Pulling Back the Shades Launch Team!

"...so as to live for the rest of the time in the flesh no longer for human passions but for the will of God." 1 Peter 4:2

     I am thrilled and honored to have been chosen as a member of the launch team to help promote the new book, Pulling Back the Shades, by Dannah Gresh and Dr. Juli Slattery!

     Is it possible for Christian women to be both sexual and spiritual? Or must we exchange one for the other? Is it God's desire for his married daughters to repress their healthy sexual yearnings while camouflaged behind "mommy porn?" God is pleased and honored when his daughters find their desires fulfilled and their sexual longings satisfied with the man he has given them as their husband. Why? Because His is the beautiful creator of sex and the author of the cravings we possess for our spouse.

     Perhaps you have read Fifty Shades of Grey and don't understand the "hype" against it. Or perhaps you're a Christian wife who was drawn into the propaganda and succumbed to purchasing the book (hoping you didn't bump into your pastor at the bookstore)! Furthermore, while reading you were secretly aroused despite the fact you felt conviction with the turning of each page. Now you are left holding a distorted view of sexual intimacy fueled by pain and humiliation instead of the self-giving love God created. If this describes you, I want to say, "I'm sorry." I'm sorry that Satan's lies are so subtle and easily bought. I'm sorry for any destruction that has come to your marriage bed, but I want to assure you we serve a God of redemption! He can take anything the accuser meant for harm and use it for good (Rom 8:28). In the words of Christian singer Jason Gray, "Nothing is wasted in the hands of our Redeemer." So I encourage you to run to the Savior and ask for his forgiveness. He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins when we ask him (1 John 1:9) and then begin following him on the road to restoration and healing.

     So, on to the question at hand, "Have I read Fifty Shades of Grey?" Let me say, with as much humility and indisbutably lacking condemnation towards others as I can convey, "No, I've not read Fifty Shades of Grey." This is one path in which God's grace enabled me to remain strong in my convictions, but just as I say this, I humbly admit I don't always choose the right path; therefore I don't saunter haughtily past those with book in hand. I simply understand through many of my own life's circumstances and consequences how crafty Satan can be.

     For those interested, here are my two (yes, only two!) reasons I have not read Shades:

1. I want to honor God through holiness. A Christian's body belongs to the Lord, is a member of Christ, and the dwelling place of the Holy Spirit. I was bought at a steep price, the blood of Christ, and am now called to "glorify God in my body" (1Cor 6:20). Christ didn't shed his blood for me so that I could continue in my former ignorance and passions (1 Pet 1:14). His calling is to be holy and any act of fornication, adultery, or any other sexual sin is committed by the believer in the Most Holy Place where God dwells (1 Cor 6:19). But you may ask, "Is erotica sin?" God's plan is for the fulfillment of sexual desire with my husband, so any sexual fulfillment absent of my husband is missing God's intention and therefore is simply the gratification of lust. We must not continue entertaining ourselves with which Christ died to free us!

2. I love and respect my husband. The Scriptures tell us "do nothing out of selfish ambition, but look to the interests of others" (Phil 2:4). Reading a book such as Shades is purely self-gratifying and not seeking the best interests of our spouse. To say you're reading it to enhance your sex life is simply a delusion. True "enhancing" can only be found within the mutual confines of the marital relationship, not through a one-sided fantasy. I love my husband too much to intentionally bring smut into our marriage bed and I respect him enough to allow him the honor of fulfilling our desires together.

     I don't need to give you a long list of reasons why this book is not suitable reading material for Christian women. When Jesus said, "Follow Me," he beckoned us to walk a narrow path that many in this world would choose to avoid. I am hopeful that Pulling Back the Shades will help women encounter authentic, god-glorifying sexual intimacy rekindling God's original design.