Fifty Shades of Grey or Old Fashioned

Maybe I'm "old fashioned" because God is!

Malachi 3:6 (ESV) “For I the Lord do not change; therefore you, O children of Jacob, are not consumed."
Hebrews 13:8 (ESV) "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever."

Resistance to change is "old fashioned". Righteousness is not dynamic. Iniquity is constant. I believe what was wrong for the patriarchs was wrong for those of apostolic times, was wrong when Queen Victoria reigned and is still wrong today! "Victorian" is the word which describes prudery which existed in the British Empire during Victoria's reign (1837-1901).

"The Church demanded obedience to God, submissiveness and resignation with the goal of making people more malleable to the will of the Church...  Thus emerged Methodism, Congregationalism, The Society of Friends (Quakers) and Presbyterianism. The Methodists and Presbyterians in particular stressed personal salvation through direct individual faith in Jesus Christ's sacrificial death and resurrection on the behalf of sinners, as taught in the New Testament Gospels and the writings of the Apostles Peter, James and Paul...they combined both their religious beliefs with individual duty—duty to one's God, fellow man, social class, neighbour, the poor and the ill." (Wikipedia on Victorian Morality").

I'm old fashioned. Much of my furniture is antique, much from the Victorian era. I even sleep in a Victorian bed (Eastlake).  I not only admire the Victorian era for morals, but for its beauty and utility.

People were more religious in Victorian times. True, people still sinned, but were respectable enough to keep sin out of public life. Sure, that was hypocrisy on the part of Christians, but at the minimum, there was shame in sinning. People still were sinners; they just never tried to justify what they did. Nobody could say "everybody is doing it" because there was shame in sinning, but better yet, "most people were not flagrant sinners"!

"Flagrant" is used in the context of "proud sinners". These people chose not to sin with an "in your face, take me as I am attitude". With their individual relationship with God, most Victorians endeavored to do right. Their desire was to please God and they wanted others to do the same. In effect being a Christian was "cool" in Victorian times and society in general was generous to those people of faith! I'm old fashioned. I believe that being a Christian is an honorable thing, but more important than my thoughts, is that Christianity in God's eyes is a necessary thing!

Romans 6:23 (ESV) "For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord."

I'm old fashioned! I believe in rewards and punishments for what we believe and how we live! I'm old fashioned. My hope is eternal life and to live forever. My desire is to be old fashioned. It's no longer in vogue, but I desire to please God! In fact in order to show that I love God, the only way I have to do that is to give him a gift. I am a living sacrifice in that I must sacrifice myself:

 Romans 12:1  (ESV)  "I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. 2 Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect."

That is old fashioned, but it's what God's will is for us! We are to sacrifice ourselves by obeying God, which is to say, "quit doing what I want to do and do what God wants me to do". That's old fashioned, and is the way we show our love for God! What is also old fashioned, is that sin has always been and it's old fashioned too! However, we're not to conform to the standards of the world, but are to become new creatures, discerning the will of God and living it! That part is old fashioned, but in a righteous context!

Now, lets' look at the modern era: contemporary society.  We live the same now as in the days of Noah:

Genesis 6:12 (ESV) "And God saw the earth, and behold, it was corrupt, for all flesh had corrupted their way on the earth." Matthew 24:37 For as were the days of Noah, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. 38 For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day when Noah entered the ark, 39 and they were unaware until the flood came and swept them all away, so will be the coming of the Son of Man."

Yes, sin is old fashioned too, but so is paying the penalty for sin. God destroyed the earth because sin was in vogue, and he's going to do that again! Mankind has yet to learn its lesson! Living for Jesus is the only way to be saved from destruction, but that's Victorian... that's old fashioned. It's sin that's in vogue today. People doing what's right in their own eyes! (Deuteronomy 12:8).

At one era of my life, most people were ashamed of their sin. In my town for the few who chose to drink alcohol, they bought it in another town and drank it at home. I know that people fornicated. There were a few in my small town, but it was merely rumored. People were ashamed of their lascivious behavior because they knew it was wrong and condemned by their fellow men. Being ashamed is now old fashioned. People are proud of their sins and display the sin for all to see! It's because they are reprobate and know they're damned. Their choice is, since they are damned anyway, why not enjoy the pleasure of sin?

Christians are going along for the ride! They, as their fleshly brothers, have little shame. Their entertainment is the same entertainment as their lost (and damned) brothers and sisters. Oftentimes the only way to know if a person is a Christian is because they claim to be. There is little righteousness in most Christians lives for if they loved God, as they say they do, they would obey his commands. (1 John 2:3).

On February 14, 2015 two movies came out. Fifty Shades of Grey set records. I wasn't there because I'm old fashioned. I believe sex is for husband and wife, it's a private adventure, it's not to be confused with violence and it's not so that others can be entertained by watching it! That's old fashioned thinking because today "anything goes" just as in the times of Noah and Sodom and Gomorrah.  The second movies was Old Fashioned. Have you even heard of it? I had not until yesterday.

While many Christians flocked to see Fifty Shades of Grey, many obedient people did stay away.  That was the right thing to do! What Satan had to show them was of little interest. Maybe other people were a little old fashioned as well because now people have caught on: Christians, no... no one, should watch pornography disguised as art. There is nothing artful about sadistic and masochistic sex. It's for deviates because that's what deviates do!

Few people saw the alternative, Old Fashioned! I did! I'm old fashioned and that's what's entertaining to me. However, I've never been a prude, and have been a great sinner, but I really enjoyed this movie! As I can, a great sinner, this movie can be enjoyed by anyone. I saw it last night with a young friend who also is old fashioned. It was shown only at 4:00 p.m. because few people wanted to see it. In the large theater were only about ten people. It seems that people prefer the prurient to what is pure! They are old fashioned too, but in a fleshly sense!

Let me recommend that you see this movie, and I won't give away the plot. It is about Christian principle. It's about a great sinner who received the light and endeavored to do the will of God. Although the man was single, he had a desire for a young tenant of his living above the antique store fittingly called "Old Fashioned". Because of his fleshly desires he would not be in a private place alone with her and could not kiss other than on the cheek. That's old fashioned thinking, but that's the type of relationship God expects in an engagement!

Old Fashioned is about world's colliding. I use that term often when speaking of relationships between two members of the opposite sex, but in this movie, the male lead had his own two worlds colliding. Their was tension between what he desired to do and how he should behave. That tension carried over into his relationship with the female lead. His new person that he was, caused tension with the girl of interest. This movie is not about neither sex nor religion, it's about pure relationships! It's about not being blinded by what individuals desire and about what society expects, but about honesty in relationships. Honesty carries over into fairness. It's about fairness in relationships!

The prurient will enjoy this movie along with the pure, but for different reasons. People who're used to seeing others "using" will see the bright side in fidelity! Even the most lustful will see desire in what's pure. This movie made me want to be even more blameless than what I now only try to be. It's a lesson on the freedom that there is in obedience; the load lifted from the guilty! If we all could have Christian principles, life would be so much easier, there would be less strife and God would be more pleased with his creation.

On the realistic side, the movie ends when the paramour quits obeying because of obedience sake, and realizes that there is a pleasurable side to obedience as well. He came to see that there is liberty in obedience as long as it's done with righteous motives. This Old Fashioned  movie was quite entertaining! There was something else Old Fashioned:  the movie had a happy ending without a the climax sinners come to expect. I won't give that away, but will leave that for the viewer to see. Four thumbs up without one curse word or sex scene!