In the church that I pastor, we've been going through a series called "What's Love Got To Do With It?"- a study on the Song of Solomon. It's a no-holds-barred series on love, sex, dating, romance, marriage, conflict, and just about anything else that goes on between a man and a woman.
After church on Sunday, a woman came up to me and said, "I just want you to know that while you were speaking, I had two thoughts that hit me simultaneously. One, this is the most beautiful thing I've ever heard. Second, how angry I am that this is the first time I've ever heard this stuff."
That's what happens when you see the plan of God for the first time. You are struck by the beauty and wonder of it all, and then you look around at the world we live in and realize how ugly it is by comparison.
You realize that we've thrown mud on the Mona Lisa.
God has given us this beautiful thing called sex to be enjoyed in a beautiful thing called marriage. There is supposed to be a beautiful attraction between man and woman, symbolizing Christ and His church, with all the romance and passion that that two people could possibly muster. The beauty of God-honoring sex is a work of art more priceless and valuable than the Sistine Chapel or the Mona Lisa.
And we throw mud on it, removing the beauty and romance and blessing from it. We splash it over tv and advertising to sell products. We rip it out of the context of holy marriage and throw it around in the backseat of a car or in a hotel room under and alias. We log on to porn sites and watch people throw mud on the Mona Lisa that sex is supposed to be, degrading it down to a $1.99 paint-by-numbers kit that a two-year-old could follow.
When you get hold of what God desires for each of us to have, as shown in the Song of Solomon, it doesn't make you feel self-righteous towards people who don't have that. It makes you weep. It makes you weep to see what people COULD have if they only followed the vision God put forth for us- how much better, and fulfilling, and holy, and wonderful, and passionate . . . and LASTING it could be.
One of the challenges for Christians is to take the amazing gift of sex that God has given to us and restore it to its honored place as a work of art. We don't put the Mona Lisa on the refrigerator door- we don't treat it as common or throw it around like it is worth nothing. We place it on the wall in a museum and guard it carefully, because it is something that is beyond value. We cherish it, celebrate, and stand amazed at the astounding work of art that it is.
So should be our attitude towards sex. It should not be thrown around and degraded as something common- it should be held up and honored among all people as something that is beyond value. A gift from God that is to be held in reverence and enjoyed in the context He designed it to be enjoyed in. It will take Christians- people with the Holy Spirit of God within them- to lift the gift of sex out of the mud that our culture has thrown on it and show it to be valuable once more.
It starts at home. Single Christians need to be patient and wait for marriage. Engaged and dating Christians must practice the words from the Song of Solomon, "Do not arouse or awaken love until it so desires." Married Christians must fight off the temptation to find sexual pleasure in something other than their spouse. When the world sees Christians cherishing the gift of sex, like a priceless work of art, maybe it will follow suit.
After church on Sunday, a woman came up to me and said, "I just want you to know that while you were speaking, I had two thoughts that hit me simultaneously. One, this is the most beautiful thing I've ever heard. Second, how angry I am that this is the first time I've ever heard this stuff."
That's what happens when you see the plan of God for the first time. You are struck by the beauty and wonder of it all, and then you look around at the world we live in and realize how ugly it is by comparison.
You realize that we've thrown mud on the Mona Lisa.
God has given us this beautiful thing called sex to be enjoyed in a beautiful thing called marriage. There is supposed to be a beautiful attraction between man and woman, symbolizing Christ and His church, with all the romance and passion that that two people could possibly muster. The beauty of God-honoring sex is a work of art more priceless and valuable than the Sistine Chapel or the Mona Lisa.
And we throw mud on it, removing the beauty and romance and blessing from it. We splash it over tv and advertising to sell products. We rip it out of the context of holy marriage and throw it around in the backseat of a car or in a hotel room under and alias. We log on to porn sites and watch people throw mud on the Mona Lisa that sex is supposed to be, degrading it down to a $1.99 paint-by-numbers kit that a two-year-old could follow.
When you get hold of what God desires for each of us to have, as shown in the Song of Solomon, it doesn't make you feel self-righteous towards people who don't have that. It makes you weep. It makes you weep to see what people COULD have if they only followed the vision God put forth for us- how much better, and fulfilling, and holy, and wonderful, and passionate . . . and LASTING it could be.
One of the challenges for Christians is to take the amazing gift of sex that God has given to us and restore it to its honored place as a work of art. We don't put the Mona Lisa on the refrigerator door- we don't treat it as common or throw it around like it is worth nothing. We place it on the wall in a museum and guard it carefully, because it is something that is beyond value. We cherish it, celebrate, and stand amazed at the astounding work of art that it is.
So should be our attitude towards sex. It should not be thrown around and degraded as something common- it should be held up and honored among all people as something that is beyond value. A gift from God that is to be held in reverence and enjoyed in the context He designed it to be enjoyed in. It will take Christians- people with the Holy Spirit of God within them- to lift the gift of sex out of the mud that our culture has thrown on it and show it to be valuable once more.
It starts at home. Single Christians need to be patient and wait for marriage. Engaged and dating Christians must practice the words from the Song of Solomon, "Do not arouse or awaken love until it so desires." Married Christians must fight off the temptation to find sexual pleasure in something other than their spouse. When the world sees Christians cherishing the gift of sex, like a priceless work of art, maybe it will follow suit.
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