Book Blog Post #2 - Smut in Christian Romances

Did I leave quite the hook from my last post for today's blog?

Smut... even in Christian romances. Yep. That shocked me too.

Before we begin: If you are a teenager, please ask your parents before reading this.

First, let's take a look at the definition "smut". According to webster's dictionary, smut can be defined as "obscene language or content". What does "obscene" mean? Glad you asked! "Obscene" means "offensive to accepted standards of decency or morality". Whose morals am I going off of? You guessed it, the Lord's.

Now, I am going to share the content I found while listening to three Christian romances. I am not going to share who wrote them or what book they came from. If you really wish to know so you can avoid those books, please message me privately. I don't need to be rude to these authors, I just disagree with what they said. Since these were things I heard, I am going to have to paraphrase cuz I am not listening to 3 audiobooks all over again just to find them.

1. Girl POV: I crawled to him... not in a sexy sort of way, but... (can't remember the rest)

2. Boy to a girl: "I will come in there even if you don't have clothes on!" (his thoughts to himself) Oh my. I shouldn't have gotten that image in my head, because now I want to think about that.

3. Girl POV: I didn't think my libido worked, but now I am sure of it.

Am I the only one who shriveled when hearing/reading this?

Let's imagine for a minute: you have a teenager. They see the book you are reading lying on the table. They pick it up, flip through the pages, then land on one that has a quote similar to one listed above. How would they react if they came to you about it, but you said, "oh it's a Christian romance." I would drop my jaw if I were that teen.

I am going to be real for a minute. I'm married... I know things... but should I be comfortable reading that kind of content? Because I'm not. At all.

Are other adults who are most likely married reading these books? Maybe? But either way, those kinds of comments don't belong. It's not edifying. It's encouraging sin or at least can entice me to think of such things, because remember - these are romances so it's them BEFORE marriage. BEFORE such thoughts are ok to have towards yours spouse. But even then, I don't want to read about characters thoughts towards their spouses and the bedroom. Just because the act might not be on the page, does not mean I need to read the thought process towards that.

God gave us desires, yes. But do I feel the need to encourage my readers to think about those desires? No. It's giving leeway to temptation. In Philippians, Paul says (paraphrased), "Whatsoever things are pure, lovely, commendable, anything worthy of praise, think on these things." Those comments are dangling too close to impure, unlovely, uncommendable thoughts. Period.

These are my personal opinions, so if you disagree with me on any of this, I would love to hear what you have to say. Again, please message me privately. I hope you learned something from this. I am being cautious, especially with these three authors. If they don't feel the conviction of putting this stuff in their Christian romances, ok - that's between them and the Lord. But always know, for me, whether a teen or an adult is reading my books, no comments, no thoughts will EVER be put in my books. That is where I stand firm.