holy sexuality

Let’s Talk about Sex

Readings for today: 1 Corinthians 5-8

Homer’s Iliad. The poetry of Sappho and Ovid. Pindar’s Odes. Plato’s Symposium. The Sacred Band of Thebes. Horace’s Odes. Without a doubt the Greek and Roman world was a highly eroticized one. Sexuality in all its forms was celebrated and embraced. Men were encouraged to build homoerotic relationships with young protégés. Homosexuality and lesbianism was known and commonly practiced. Temple prostitution was normalized as farmers slept with high priestesses to ensure the fertility of their crops for the coming year. Sexual promiscuity and adultery were not seen as taboo. Sexuality was a widespread theme permeating art, comedy, poetry, and philosophy. Sex was even used to bond men together in some of the great militaries of the period. 

By contrast, Jews and Christians practiced sexual restraint. They saw sex as a sacred act that bonded one man with one woman for a lifetime. Created to symbolize the “one flesh” God intended for man and woman to experience with each other, Jews and Christians maintained a healthy respect for its power. This is why they established strong taboos against any sexual activity outside the bonds of covenant marriage. They recognized that sex was not purely physical but bonded people emotionally and spiritually as well. To disregard the depth of the sexual experience or share it with more than one partner was to commit a sin against one’s own body which itself was a temple of the Holy Spirit. Sexual promiscuity was therefore intimately tied to ritual purity which is why transgressions took on a more serious tone. 

The Apostle Paul was steeped in the Judeo-Christian world of sexual restraint. The Corinthian Christians were coming out of the Greco-Roman culture of sexual promiscuity. You can easily see where these two worlds would clash. Paul confronts the Corinthian believers with some of his strongest language yet. Calling for the excommunication of a man who slept with his father’s wife. Commanding the Corinthians not to associate with the sexually immoral. Most certainly they should not avail themselves of the temple prostitutes and local fertility cults! At the same time, husbands should not deprive their wives of sex nor should wives do the same to their husbands. Celibacy is not God’s design for marriage. I see this as Paul at his pastoral best. Applying the gospel to the complex social and cultural realities that existed in his particular part of the world. 

What about us? Do these same principles hold true for us today? Absolutely. The Bible is univocal in both Old and New Testaments about the sanctity of the sexual relationship. It is to be shared between one man and one woman within the covenant of marriage over the course of a lifetime. Certainly one could point to deviations from this pattern throughout the Scriptures like the polygamy of the patriarchs. But those exceptions only serve to prove the rule. As Christians, we are called to sexual purity. We are called to sexual holiness. We are called to honor the sexual act as one of God’s great gifts and thereby exercise it under His divine authority. In our current day and age, we are witnessing one of the great moral shifts in history. Western culture is becoming increasing hyper-sexualized as it reverts back to ancient, pagan sexual norms. Sexual promiscuity has been on the rise since the so-called sexual revolution of the 1960’s. Serial divorce is rampant. Same-sex relationships are celebrated. The concept of “throuples” is quickly being embraced as definitions of marriage shift and change. The impact of all this rapid change is devastating. Sexually transmitted disease. Unplanned pregnancies. Broken relationships. The objectification of the human body. Pornography. Harassment. Abuse. Violence. Depression. Anxiety. Fear. These are a lot of the reasons the Greco-Roman world embraced the Judeo-Christian sexual ethic in the first place! They could clearly see the positive impact on families and communities who committed to practicing Biblical sexual restraint. Sadly, our world has no such examples as many Christians themselves do not seem committed to practicing sexual purity.

As our world rapidly plunges into sexual chaos, it is imperative for Christians to follow Paul’s words to the Thessalonians that we read earlier this week, “For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you abstain from sexual immorality; that each one of you know how to control his own body in holiness and honor, not in the passion of lust like the Gentiles who do not know God...” (1 Thessalonians‬ ‭4:3-5‬) Lust is defined biblically as those emotions/passions that drive one to behavior outside the will of God. In the area of sexuality this means any sexual activity outside the covenant of marriage between one man and one woman.

All of us, no matter what our sexual orientation may be, suffer from the same disordered loves. Sexual desire, like all desires, were originally created good and pure by God but were corrupted by the Fall. As such, our desires are now in conflict with what God has clearly revealed in His Word and the only response for the Christian is to submit our sexuality to God like we are called to do in every other area of our life.

