Purity

(By Jonathan Taube) – Okay, think about James Bond. Now quickly, what are the first few things that come to mind? The Golden Gun? “Vodka Martini; shaken, not stirred?” Sweet tuxedos? I thought you’d say sweet tuxedos. You see, as you may or may not know, I’m getting married in about four months and I walked into the tuxedo shop last week thinking the same thing. I walked out a while later having picked out a completely Bond-esque, From Russia with Love era tux. We’re talking the white jacket with the black pants. Let’s see, how best to describe this… ah yes: completely sweet.

I grew up watching James Bond movies with my dad, catching the newest Bond flicks in theaters, and dominating all comers on Goldeneye for the Nintendo 64. But as much as I like Bond, there’s no denying the fact that he holds, and perhaps has even been responsible for somewhat influencing mainstream secularist views of sexuality. He’s always after a new girl, and he’s often guilty of objectifying the women in his life. And whether we like to admit it or not, we are influenced by the things we see.

Jesus said, “The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are good, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eyes are bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness!” (Matthew 6:22-23, NIV)

Bond may be very mild compared to the way sex is presented in many movies, and movies aren’t the only thing flooding our society with sexual messages. Some of the best rock and roll (well, at least hair metal) songs ever written are unfortunately just catchy melodies disguising sexually explicit content. Two of the most well known musicians in the entire world are Madonna and Michael Jackson, the one wore her underwear as her outerwear and the other invented the crotch grab… and the moonwalk. I recently even saw a preview for a new TV show about a 14 or 15 year old girl who becomes pregnant and, apart from being overly dramatic, it seemed to me that it really glorified the whole ordeal as some sort of right-of-passage for this young girl. Let’s face it; we live in a world of darkness when it comes to sexuality.

Here’s what got me thinking about all this, “There’s more to sex than mere skin on skin. Sex is as much a spiritual mystery as a physical fact. As written in Scripture, ‘the two become one.’ Since we want to become spiritually one with the Master, we must not pursue the kind of sex that avoids commitment and intimacy, leaving us more lonely than ever—the kind of sex that can never ‘become one.’” (1 Corinthians 6, The Message)

Sex is something God has made to be good, but He made it very specifically, and commanded very explicitly, that it is to be enjoyed inside the commitment and intimacy of marriage. This is for our own protection, for our own good; but even more so, for His glory.

The Message continues, “… In sexual sin we violate the sacredness of our own bodies, these bodies that were made for God-given and God-modeled love… Or didn’t you realize that your body is a sacred place, the place of the Holy Spirit? Don’t you see that you can’t live however you please, squandering what God paid such a high price for? The physical part of you is not some piece of property belonging to the spiritual part of you. God owns the whole works. So let people see God in and through your body.”

The world needs to see God’s standard for love and intimacy, for commitment and interdependence modeled in the church. It’s part of His plan for the whole world to know Him. Here’s the problem though, the Church is not free of sexual sin. The Church is not free of pornography. This is proven and we can’t ignore it. We need to remember that we have been called to a higher standard and do our part to flee from sexual sin and to rely on God’s help for strength and on God’s love for fulfillment.

Young men, that means staying away from pornography. It means being accountable to another believing brother whom you trust because you were never called to do it on your own. It means treating all women with respect as your mothers and sisters in Christ. It means honoring God with your body by demonstrating sexual purity in your speech and in your actions, showing those around you a different standard than the one they are shown everyday by the world. Reach out to the men in your church with wisdom, they can be wonderful guides.

Young women, it means respecting yourself and paying no heed to the pressure that the world tries to crush you with, to look, to act, or to feel a certain way. God your Father has created you in His image and delights in you. Don’t sell yourself short, and don’t let anyone else either. You need accountability as well, with a believing sister whom you trust. Reach out to the women in your church with wisdom, they can be wonderful guides.

And to our elders in the church: we need your support on this narrow road. We don’t need you to pretend nothings wrong, or avoid the difficult parts of the Christian walk. We need you to model purity, and expect the same from us, but also to understand that we live in a different world than what you experienced as a young person. We’re not making excuses, but asking for acceptance that goes hand in hand with discipleship and accountability.

So as Christ’s body, let’s put the mystery back into the way we look at sex. Let’s no longer allow our enemy to pervert one of God’s great gifts. In times of struggle, this is what we are called to remember, “…You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body.” (1 Corinthians 6:19b-20)