RGA On SEX (1)

Messages about sex are everywhere- in our art, on the news, as the centerpieces of many marketing campaigns, etc.. Since all of us are sexual beings, talking about sex is good and natural. But are all of the messages we are handed about sexuality good, true or helpful?

Something Is Missing
"What were you taught about sex during your formative years?" I posed this question to a group of friends. The responses were similar. My friends were given instruction about the physical mechanics of sex and the boundaries of this act. They felt their education was incomplete. They wanted to know more about the WHY of sex. Why are we made this way? Why are sex drives so strong at times? Why is sexuality capable of being either incredibly satisfying or disappointing? My first pass to the question of why is this: We are sexual beings because we are made in God's image. Our sexuality gives us the ability to be somewhat like him.

Nakedly Intimate
Take a second to read over this portion of the creation account. Did you catch the way God describes Himself? In plural terms. One of the great mysteries of the scripture has to do with this part of God's nature: One God with three expressions (Father, Son, Spirit). Three divine personalities with a level of intimacy that allows them to be one. To pass this same gift on to us, God creates us- in His image- male and female. Why are we sexual creatures? What is this gift for? We can be wholly and holistically intimate with another person.

Co-Creators
What do we find God doing in the beginning? Creating. As people made in His image, God shares the power to create human life with us through our sexuality. This isn't a statement about whether all sex should lead to children or the validity of birth control. Just an observation that God could have created another system for the multiplication of the human race. Instead, He makes us co-creators through the gift of sex.

More Than A Baseball
When I was 10 I got a baseball autographed by my favorite major league team. In awe, I put it in a plastic case and only took it out to show off to my friends. Eventually I forgot about the baseball. Several years later I was cleaning my room and found the case empty. I "persuaded" my brother to tell me where it was. He produced a brown, tattered ball from his closet. Turns out that he and his buddies were playing catch in the street one day and their baseball went down the sewer. Looking for a replacement, they used mine. Talk about a difference in perspectives. My brother just saw a baseball. I looked at the same bundle of leather and saw something sacred. Yes, it was a baseball- but it was so much more than that.

Sounds like the gap in views of our sexuality, doesn't it? What if sex is more than just a physical act? What if in addition to the physical sensations, there is something deeply spiritual about sex? What if sex is a reflection of the image and glory of God in us? Would it change the way we used this gift?

Part 2 On The Way
That may be enough for now. Chew on those ideas and I'll be back shortly with some practical thoughts about how we use our sexuality in ways that reflect God's image.