Shane Pruitt is warning Christians that the call to pursue purity in the films and media they consume isn’t just for men but also for women.
Pruitt is an author and the Southern Baptist Convention’s (SBC) Director of Next Gen Evangelism for the North American Mission Board (NAMB).
Pruitt’s message comes after the 2015 film “Fifty Shades of Grey” made an appearance in Netflix’s Top 10 most watched movies this week.
“Fifty Shades of Grey” (first released in 2015) has resurfaced, and is currently back in the Top 10 on Netflix,” Pruitt posted on social media. “My sisters, who claim to follow Jesus, if you’re praying for your husbands and sons to have clean eyes and pure hearts, but you’re also consuming this trash…You need to know that’s a very mixed and hypocritical message.”
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“Purity in what you watch is not only for men,” he added. “It’s for you too.”
The nearly 10-year-old film stars Dakota Johnson and Jamie Dorman and is based on an erotic novel of the same title. “Fifty Shades of Grey” grossed more than $569 million worldwide and set a box office record for the highest-grossing R-rated film Universal Pictures has ever released overseas.
The film comes with a strong R rating due to graphic sex scenes that include graphic nudity, bondage, discipline, sadism, and masochism (BDSM).
In 2015, Kevin DeYoung, senior pastor of Christ Covenant Church in Matthews, North Carolina, said, “There is nothing gray about whether a follower of Christ should see 50 Shades of Grey. This is a black and white issue. Don’t go. Don’t watch it. Don’t read it. Don’t rent it.”
DeYoung went on to say that “sex is a wonderful gift from God, but like all God’s gifts it can be opened in the wrong context and repackaged in ugly wrapping.”
“Violence against women is not acceptable just because she’s open to the suggestion,” he said, “and sex is not open to all permutations, even in an adult relationship.”
