It’s a sign of our times when a movie is so sexually immoral that even reading reviews of it can veer toward the pornographic. But such is the case with Wuthering Heights, the film adaptation of the Emily Brontë novel that was released Friday to a very mixed reception.
One reviewer calls the film an “abomination.” Another calls it an “insult” to the novel’s characters and describes its sex scenes as “truly exhausting.” The New Yorker portrays some of these scenes in ways I will not reproduce here and hope you won’t read.
To switch “art” forms: the latest Sports Illustrated “Swimsuit Edition” is out. The magazine has been doing this since 1964, sometimes in nearly pornographic ways. This year’s edition does something new, however: it features six wives and girlfriends of prominent NFL players. Among them is Brittany Mahomes, whose husband is an iconic superstar widely considered one of the greatest quarterbacks of all time.
As with Wuthering Heights, I will neither link to the images nor view them myself. One reason is obvious: Jesus warned us that “everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart” (Matthew 5:28). We are therefore told to “flee from sexual immorality” (1 Corinthians 6:18), a command I intend to obey.
But the other reason is less obvious and constitutes the theme of my article today.
The three marks of a revolution
Last Thursday, I referred to the LGBTQ advocacy strategy I have been describing for years in books and articles: normalize unbiblical immorality, legalize it, stigmatize those who disagree, and criminalize such disagreement.
A reader responded by pointing me to a similar way of describing this strategy that I had not seen. In Reinventing Liberal Christianity, the British theologian Theo Hobson describes the three marks of a revolution:
- What was universally condemned is now celebrated.
- What was universally celebrated is now condemned.
- Those who refuse to celebrate are condemned.
As a means to advancing such a “revolution,” the first step is to normalize “what was universally condemned.” We are reticent to celebrate what we consider aberrant, so we must be convinced that what we thought was aberrant is actually normal.
With regard to sexual immorality, the enemy does this in two ways.
From models to mothers
The first is modeled by the women modeling very revealing swimwear in Sports Illustrated. In the past, athletes, actresses, and professional models have typically been the subjects of the annual publication. This year, however, the magazine chose wives and girlfriends of athletes, some of whom are known for their public roles as wives and mothers.
One result is the supposition that if “normal” people engage in activities we would have considered immoral, it must be normal for us to do the same.
The second way immorality is normalized is illustrated by Wuthering Heights and its extremely aberrant sex scenes. Even reading the reviews, it is clear to me that these are activities “normal” people would not even consider.
My concern is not that those who see the movie are now more likely to do what the characters did. It is that they will think, “If people do things like this, my more ‘normal’ sins must not be as sinful as I thought.”
And when any activity becomes normalized in society, we can expect society to want it to be legalized. We saw this with marijuana legalization, which the New York Times strongly advocated but now admits has “caused a rise in addiction and other problems,” with widespread hospitalizations and chronic psychotic disorders.
Nonetheless, it is natural for us to want to legalize what we consider normal behavior, then to stigmatize those who disagree and even to criminalize such disagreement. As Hobson noted, in this third stage of a revolution, “Those who refuse to celebrate are condemned.”
Two practical responses
Given the extreme pervasiveness of sexualized images and behavior in contemporary culture, spanning the gamut from advertising to music to television to movies to Super Bowl halftime shows (again, I won’t link to examples), how are Christ followers to respond?
First, we should see all temptations as a step from what seems “normal” and innocuous into what will become disastrous and deadly. Jesus warned us that “everyone who practices sin is a slave to sin” (John 8:34). And “sin when it is fully grown brings forth death” (James 1:15). Lust becomes adultery, which becomes the destruction of our family and the ruin of our public witness and ministry.
As I heard a pastor say and often quote: sin will always take you further than you wanted to go, keep you longer than you wanted to stay, and cost you more than you wanted to pay. If you think you’re exempt from this satanic strategy, you of all people are most susceptible to it.
Our second response is to turn to the only source of true victory: “Walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh” (Galatians 5:16, my emphasis). Jesus taught us, “It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh is no help at all” (John 6:63). Paul was blunt: “Those who are in the flesh cannot please God” (Romans 8:8).
Clearly, we cannot rely on our sinful nature to defeat our sinful nature. How then do we “walk by the Spirit”?
- We begin the day by submitting our lives to him (Ephesians 5:18), reading God’s word so the Spirit can use it to shape our minds and guide our steps (Hebrews 4:12), and drawing close to Christ in worship so he can make us like himself (2 Corinthians 3:18).
- We “walk” through the day by practicing his presence: we pray about all we encounter (1 Thessalonians 5:17) and turn every temptation immediately to him for his strength and help (1 Corinthians 10:13; Romans 13:14).
- If we fall, we immediately seek his forgiveness and restoration (1 John 1:9).
When we “walk in the light, as he is in the light” (1 John 1:7), we experience our Father’s best in every dimension of our lives (cf. Galatians 6:7–8). As the biblical scholar Spiros Zodhiates noted,
“Peace of heart is the natural outcome of purity of heart.”
Will you experience such “peace” today?
Quote for the day:
“If your goal is purity of heart, be prepared to be thought very odd.” —Elisabeth Elliot
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