Coincidentally, there were two highly publicized reports of sexual exhibitionism across the country over the same weekend that the film opened.
In one story, a man and woman who had just met on a trolley began making out in a very public area of a strip mall in Chula Vista, California. The couple reportedly rolled around on the ground kissing and caressing each other in full view of many people before things got really crazy and well, you can read the rest here.
In another story from the weekend, a couple snuck into a football stadium in Knoxville, Tennessee and reportedly took pictures of their rendezvous, posting them to multiple social media platforms.
What in the world is going on?
I can't point to the release of 50 Shades and directly link the film's opening to these acts of indecency, but I can absolutely point to the fact that there's a spirit of sexual degradation loose in this country.
While there are multiple movements aimed at ending sexual slavery & trafficking, millions support a film portraying and even celebrating the reality of such sexual behavior.
Sadly, many "Christians" helped drive the box office totals for the movie.
Combine all of that with what's happening with a homosexual agenda that has organizations spending millions on "equality" projects, and you see there's an all-out war on Biblical sexual ethics.
Seeing the spirit of this age move in such drastic measures to promote deviant sexual behavior, don't you think it's time for the church of the living God to lovingly raise its voice on issues of sexuality?
I recently listened to a series on love, marriage, & relationships by a prominent mega-church pastor. He touched on a lot of things, but sadly adultery, fornication, homosexuality, cohabitation, divorce and pornography were not among his chosen topics. Those things didn't even come up during the course of the weeks-long teaching.
This man has 5,000 or more people on a regular weekly basis in a major metropolitan area of the United States. He's not the only one either. Others have skirted around the homosexual issue for years. It seems as if skating around the topic of sexual ethics has become a norm in the mega-church setting.
I'm not saying these ministers should stand up and blast homosexuals or those addicted to porn or cohabiting couples, but if the subjects are never even broached in the church setting, how are congregants going to deal with these real-life issues?
Honestly, if a regular attendee is living an immoral lifestyle and hasn't been confronted with his or her sin through the normal course of Biblical teaching, something is wrong. Just ask the Corinthian church how that ends up.
The church has the key to moral sexuality. God did not gloss over the subject of sex in His word. In fact, God created sex. And with that wonderful gift to humankind, He laid out a set of guidelines and instructions to use it properly. So, it only makes sense that His people, the Church, would talk about sex in the proper context.
No, I'm not talking about being crude in discussing every last detail in a mixed setting, but the Word of God is great at outlining the sexual ethic without having to venture into terribly uncomfortable, explicit detail (even though Leviticus doesn't spare the minutest detail).
In this ever-increasing sexually immoral society, it's time for God's people to speak up and gracefully teach on Biblical sexuality. Pop culture isn't afraid to teach the masses a distorted message on sexuality. We have God's answers. The creator of one of the greatest expressions of human love and relationships gave us an owner's manual on the subject. Shouldn't we consult it from time to time?
