An Appeal to the Sacred

In my last two posts I have been dealing with sacred sexuality as a God-ordained principle, and comparing sacred biblical sexuality with other forms of sexuality.  In this post I will continue to do so, and at a deeper level, so that we can see where we are sexually, and where we need to be.

According to statistics, 50% of all marriages will end in divorce. A chilling reminder of how fragile marriage is, and how couples can go from being in love to divorce, and sometimes in a very short time. According to many Christian publications, the divorce rate among Christians is no better than that of the general public, and this too is alarming. One would think that spiritually-minded people would have better marriages or at least have less incidences of divorce, but this is not the case. In my opinion, I think the high rate of divorce among Christians is caused from misconceptions and pre-conceived biases against sex that has been instilled through erroneous church teachings, and limited understanding about sacred biblical sexuality. Many Christians who are experiencing maritial problems do so because of ignorance in the practice of sacred biblical sexuality. The typical approach to religion is usually one of prayer, church attendance, family worship, and lifestyle changes, but sexuality is an enigma that still brings embarrassment and blushes to even married folks, and when practiced, it is done at the non spiritual level - perhaps as a duty or obligation, or perhaps as a ‘legal’ way to satisfy the demands of the flesh. It is my belief however that this non spiritual approach to sex is the cause of the many family problems afflicting the church such as divorce, pre-marital sex, adultery, out-of-wedlock pregnancy, single parenthood, spousal abuse, family neglect, teenage sex/pregnancy, child molestation, and so on. A comparision between biblcal sexuality and the other types of sexuality will give a clear picture of how far we have strayed from the holy path, and will help to bring us back to God’s ideal for us. I have included modern tantric sexuality in the comparision because some people are going down that path as an alternative spiritual path, and I want to show the differences between that path and sacred biblical sexuality.

FORCE OF ATTRACTION

Sacred biblical sexuality: Soul to soul attraction; inner beauty
Modern tantric sexuality:  Body to body attraction
Non spiritual sexuality: Physical attraction; outer beauty; bodily attraction

MOTIVATING FORCE

Sacred biblical sexuality:  Love; sexual desires
Modern tantric sexuality: Love; lust; sexual desires
Non spiritual sexuality: Lust; sexual desires

OBJECT OF WORSHIP

Sacred biblical sexuality:  God (monotheism)
Modern tantric sexuality:   The self and one's sexual partner(s); sex ; (idolatry)
Non spiritual sexuality:  Sex (idolatry)

DEFINITION OF GOD

Sacred biblical sexuality:  Spiritual Being and Creator who exists outside of self and also within the body temple.
Modern tantric sexuality:  The human self is a part of the essence of God; we are gods.
Non spiritual sexuality:  A Spiritual Being who lives somewhere out there in heaven, but has no input in  human sexuality(deistic); Does not exist (atheistic).

SEXUAL PLEASURE

Sacred biblical sexuality:  A good thing
Modern tantric sexuality:  A good thing
Non spiritual sexuality:  Good but 'dirty'. Do the 'nasty.' Dirty words to describe the act.

AROUSAL STATES

Sacred biblical sexuality:  Almost constant state of orgasmic bliss independent of arousal, that increases more when one is sexually aroused.
Modern tantric sexuality: Practices to stimulate arousal states and orgasmic bliss.
Non spiritual sexuality:  Anywhere from a constant state of arousal to frigidity. From the need to ‘satisfy  an urge’ to complete sexual apathy, and ‘faking’ orgasms.

SEXUAL GUILT

Sacred biblical sexuality:  Guilt free
Modern tantric sexuality:  Practices to negate guilt and shame; glory in shameful acts
Non spiritual sexuality:  Guilty pleasures; shame and guilt; glory in shameful acts

SEXUAL CONTINENCY*

Sacred biblical sexuality:  Encouraged
Modern tantric sexuality:  A goal to be achieved, especially during lovemaking.
Non spiritual sexuality:  Poor sexual continence; out of control.

*Sexual continence is traditionally defined as refraining from sexual activity even during marriage. It is also defined as “a total awareness and control during lovemaking. This implies that the couple will experience complete union with the possibility of reaching many orgasms. This kind of love fusion does not end with ejaculation for men nor an explosive discharge of sexual fluids for women"  (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sexual_continence) .

REPRODUCTION

Sacred biblical sexuality:  No restrictions; controlled by the couple with input from God; children a blessing from the Lord.
Modern tantric sexuality: Reproduction not a goal; controlled by the couple.
Non spiritual sexuality:  Unwanted by-product of sex; out of control sexual continence resulting in multiple unplanned pregnancies and births, and/or abortive methods to control birth; children a burden.

DEVIANT SEXUAL PRACTICES AS DEFINED BY THE BIBLE

Sacred biblical sexuality:  Forbidden
Modern tantric sexuality:  Some are included as okay.
Non spiritual sexuality:  Anything goes!


In conclusion, it can be seen that the adoption of non spiritual sexual practices will lead to the breakdown of marriages and homes, and society at large.  I pray that we make a change and adopt the path of sacred biblical sexuality.

In my next post I will try to bust some myths pertaining to human sexuality.