When Christians talk about sex, it sounds like they are against freedom.
Enter the man of the hour Dr Brueggemann, who says we need to
distinguish between Enlightenment freedom, which means 'I'm not accountable to anybody', and Covenantal freedom, which means 'I'm situated in a neighbourhood and my freedom is defined in relationship to the neighbours'.
The Christian story of sex is not rooted in command or control; it is rooted in community. Community gives birth to sex, sex gives birth to community...quite literally. Therefore to think our sex lives are our own is to begin down the path of self-destruction. As we have discovered, Enlightenment freedom -- the freedom of autonomy -- is the pathway to lonliness. It is into this lonliness that the Christian narrative as it relates to sex should sound not like oppressive legislation, but like good news.
Why, then, do we seem to always make it sound like oppressive legislation!? The gospel isn't merely good news about our eternal destiny. It is good news that has profoundly positive effects on our sex lives in the present. We need not apologise for them.
I'm not sure I know what B means by freedom being defined in relationship to the neighbours. Lot seemed free to offer his daughters to the neighbours for their sexual pleasure in order to deflect their freedom to do those thing which are not convenient to the visiting dignitaries. You could say his freedom was defined in relationship to his neighbours. You could certainly say the story of their sex lives was rooted in the community.
ReplyDeleteAs Jesus might ask, which one was the neighbour in Lot's story? The gathered mob looking for gratification or his daughters?
ReplyDeleteOf course according to Jesus Lot is called to love both sets, but we both know that love of neighbour in this instance does not equate to offering up your daughters as sacrificial sex objects. Freedom defined in relationship to neighbours means making decisions that are for our neighbours' good.
What is the good news that is the christian narrative as it relates to sex?
ReplyDeleteA book could be written to answer that question, but here's a start:
ReplyDeleteThe gospel shows us that to love and be loved does not require sex. I think this is good news for people who spend their lives chasing after something that never fulfills in any lasting, meaningful way.
Perhaps a risque paraphrase of Jesus's words also applies: Those who seek to find their sex lives will lose them, but those who seek to lose their sex lives will find them. Foregoing sex until the covenant of marriage is to lose sex (for want of a better phrase), but in so losing it it's true value will be found.
Of course maybe I'm wrong. To be honest this is a kind of knee jerk reaction against things like "no sex before marriage" being counted as the cost of Christianity or the "cross" to bear. It's like the good news is that you get to be saved, the bad news is that you don't get to have sex until you're married. But if that's the case, what, then, are we saved FOR and how does THAT salvation relate to good news!?