Is it okay to talk about sex in church? In my childhood congregation, it was often only done in hushed whispers or with a hint of scandal. When I was a teenager, our youth minister apparently thought we needed to learn something about sex, so he had us watch James Dobson videos. Yes, that James Dobson! And rather than learning about healthy, whole sexuality, I took away an idea that the body and bodily desires were not holy, and that to be spiritual meant denying the body.
Many Christians, like those in my childhood, are uncomfortable talking about our bodies in the context of faith. And they're not alone, for many of the people who shaped Christian doctrines and theology struggled with the relationship between body and spirit. There was a quote going around Facebook for a while from CS Lewis: "You don't have a soul. You are a soul. You have a body." At first glance, this might sound inspirational, but I would submit that CS Lewis, and others, miss the point of the incarnation of Christ. God thought the human body was worth dwelling in, so why don't we? You are a soul, and you are a body. We would not be fully human if not for our bodies, and being fully human means being created in the image of God.
This Sunday, I hope all adults and youth will join us for the Afterword, where we'll have some conversation about faith and sexuality, and how our whole lives are important to God. Have a blessed week!
Manda
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