom have I in heaven but You?
And besides You, I desire nothing on earth...
But as for me, the nearness of God is my good;
I have made the Lord God my refuge,
That I may tell of all Your works." (Psalm 73:25, 28)

This is the intent when God created us. This is the way things ought to be. Sadly, this is not the way things are.

Ever since the Fall, man has been supplanting God's rightful place in our lives with other things. When Eve gave into the serpent's temptation and ate the fruit, she desired something more then she desired God. Her desire for God was to be demonstrated by her obedience to His command, but in her disobedience, she demonstrated that He was not her greatest desire. This pattern has been repeated ever since.

And so it is with every sin. We sin whenever we desire something more then we desire God. When we yield to the temptation to sin, we are elevating the pleasure experienced in connection with that sin over the value of God in our lives and the joy that comes when things are in their proper perspective. We are declaring that we do not believe that God's nearness is our good, and we are putting our faith in something else. Sin is the unseating of God from the throne of our lives. He is displaced and replaced. And He will not share His glory with another.

As a Christian, I must learn to understand sin as God sees it. I must learn to see that for me to desire anything more then I desire Him is to sin against Him. This means that I must constantly be aware of the enticements around me, especially those that are not sinful in and of themselves, but can become issues of sin if I elevate them above God. In this series of posts, it is my hope to address how the Christian can do battle with this enemy that continuously seeks to unseat God from His rightful place as our highest affection.

Desiring God Pastor's Conference

I just returned from the 2015 Desiring God Pastor's Conference  in Minneapolis and I thought I would share a few thoughts on the experience. In the coming days I hope to post  a few remarks on each of the plenary messages.

This was my first time at a DG conference, so I have nothing to compare it to as a means of judging this year's event from previous events. All in all, I thought it was an excellent conference. The conference theme was"The Rebellion of Man and the Abundance of Grace." There were six plenaries (DG has made the videos available), each of which addressed an aspect related to this theme.

• The Origin, Essence, and Definition of Sin (John Piper)
• In Adam All Die: Sin's Guilt and Curruption and the Remedy of God's Grace (Bryan Chapell)
• The Wages of Sin: The Punishment of Evil at the Cross and in Hell (Conrad Mbewe)
• The Guilt of the Nations and the Gospel of Repentance (Steve Childers)
• Make War: The Pastor and His People in the Battle Against Sin (John Piper)
• O, That Day, When Freed From Sinning (Sam Storms)

In addition to the plenaries, there were workshop tracks for participants to attend, including tracks for elders, pastors, worship leaders and women (as I understand it, this was the first year that DG invited women to attend the pastor's conference). I wish that there had been more workshops available. As it was, they only offered them on the first day of the conference.

I enjoyed a series of short talks on the seven deadly sins. A new book on the topic has been published on the topic and each of the authors took turns talking for about 10 minutes each on one of these besetting sins. It was a unique approach to a subject that usually doesn't find a lot of attention in protestant circles. You can view these talks here.

The bookstore was typical, with recommended reading on the conference theme, and there were the usual representation of seminaries and colleges. A number of ministries were on-site as well, and it was neat to talk with their representatives and hear how God has been working through them. 

I was impressed with the music that led off each session. It was deep, theologically rich, and Christ-centered. I heard a number of songs that I was unfamiliar with, but they were easy to pick up and sing. Far from being performance-oriented, the music was clearly designed to invite conference attendees to participate in worshiping God. I have already recommended several songs to those involved with music at my home church to consider including in our repertoire.

All in all, the conference was excellent and I enjoyed it a great deal. The plenary messages were the highlight. Each speaker was passionate about his material and subject and crafted his message with pastors in mind. Each speaker is himself a pastor and so understands well the challenges of ministering to people.

Finally, the conference is in the process of transferring from Desiring God to Bethlehem College and Seminary. This year (and next) was a cooperative effort between the two, after which Bethlehem will be taking over organizational responsibilities. 

"God Gave Them Over..."

"God gave them over..."

These words, repeated three times, are found in the first chapter of Paul's letter to the Romans, and of all the commentary written on the human condition, these words might be the saddest of all, for they represent the reality of a horror that few are aware exists, much less that is descriptive of them.

"God gave them over" means that God, in response to man's demand, turns him over to himself. He gives him what he wants. When we reject Him as God, preferring another or other gods, God responds by turning us over to ourselves.

