Founding and senior pastor Ed Young of Fellowship Church is planning to baptise the highly controversial Fifty Shades of Grey book at church this weekend.
The book-turned-movie, which is slated for release on Valentine's Day features the story of Anastacia Steele, a simple girl who falls in love with the wealthy CEO Christian Grey, who just so happens to have a taste for dark pleasures.
Young explained in a press release that by baptising the book, he will be "raising to life the reality of God's plan" and it will help people distinguish fantasy versus reality.
"The sad thing is that so many have fallen prey to what that book represents and have missed out on the truth that God has a better way and purpose for them," he said.
"There is a cultural epidemic out there that is wrapped up in complete fantasy. The book Fifty Shades of Grey is a perverted attempt to trap readers and leads them to a misunderstanding of what intimacy and connection are all about. It is a pathetic distortion of a more powerful reality about relationships. God is not anti-sex, and he isn't grey when it comes to relationships," he added.
Young stressed the importance of relationships, which he believes "drive so much of our lives." He encouraged people to shun the "twisted falsehood" that is Fifty Shades of Grey and ask themselves whether their desires are fulfilled by mere sexual fantasies or relational realities.
He clarified though that God is not anti-sex, He is not grey either when it comes to relationships. Young said that God's plan for our lives is so much greater than what Fifty Shades of Grey is showing.
Young also wrote the book Fifty Shades of They, which highlights the importance of relationships. In the book, Young explained that the people surrounding us have the power either to pull us up or down.
