Let's Talk About Sex...
posted by Jeffrey on Tuesday, May 31, 2005 at 9:46 AM
Ha ha ha...sorry for the title-got ya interested though didn't it? ;-) There's alot of talk about sex going on in the blogs I read. John Piper and Justin Taylor have edited a book called Sex and the Supremacy of Christ (see Andrew Jones's review of this book), Chris Gonzalez blogged yesterday about Communion and Great Sex, and a few other conversations are happening as well.
All I have to say is praise God for the resurgence of the sex conversation in some of our communities of faith recently. For too long, like Gonzalez says, we've made it "dirty" in the church. We've grown uncomfortable with our God given sexuality...I'm glad some out there are talking about it openly again with Biblical perspective.
4 Comments:
Hey - I'm also very encouraged by the talk about sex amoung Christians. If we don't claim the language, society will. I always teach that every part of our family life is intended to teach us and deepen our relationship with God (then affect our family relationships...it's a cycle). We learn from our parents, our siblings, our kids, and our spouses, including our sexual lives with our spouse. I think God gave us sex to show us what it is to truly be intimate with someone. And there is so much biblical language, esp. in the OT, that pretty much compares God's people's relationship to him with sex. Forget about Song of Songs...read the prophets, like Isaiah and Ezekiel and Hosea. God essentially tells Israel..."I found you broken and bloody and lost and alone, and I took you home and cared for you and cleaned you up and made love to you...and after all of that, you snuck away and starting screwing everyone in sight." The OT term unfaithful had a decidedly sexual overtone. As does the NT metaphor "bride of Christ." We need to uphold sex and talk about its value and beauty instead of letting people know it's "okay" once you're married, or only talking about it in the context of keeping people from having it before/outside of marriage.
May 31, 2005 10:57 AM
Welcome Neal. I, as well, do love how God uses a lover/beloved, husband/bride, etc...metaphors to describe His intimacy with us.
Whereas I do agree that we should not be afraid to talk about the beauty of sex, I do think Biblical perspective is needed in the discussion. Sex IS beautiful, and deepened intimacy IS the result, but only when done in marriage. Outside of marriage, selfish pleasure masks itself as intimacy, and the divine metaphor is broken--for love does not seek it's own (isn't selfish).
The danger of course, is to fall back into the same cycle of legalism and end up singing the same old song that "sex is bad." Can't we engage in conversation about sex, it's beauty, it's pleasure, it's metaphorical picture of God's intimacy with us, without lying about it b/c it makes us uncomfortable and/or condeming people? I am sure this is what you meant, but just clarifying for all those future readers ;-)
May 31, 2005 11:50 AM
Yes, I definitely do NOT want to stray from the biblical perspective on sex...I just don't want that perspective to be solely negative. The biblical perspective includes the beauty and goodness of it. Our society and our ability to be in any relationship at all is being torn apart by a message of sex's goodness without the morality or responsibility the Bible calls for.
May 31, 2005 1:31 PM
Amen. I couldn't agree more. As I noted before, I felt confident that was what you meant, but wanted to clear it up, just in case ;-)
May 31, 2005 1:48 PM
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