I've been spending some time reflecting on some talks I heard this weekend by Christopher West. Christopher is a Catholic theologian and spoke incredibly eloquently about the Theology of the Body written by Pope John Paul II. Here is my attempt to summarize the key take away for me:
The body is good. It is not something to be killed, but something to be treasured. Our problem is that we do not treasure it enough. Our body is in fact the very way that God brings visibility to spiritual truth. We, the church, are the body of Christ - that is we are the physical reality of Christ in the world. Without our bodies we can not be what we were designed to be.
The quest for sexual purity is not one that requires us to put to death our desires, but to instead satisfy our desires in the only way that can result in ultimate satisfaction. Satisfaction that is shameless, pure, and beautiful - satisfaction that satisfies completely and does not send us on a quest for more. For those of us that are married, this satisfaction comes from the oneness we experience with our spouse. This oneness is a symbol of the oneness we will one day experience with Christ. For those of us that are single, this satisfaction comes from discovering that our desires can lead us to a oneness with Christ in such a way that we find a satisfaction in Him that is impossible for a married person to experience. I admit, the married way sounds better to me, but I suspect this is because I do not accurately grasp what an undistracted life, completely and totally enveloped by God, would be like.
The problem is not that we have desires, but that we too often satisfy them in ways that miss the mark. The Bible calls 'missing the mark' sin - falling short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23). Sin is simply taking a legitimate desire meant to point us to God, and satisfying it in a way that falls short. By falling short, we rob God of his glory, and rob ourselves of our joy.
Here are some quotes that express this truth better than I ever could:
"The body, in fact, and only the body, is capable of making visible what is invisible: the spiritual and the divine. It has been created to transfer into the visible reality of the world the mystery hidden from eternity in God, and thus to be a sign of it" - Pope John Paul II
"I know some muddle-headed Christians have talked as if Christianity thought that sex, or the body - were bad in themselves. But they were wrong. Christianity is almost the only one of the great religions which thoroughly approves of the body - which believes that matter is good, that God Himself once took on a human body that some kind of body is going to be given to us even in Heaven and is going to be an essential part of our happiness." C.S. Lewis
"Every man who knocks on the door of a brothel is looking for God" G.K. Chesterton
Monday, January 26, 2009
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2 comments:
Challenging youth to wait until they are an adult for sexual activity is one thing. Scaring the heck out of them and telling them a condom is a provision for sin is a public health nightmare. Even the Lovers in the Song of Solomon had sex in Chapter 2 then got married in Chapter 3. The kind of ignorance Church leaders show about this kind of in-your-face premarital sex within the Bible itself has gone on too long and I'm calling it out. If you want to know more check my website. It's less expensive than a Purity Ring and a lot more fun than abstinence.
-The Scott
http://www.NotAnotherGeneration.com
I couldn't disagree with you more. It seems to me you are making the same mistake that you are criticizing, by picking and choosing what interpretation or law to follow. Read the whole Bible in context - don't nitpick at laws. I am no expert, but God's intent for intimacy is clear from the beginning "a man shall leave is mother and father ... and the two shall become one flesh." The words of Jesus are also clear "let what God has joined together, man not separate". Sex is meant to be experienced within the intimate, committed relationship of a husband and wife. Anything less is incomplete. A loving, caring person who truly has the other person's best interest at heart would not expose the other person to this type of intimacy without commitment. How could you join together as 'one flesh' when you are not committed to one another? We need to stop talking about what we can get away with, and start talking about what is best - about what is intended. God knows the best way and he has made it clear. If we want to pick and choose and twist meanings, we are free to do that - we probably all do it in some way or another (we are not perfect), but call it what it is - an attempt to justify not becoming everything that God intended. That doesn't even mention the fact that at it's core sex is reproductive, and reproducing outside of marriage causes a whole new set of problems.
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