To some, this may sound pretty good, but here's the problem: we are simply terrible at being God. We suck at it. We are immeasurably bad at it. If being God were playing golf, we would not even be allowed on the course because of how totally devoid we are of any skill whatsoever. It is the highest form of hubris to think that we can do better then God, that we know better, and yet that is exactly what we do when we say, "no thanks, God. I'm not interested in You. I prefer someone else, someone of my own design." This is what we have done in exchanging the glory of the incorruptible for the corruptible. Thinking ourselves so wise, we do the dumbest, most foolish thing we can do. We reject the best for the worst when we should give Him glory and thanks. After all, that is the reasonable thing to do.

But we are not operating according to reason, a reality made evident by virtue of the fact that we can't even see how terrifically awful we are at being God. Our minds have been darkened. It is a frightening fact that when we reject the truth, when we walk away from the light, we lose all ability to distinguish truth from untruth. Stumbling along blindly, the dangers that lie in our path are not recognized until we have already stumbled over them, and by then it is too late to do anything about it with our new god-powers. And yet we stubbornly continue on, foolishly and irrationally clinging to the fiction which is that we know what we are doing and that we can do it a lot better then God can. We abandon the truth and we embrace a lie. A lie nearly as old as creation itself. A lie which claims that God is superfluous, unnecessary, like a divine appendix. He can stay there so long as He's quiet, but if He causes us any trouble, we are better off without Him.

And so we declare that, for all practical purposes, God is dead. He has been usurped by another, and this god is in full agreement with us. Because he/she/it is us. This god may take many forms, from a golden calf to a stack of money to a __________-- you fill in the blank. But in the end, no matter the form it may take, what we are doing is declaring that we ourselves are god. We give ourselves the glory and we give ourselves the thanks (how silly we must look thanking ourselves! It's like a monumental delusion of grandeur blended with a heaping scoop of schizophrenia.) And we thumb our nose at the now-useless God and with a hearty "amen" declare ourselves blessed forever.

And God let's us do it. He gives us over to ourselves: to our lusts, to our passions and to the depravity of our minds. "This is what you want?" He asks. "Very well, this is what you shall receive." And the gavel drops and the sentence is pronounced and we walk out of the courtroom smirking, thinking ourselves so wise.

And hell begins.

Because we have exchanged the Lord for a lord, and that is never a wise capital investment. The return is simply atrocious. Furthermore (and oh, this is rich!), as a result of God confirming upon us what we have demanded, we are blinded to the blunder we have made. We barrel on mindlessly, stupidly unaware of the danger because we have demanded that all proximity alarms be deactivated. As a result of this horrible judgment of God--a judgment which we ourselves demanded--our very minds become enslaved to our stupidity. We have not emancipated ourselves from God. We have only exchanged Him for one who does not regard us as He does, but rather enslaves us to ourselves with a hiss and an asphyxiating squeeze.

There is the irony! Like a snake that begins to devour itself tail-first, so it is the way of man, slowly destroying himself while simultaneously believing that all is well. Sin upon sin, building on itself and then building on itself some more. Higher and higher and with greater depravity, until at last this monstrosity we have been constructing becomes more then we can maintain and comes crashing down. We have demanded more then we can bear. We do not possess the ability to be God and at last that truth dawns on us. But the light which brings this dawning of understanding does not bring with it a relief from the oppressive weight, for it is not the light of salvation. Rather it is the light given off by a destructive fire that never fully destroys and never is extinguished. We have asked for a life without God. God has obliged us in our request.

And hell begins.

Christ as the Climax of History

In his commentary on Romans¹, Doug Moo presents a conceptual framework for understanding what has taken place in Christ. He writes:

"God's work in Christ is the center of history, the point from which both past and future must be understood...With Christ as the climax of history, then, history can be divided into two 'eras.' or 'aeons,' each with its own founder--Adam and Christ, respectively--and each with its own ruling powers--sin, the law, flesh, and death on the one hand; righteousness, grace the Spirit, and life on the other. All people start out in the 'old era' by virtue of participation in the act by which it was founded--the sin of Adam...But one can be transferred into the 'new era' by becoming joined to Christ, the founder of that era, thereby participating in the acts through which that era came into being--Christ's death, burial, and resurrection."

