Homosexuality and Sex

A part of the reason that the church thinks that homosexuality is such a huge sin is that most of us aren't convinced that sex isn't sinful. We're so influenced by our culture, both secular and Christian, that tells us that sex is sinful, naughty, bad and dirty. But it's also the be-all, end-all experience in human existence. We're given this dichotomous paradoxical view with no healthy way to talk about sex.

I applaud the Simple Marriage blog for talking about things in a open manner. We need more places where we can have open dialog about sex, what it means and what it doesn't mean.

On the side of sex as wrong, the church is afraid to talk about the beauty of sex and the way that it expresses intimate, vulnerable love between two people. We fear that somehow having a conversation about it will make everyone promiscuous or something. These are really awful vestiges of our Puritanical roots that we need to get over if we're going to be God's people in this world. Sex is a creation of God and is beautiful. We need to celebrate it as such. There's an entire book of the bible devoted to the beauty of sex (Song of Solomon, if you don't already know). God wants us to know about sex. But also notice that though sex isn't shied away from in scripture, it's not the center of attention either. One of the books is enough to cover it. Sex is good, but it's not the purpose of life.

On the side that thinks sex is the ultimate goal, we see an endless string of movies that show young men seeking their first sexual conquest so they can prove themselves men indeed. Sex is the object of their quest, the proof of their manliness and the purpose of life. But all along, sex is a joke as well. Dirty jokes abound so that there's no honest conversation about sex, but just a seeking after and joking about the act. Beer ads, TV shows and billboards all spout the message that sex is our ultimate goal, but it's also a joke.

Because of our unhealthy way of talking about sex we don't have a healthy way to talk about sexual dysfunction or sexual sin. Married couples all over have huge problems in the bedroom, and most of them aren't fixed by a little blue pill. Sexual problems are all over the place, primarily because we don't have a safe place to talk about them. So too with sexual sin. Look at all the pastors that are found with pornography addictions or get caught in an affair with a member of the church. We don't have healthy, safe ways to talk about sin and temptation, so sexual sin is pushed under the surface only to bubble to the top at the most inappropriate times.

In this climate, is it any wonder that we can't have an honest, productive conversation about homosexuality?

How could we foster a climate of conversation?