Sex and the church .... a silent subject???

To quote Rebecca Nicholson in this weeks Guardian Guide Magazine ‘as the great, wise, philosophizing pop group LMFAO  succinctly put it I got passion in my pants and I ain’t afraid to show it.’ This week is a good week if your into sex and scandal - a whole week of it on TV and in film release.   Programs include, ‘how sex works’, ‘websex: what’s the harm?’  ‘confessions of a sex addict’, ‘like a virgin’ ‘playing it straight’ and the list goes on ...... This week also sees the release of SHAME with a preview showing at QFT on tuesday night (I have to be honest here and say I am going to see it)  a film about a New York sex addict and to quote from an interview with the star Michael Fassbender in the Guardian ‘depending on your point of view, (it’s)  a brilliant exposition of loneliness in the city or a pretentious piece of naval-gazing.’ 

Fassbender in the movie plays an executive, who yes on the one hand is successful but on the other hand is unable for reasons never fully explained to have a real relationship, rather he prefers encounters with strangers, prostitutes and porn.  While his sister also throws herself at any passing man.  Fassbender notes in the interview that while he was trying to research for the role, he tried to talk to people in London, and no one was forthcoming or at least very few so he went to New York - where not surprisingly people where a little more open - though the observation remained ‘scratch the surface of what’s socially normal.  I suppose in some way all of us have something we display to the public and things we feel to ashamed or uncomfortable with to revel to other people.’  

Lets talk about sex! No don’t worry this isn’t going to be some sex ed talk about the birds and the bees .... as my mum would say ‘the birds go tweet and the bees go buzz’.  Sex has been on my mind recently for a number of reasons, and before you say it no not just because I am single and a young guy, but as a result of some of my thinking on the book of Hosea which we are currently exploring in Fitzroy but also because over Christmas I was reading a new work by Jennifer Knust ‘Unprotected Text’s: The Bibles Surprising Contradictions About Sex and Desire‘  and while not fully endorsing some of her conclusions the book does provide an interesting overview of what the bible does say about sex and what it has been made to say over the years by the so called ‘authorities’.

But how do we deal with sex within the Christian community? How do we explain it to our young people and indeed our adults?  How do we focus on a wholeness approach to life and not make people feel guilty because they have fallen down in this area? Sex is real .... indeed as a friend of mine would say ‘at the end of the day Jab it all boils down to sex and death’ , the internet is all around us .... one google search and you can get any kind of image to appeal to whatever you are looking for at that particular moment.  You don’t even need to go online, sex is all around us, all day, everyday, and for those of us trying to remain pure in a world that is sex obsessed it can often be a very hard battle and there are many opportunities to fall down.  

As a teenager I remember reading the ‘every young man’s battle’ series which looked at lust, porn and masturbation struggles within society today - and have to say I found some of the content helpful - but also some of it a little dated or out of touch - one of its main arguments was about trying to avoid looking at ‘sexy images’(don’t get me wrong i agree with this though can see some problems) - but how do you realistically achieve that when every shop, bar coffee shops, seem to be selling it!  Bags with topless guys on them ... magazines with bikini clad girls???  You can’t spend all day in a bubble in Starbuck’s or your coffee shop of choice!  Even when you’re there I am sure it won’t take to long for your eye to drift to someone you find appealing or attractive! 

I think the following article is really useful and provides some helpful insights .... http://www.relevantmagazine.com/life/relationship/blog/27747-is-sexual-sin-communal-sin.  It’s not that the church is out there as a marshall on good fun - its on the other hand an issue of human dignity, respect and self worth.  I feel that the first area we fall down in mainly is that we don’t talk about -  perhaps we need to in the words of the song to ‘lets talk about sex’ because only when we talk about in an open honest manner can we really understand the joys of sex, the pitfalls of a sex mad world and potential for harm - but be under no illusion if the church doesn’t talk about it there are plenty of other people willing to in ‘the big bad world out there’, and that is what is shaping public opinion, public perception and we are being left behind! The latest movie maybe called SHAME but the real shame is that we are letting are people down by being silent!