Thursday, July 14, 2011

Promiscuous Purity

I never once thought that I would be writing this entry, an entry that is a complete slap in the face to all I once thought about sexual purity. I think back to my days in youth group and all the talks the young men would have, and I know without a doubt that my youth pastor and her husband had every good intention in teaching me what they did about purity. I know that most people who have had a part in shaping what I previously held true about purity had good intentions when they said what they said about purity. The fact is, I desire something more authentic than placations for the religiously-minded do-gooders and something more free than the bondage of Victorian-like chastity. I am in no way condoning fornication as the modern evangelical Christian understands it.

Folks, most of you who read this come from very conservative upbringings. Most of you have always known there was a proper context for sex, sexuality, and any affection shown towards the opposite gender with romantic connotations. The problem that I see in the approach most of us have been raised to take is the lie that our actions or inactions can prevent us from sin. I have struggled for years to reconcile how God-fearing men and women with such high moral fiber and integrity could fall prey to their lustful desires in the heat of the moment. Surely, this fire can be kept from starting ablaze? Surely, the Scripture is true when it says, "but God is faithful, who will not tempt you above what ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that you may be able to bear it" (1 Corinthians 10:13)? Why then do so many fall? Because we, in of our own selves are so weak and double-minded that we are incapable of maintaining the standards of purity we set for ourselves. Secondly, because we unrealistically expect ourselves not to have the desire for intimacy until we get married, as if God suddenly switches on our intimacy and we are then imbued with such overwhelming passions. That is simply not how it works. We then are confronted with urges and impulses which we cannot reconcile with our knowledge of sexuality and purity. The only recourse a person with such an education has is to label these urges and impulses as sinful desires. Folks, at the risk of being accused of misinterpreting Scripture I remind you of Peter's visions of the animals which God told him to kill and eat. Peter resisted and called them unclean, which God promptly rebuked Peter for and said, "Do not call anything I have made unclean."

Brothers and sisters, I implore you to seek something more authentic than the old ways of purity. God did not create the mess that plagues our lives. We're the ones who take the mess and spread it around like stray dogs digging through the trash. The problem is that this mess is way too big for us to clean up ourselves, we cannot even contain it ourselves, but rather we need the redeeming blood of Christ to rectify and sanctify our souls. Oh, friends, do you not understand as I do that nothing we do of our own accord can break us from the ways of sin? Sex and sexuality is the not the problem! We are! We embrace sin like a dog returns to its vomit. If you burn yourself on the stove, do you blame the stove? Our only hope is to seek Christ whole-heartedly and look not to the left or the right; pressing on towards the prize with the tenacity of someone with nothing to lose, because we have everything to gain.

If it is not clear what this means, then please feel free to comment and inquire and I will do my best to elaborate on it further.

With love,
James

1 comment:

  1. I really needed to read this ... it's sparking something good inside me that I pray becomes more clear. I hope to talk to you more about it some time :)

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