Read Song of Songs 2:3-17; 4:1-7; 5:10-16; 7:11-13
“I’m Just Saying… SEX” Okay, now that I have your attention.
My last post was about Rob Bell’s upcoming book that addresses the topic of hell. The topic of this blog may not actually be hotter than hell, but it gets close. It’s about SEX. (No pictures are attached to this post). To tell the truth, I had parts of this published in a state Baptist paper several years ago. Evidently some considered so provacative by some readers that the Editor received volumes of letters from folks who thought I just about the worst excuse for a pastor ever (and they’d never even heard me preach).
Tell me what you think!
A pastor was asked to speak to the community women’s club. He decided to give a talk on the biblical view of sex. When asked by his wife what he was going to speak on, he replied, “Sailing,” so as not to worry her, and besides, he knew that if she showed up, he would be embarrassed. The next week, a few days after the club meeting, one of the women came up to the pastor’s wife in the grocery store and told her how much she had enjoyed her husband’s talk.
The woman said, “He did so well and seems like such an expert.”
Surprised, the pastor’s wife replied: “That’s funny; he’s only done it twice. The first time he fell off and the second time he ran out of wind!”
Almost everyone is society seems preoccupied with the subject of sex. Evangelist Billy Graham has said, “To read the papers and the magazines, you would think we were almost worshipping the female bosom.”
Of contemporary society, the late Malcolm Muggeridge has said: “The orgasm has replaced the cross as the focus of longing and the image of fulfillment.” Billie Burke has written: “I am constantly amazed when I talk to young people to learn how much they know about sex and how little about soap.”
Almost everyone in society seems willing to enter into a dialogue about sex – except those in the church.
Since we are largely unwilling to discuss this subject, the secular media has been happy to do so on our behalf. They have employed two major images to portray the Christian view regarding sex. One view is that we are a bunch of puritanical stuffed shirts who view sex as sinful or bad – something to be avoided at all costs. The other view is that Christians are a bunch of sexually crazed and yet repressed individuals sneaking around under the cover of darkness trying to find sexual fulfillment on the internet, at the movie house or in the red-light district of our local community. Sexual controversies involving pastors, politicians, and television evangelists certainly have not helped.
What’s missing from most discussions is a positive and biblical view of sex that joyfully celebrates such intimacy as one of God’s greatest gifts to humanity. The bible does contain such images – especially in the passages for this post.
What positive things do these verses of scripture teach us about sex?
First, they teach us that sex should be viewed as secondary to a relationship. This is the reverse of the standard view expressed by society. The standard code of conduct in society is that sex comes first – and if the sex is good, love will come later. Biblical morality teaches that couples should begin by exploring other aspects of an intimate relationship. Only after such a relationship has been built, and a lifelong commitment to exclusivity made (Song of Songs 2:16a) will sexual intimacy contain the full joys and pleasures which God intended when He gave us this special gift.
Second, we discover that romantic love should be complimentary (Song of Songs 4:1-3; 5:10-13). There is nothing immoral about being excited by the physical appearance of one’s mate. Nor is it inappropriate to verbally praise one’s partner for aspects of their beauty that you find particularly thrilling. These verses reveal that these love partners were aroused by their partners’ appearance. They also show us that these lovers employed a wide array of poetic images to compliment their mates on their appearance.
Finally, sexual love should be imaginative. Couples should continually seek fresh, new and imaginative venues in which to express their love for one another. Romantic interludes such as candlelight dinners, moonlight walks, hillside picnics and secret rendezvous away from work and children can add to the blessings and joy of sexual intimacy.