I have taken the liberty of creating a graphic to try and capture Dr. Moo's argument:

As Moo notes, this was the popular way that the Jews understood the division of history. However, Paul nuances his understanding by recognizing that while "the new era has begun--has been inaugurated--...it has not yet replaced the old era. Both ages exist simultaneously..." The ruling powers of the old era are still functional in spite of the presence of the ruling powers of the new era. Moo writes,

Thus, the 'change of aeons,' while occurring historically at the cross...becomes real for the individual only at the point of faith. The 'change of aeons' that took place in Christ is experienced only 'in Christ.' Therefore, the person who lives after Christ's death and resurrection and who has not appropriated the benefits of those events by faith lives in the old era; enslaved to sin, in the flesh, doomed to eternal death."

The following graphic illustrates this concept.

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1 Douglas J. Moo. The Epistle to the Romans. Grand Rapids: W.B. Eerdmans, 1996. 25-27.^↩

Trembling At His Word

The last chapter of Isaiah begins like this:

Thus says the Lord:

“Heaven is My throne,
And earth is My footstool.
Where is the house that you will build Me?
And where is the place of My rest?
For all those things My hand has made,
And all those things exist,”
Says the Lord.
“But on this one will I look:
On him who is poor and of a contrite spirit,
And who trembles at My word.

In these verses, the prophet proclaims that the Lord who is sovereign over all of creation says that what He values the most--the one to whom He will turn His gaze--is the one who is poor and has a contrite spirit and trembles at His word.

I have been thinking about that last line all day. And as I have thought about it, I have been asking myself, "Is this true of me? Do I tremble at His Word?" Do I even want to?

I recently heard Francis Chan say something related to this as he was recounting something one of his seminary professors had said to his class. It was a warning. A warning that the great danger of seminary is that the student can get into the habit of hearing and knowing the Word of God, but not doing anything about it. That can easily happen in a church as well. It can happen to me. It can happen to you.

Imagine for a moment what it must have been like to be one of the disciples who accompanies Jesus onto the Mount of Transfiguration. What that experience must have been like! To see what they saw, a glimpse of Jesus glory, Unmasked. Unshrouded. And then this voice comes from heaven: "This is My Son. Listen to Him." I would have been trembling at His word then, that's for sure!

So why don't I tremble at the reading of God's Word? Why does it not regularly result in an obedient response from me, the appropriate response of a poor and contrite heart that recognizes itself as such? I am good with Bible study, but how about Bible obedience?

Could it be that I have formed a habit of hearing and even knowing the Word, but not doing anything about it? This is a question I need to meditate upon on a regular basis with a sense of my own poverty and a contrite spirit.

No Partition Wall for Whitefield

"The year of 1730, a notable one for American Christianity, witnessed the arrival of 26-year-old George Whitefield, already famous for his evangelical preaching in England. Whitefield, a Church of England priest, welcomed as co-laborers Baptists, Presbyterians, Quakers, Lutherans, Congregationalists, Dutch Reformed, and anyone else who preached individual conversion. As he crossed the Atlantic, he wrote to a clergyman friend in England: 'The partition wall has for some time been broken down out of my heart, and I can truly say whoever loves the Lord Jesus, “the same is my brother, and sister, and mother.'"

~ Raymond Settle

Whitefield echos here another great evangelist, the Apostle Paul, who wrote these words to the church in Colossae:

"But now you also, put them all aside: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and abusive speech from your mouth. Do not lie to one another, since you laid aside the old self with its evil practices, and have put on the new self who is being renewed to a true knowledge according to the image of the One who created him—a renewal in which there is no distinction between Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave and freeman, but Christ is all, and in all. So, as those who have been chosen of God, holy and beloved, put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience; bearing with one another, and forgiving each other, whoever has a complaint against anyone; just as the Lord forgave you, so also should you. Beyond all these things put on love, which is the perfect bond of unity." ~ Colossians 3:8-14

For Paul and for Whitefield, the great unifier of the Church is Jesus Christ who "is all, and in all." For believers, this means that certain things must change with respect to how we relate to one another; how we disagree with one another; how we challenge one another. We do no have permission to see anyone with whom we share the benefits of the cross as anything less then as Paul refers to us: "those who have been chosen of God, holy and beloved..."

This does not mean, of course, that we cannot disagree or challenge one another--Whitefield's disagreements with John Wesley are legendary, and Paul was certainly no wilting flower when it came time to address those with whom he disagreed. But in these disagreements, we have no right to see our fellow Christian as less then God does, nor to treat them, publicly or privately, in thought or word, in any manner other then with compassion, kindness, gentleness, and patience. Anything less is to put on the old self and the evil practices that comprise its DNA and to rebuild the partition wall that the Lord seeks to break down in each of our hearts.