Buying Sex

They say “sex sells” and it seems that was the theme of the Super Bowl ads last night. There were two different Go Daddy commercials where women were showing off their bodies to sell web services. There was a cell phone commercial featuring Megan Fox taking a bath. There were several other commercials involving people in various stages of undress.

Of course none of this is really new. Sex has been part of of the sales for as long as I can remember. It has probably been since the very beginning of sales history. Some half nekkid cave woman drawn on the community wall advertising custom stone tools or something.

It is well known that we are inundated with sex. We are exposed to it from a very young age, but that isn’t the real problem. It certainly isn’t new. Historically sex has always been a huge part of culture because it is a requirement for culture. Without sex a culture will disappear. Don’t believe me? Well you could ask some Essenes, the people who hid the Dead Sea Scrolls, but there are none since they didn’t believe in sex. Their culture disappeared pretty quickly.

One might say the issue is sex that has been tainted by sin. Of course this has also been part of culture from the very beginning. Shortly after Adam and Eve sinned sex became an issue. They went from naked but unashamed to hiding their nakedness in shame. This is because sex was suddenly a problem. It was probably that very night that Eve made Adam sleep on the proverbial couch for the first time. “I can’t believe you through me under the bus like that. Why can’t you stand up and be a man?”

This scene does highlight the real problem though. So many Christians feel sex is a shameful thing. This can’t be further from the truth. Sex is a sacred thing, something to be honored and cherished. That is why God has placed such a high priority on sex. It is the mode by which we can participate in His act of creation. It was made to bring union in a way nothing else can.

We have to stop acting like sex is shameful. If we read out Bible then we will see that sex isn’t just swept under the rug. There is a book devoted to the beauty of sex within the relationship God intended for it. God uses sex as an illustration for the heart of Israel when they turn from God.

We are told to bring light into darkness, and yet with this subject, we are taking light and cloaking it in darkness.

How can we begin addressing sex in a way that honors the sacred nature but also shows the light of God on a subject that has been drowned in darkness and sin?