Readings for tomorrow: None

Sex and God

Readings for today: Numbers 25-28

Today is one of those days where I would encourage everyone to read the passage in the Message version so you don’t miss the significance of what’s happening. Because of the cultural distance, the meaning of the original languages is difficult to convey. The ESV summarizes Numbers 25 as “Baal Worship at Peor” while the Message titles the same chapter, “The Orgy at Shittim.” The ESV tells us the people of God began to “whore with the daughters of Moab” while the Message says they “began to have sex with the Moabite women.” Obviously, the translators of the ESV are staying true to the original language which I deeply appreciate and normally prefer while the translator of the Message (Eugene Peterson of whom I am a big fan) is trying to convey the meaning in modern terms which I think is helpful. Let’s lay verses 1-3 side by side so you can see what I mean…

“While Israel lived in Shittim, the people began to whore with the daughters of Moab. These invited the people to the sacrifices of their gods, and the people ate and bowed down to their gods. So Israel yoked himself to Baal of Peor. And the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel.” (Numbers‬ ‭25‬:‭1‬-‭3‬ ‭ESV‬‬)

“While Israel was camped at Shittim (Acacia Grove), the men began to have sex with the Moabite women. It started when the women invited the men to their sex-and-religion worship. They ate together and then worshiped their gods. Israel ended up joining in the worship of the Baal of Peor. God was furious, his anger blazing out against Israel.” (Numbers‬ ‭25‬:‭1‬-‭3‬ ‭MSG‬‬)

Why is this important? Because we often struggle to understand the depth of God’s righteous anger. We feel it’s unfair or unwarranted or an overreaction. This is why it’s critical for us to grasp the depths of the depravity of human sin. Baal was a Canaanite god worshipped in many different ways by many different tribes. Baal is typically understood to be the storm god. The god of weather and fertility. In an agrarian culture, one can easily see how such a god would gain ascendance and become the primary object of worship along with his divine consort, Astarte. Worshipping Baal involved ritual sex. Priests and priestesses would copulate with worshippers who came to make offerings at the shrine. On high holy days, the community would gather and engage in large-scale orgies as they sought to commune with Baal. Some Baal cults went to the extreme often sacrificing children or worshipping their own excrement. Yes, you read that last part right. Their worship literally involved the uncovering of the rectum - the most shameful part of the human body according to the Jews due to its almost permanent state of uncleanliness - and depositing their waste on the altar. Such was life under the cult of Baal-Peor. God hates Baal worship. Hates it for what it represents. Hates what it does to His divine-image bearers. Hates how it de-humanizes and demeans. He is disgusted by it. Offended by it. So when His own people - the people He miraculously saved and sustained - begin to worship the Baal of Peor, He responds with swift, righteous judgment. A plague is unleashed, perhaps originating from the very waste the Moabites worshipped, killing 24,000 Israelites. Things would have been much worse except for Phinehas, the grandson of Aaron, who takes up a spear and kills an Israelite man and Moabite woman as they engaged in ritual sex in front of Moses and the gathered congregation at the entrance of the Tabernacle itself! This incident at Peor is so horrifying, it becomes a watchword for future generations of Israelites. It will be used as a metaphor in both the Psalms and prophetic literature to describe extreme acts of unfaithfulness on the part of God’s people. 

Sadly, Baal worship is experiencing a revival in our own day and age. Perhaps not in the extreme form represented by Baal-Peor but certainly in the sexual liberties of 21st century American culture. Sex has become a god in our world. Lust has been mainstreamed. Altars to Eros have been erected all over and command millions of worshippers. Sexual restraint is considered unholy. The denial of sexual desire almost criminal. Speaking out against the god of sex blasphemous. Baal has even ensnared millions of Christians as well. Pornograpy. Sexual promiscuity. Adultery. Homosexuality. Serial divorce. You name it, the American church has condoned it. And where has it led us? Broken marriages. Abortion. Abuse. Sexually transmitted disease. Broken families and broken relationships. The consequences are legion. 

Against this rising tide of paganism stands Jesus. He affirms God’s design for holy sexuality within the covenant of marriage between one man and one woman. He speaks out against the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes. He calls for sexual restraint in His Sermon on the Mount. He sets us free from the enslaving power of sexual desire and He offers us the far more fulfilling life of holiness instead. Are you struggling with sexual temptation in your life? Have you experienced sexual brokenness and shame? Do you feel enslaved to your sexual desires? Jesus offers you freedom. Jesus offers forgiveness. Our faith in Jesus gives us the power to live a holy life and experience the joy that comes from submitting our sexual desires to Him.  

Readings for tomorrow: None